What do you think?
Rate this book
Milk-Blood
“In that moment I knew the meaning of milk-blood. Desperate addicts will decant some of their own blood while the drug is still pumping through their veins to save as ‘insurance’ to inject later. This opiate-laden blood is called milk-blood.”
Adrian Simon, 38, is the son of Warren Fellows, the infamous heroin smuggler who was imprisoned in Bangkwang Prison in Bangkok for 12 years and published the bestselling memoir “The Damage Done”. But Adrian wasn’t the only one affected by the experience. In his searing autobiography “Milk–Blood,” Adrian tells his side of the story; growing up in suburban Australia the son of two unconventional parents, while trying to make sense of his father’s terrible decisions and witnessing his mother shunned by society at every turn.
“It was his decisions that led to me having a nervous breakdown as an innocent child, and like a disease that experience clung to me throughout my life. And just like my arthritic condition, I had a bandaid solution but no cure. In a small way I could never be completely free of the past, he was my damage within that I would never be able to eradicate completely.”
Refusing to give in to the dark shadow his father casts over his life, Adrian lives life to the full, and always on his own terms, right from the get-go. His inherent drive and thirst for adventure sees him abandoning school in favour of chasing the good times, wherever they may lie.
Later, this morphs into a deeper search for meaning and purpose, which sees him travel around the globe in a non-stop whirlwind of run-ins and adventures. But it’s here, on the road, where he begins to make sense of his fractured life, righting the wrongs of his past and starting the painstaking task of restoring the damage done to his family chi.
“People rarely knew my story and how my emotions were like a river, a wild torrent boring through my soul. I grew to understand that we all have our own storm within, that we share the same path to find happiness and self-expression. Deep down, I knew one day I would tell this story. I just had to wait for more chapters to play out. I never thought of myself as a writer, rather as someone with a big story to tell.”
This raw and honest work tackles complex issues and themes, such as mental health, addiction, and coming-of-age, but ultimately it is a story of love, hope, courage and the healing power of acceptance.
Adrian Simon, 38, is the son of Warren Fellows, the infamous heroin smuggler who was imprisoned in Bangkwang Prison in Bangkok for 12 years and published the bestselling memoir “The Damage Done”. But Adrian wasn’t the only one affected by the experience. In his searing autobiography “Milk–Blood,” Adrian tells his side of the story; growing up in suburban Australia the son of two unconventional parents, while trying to make sense of his father’s terrible decisions and witnessing his mother shunned by society at every turn.
“It was his decisions that led to me having a nervous breakdown as an innocent child, and like a disease that experience clung to me throughout my life. And just like my arthritic condition, I had a bandaid solution but no cure. In a small way I could never be completely free of the past, he was my damage within that I would never be able to eradicate completely.”
Refusing to give in to the dark shadow his father casts over his life, Adrian lives life to the full, and always on his own terms, right from the get-go. His inherent drive and thirst for adventure sees him abandoning school in favour of chasing the good times, wherever they may lie.
Later, this morphs into a deeper search for meaning and purpose, which sees him travel around the globe in a non-stop whirlwind of run-ins and adventures. But it’s here, on the road, where he begins to make sense of his fractured life, righting the wrongs of his past and starting the painstaking task of restoring the damage done to his family chi.
“People rarely knew my story and how my emotions were like a river, a wild torrent boring through my soul. I grew to understand that we all have our own storm within, that we share the same path to find happiness and self-expression. Deep down, I knew one day I would tell this story. I just had to wait for more chapters to play out. I never thought of myself as a writer, rather as someone with a big story to tell.”
This raw and honest work tackles complex issues and themes, such as mental health, addiction, and coming-of-age, but ultimately it is a story of love, hope, courage and the healing power of acceptance.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 14, 2015
1 person is currently reading
367 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 14, 2015
Milk Blood is a compelling story of the hidden impacts of the cult of criminal celebrity. While Australia enthusiastically adopts the new generation of Ned Kelly's in the form of drug smugglers and underworld charismatics, the glamour of the outlaw is a cruel veneer to the lives of those left behind in the wake of their imprisonment. Adrian Simon is the son of drug smuggler Warren Fellows. While his father's name was synonymous with Australia's drug trade with Asia and a period of corrupt largesse in our police force, the name of his son was synonymous with a terrified child struggling with the sudden absence of his father, the strains of social judgement, a mother who was being crushed by the demands of maintaining her relationship with her husband in a Thai jail and keeping the family in Australia fed and emotionally stable. Their stories weren't splashed across women's magazines or made into TV series, they were the real, painful, lived experiences of two people damaged almost permanently by another's greed, stupidity and narcissism. If you were one of the thousands of people who read Warren Fellow's book 'The Damage Done' then you need to balance the ledger with Milk Blood. Not only is it a fast paced text with a strong voice of anger and authenticity, it is a fascinating story of survival resilliance and entrepreneurship - the real Australian attributes we should all be celebrating.
September 18, 2016
Adrian Simon skilfully takes us through his life, from adored child with every material wish taken care of, to the strong, driven person he is today. Milk-Blood is written against the backdrop of the author's father's story and whilst this is a horrifying tale in itself, it is Adrian and his mother, who are the heroes of the piece. Left in the wake of his father's life choices, the young Adrian is bereft and confused. He battles through his formative years and becomes broken, inside and out. Relationships are difficult and he struggles with who he is. Sport is an outlet, but disappointments and injuries mount up until he realises that this is not going to be his ticket to a better life after all. Later on, he heads to Europe and charges through life, successfully building one career after another, but bottled up anger comes back time and again. The author's willingness to forgive and move on is admirable and he doesn't stop trying until he's exhausted every avenue. Creative, determined and loyal, he eventually comes to the point where there are no more options and he manages to achieve a degree of acceptance and peace. Adrian Simon is a terrific storyteller, with a fascinating story to tell, but it's his strength, love of family and sheer will to fight on that make this book a standout for me.
October 26, 2015
Great read! Australia's very own Breaking Bad
March 20, 2016
A few years ago I read and reviewed a book called The Damage Done which was about an Australian called Warren Fellows who spent 12 years inside a Thai prison for smuggling heroin. At the time I'd taken a keen interest in reading books about people who had been locked away in foreign countries; fascinated by human survival in inhumane conditions.
I enjoyed that book and others like it immensely, but like most good life stories written down on the pages of a book, I always find myself wanting a bit more. I wondered what had happened to Warren after he had been released. Could he go back to a normal life? How does someone pick up the pieces after an experience like that? What was his family going through during that period?
And then I got an email from the lovely Lou Johnson at The Author People asking if I would be interested in reading the story of Adrian Simon, son of the infamous Warren Fellows, in his memoir Milk-Blood: Growing up the son of a convicted drug smuggler.
I jumped at the chance of course. I knew the backstory, although I wasn't quite aware of how much publicity the Fellows conviction had made in Australia at the time. But what started as an interest in finding out about the wider ramifications of a convicted drug trafficker became more about wanting to know if Adrian and his courageous mother Jan had their happy ending.
I don't say this very lightly, but Adrian's story blew me away. It was much more than a young boy transforming into a man whilst at the same time trying to come to terms with the impact his father's imprisonment and notoriety had on him. Quite simply, Adrian has led an incredible life and the snippets he shares of his mother's life story is 10 times more worthy of your sympathy than what her husband went through.
But I don't want you to think this is all doom and gloom. Yes, there is tragedy and heartbreak at the spine of this story. Adrian sees his father locked away at just two-years-old, his family life is violated by the media and they are shunned by those around them, and then he suffers a nervous breakdown at just nine-years-old. And at this point he still has another three decades of life to live!
But boy does he live it. No matter what the setback, no matter what the knock, Adrian just rolls with the punches and he has more life experiences by the time he is 30 than most people have in a lifetime. The tales of him traveling around Europe and the people he meets are worthy of a story on it's own.
Did it help that I had read The Damage Done? Yes, I would be lying if I said it hadn't, but that was only because my knowledge of that history helped me empathise and understand the emotion pouring out across those pages a little bit more. I was ferociously clawing at the pages, waiting for the moment when his father was released from prison to re-enter his sons life. It filled a lot of gaps for me.
With that being said, if I had not read Warren Fellows' book then I would still give this book a four star rating and recommend it to anyone who didn't know the backstory already.
But because I do have that knowledge, this one gets bumped to a five star rating, and it has nothing to do with Warren Fellows. This is my small pat on the back for the courageous bravery shown by Adrian and his mother Jan, and the incredible lives they have led all told with charm, wit and brutal honesty.
Read more of my Lad Lit Book Reviews here: http://stevenscaffardi.blogspot.co.uk...
I enjoyed that book and others like it immensely, but like most good life stories written down on the pages of a book, I always find myself wanting a bit more. I wondered what had happened to Warren after he had been released. Could he go back to a normal life? How does someone pick up the pieces after an experience like that? What was his family going through during that period?
And then I got an email from the lovely Lou Johnson at The Author People asking if I would be interested in reading the story of Adrian Simon, son of the infamous Warren Fellows, in his memoir Milk-Blood: Growing up the son of a convicted drug smuggler.
I jumped at the chance of course. I knew the backstory, although I wasn't quite aware of how much publicity the Fellows conviction had made in Australia at the time. But what started as an interest in finding out about the wider ramifications of a convicted drug trafficker became more about wanting to know if Adrian and his courageous mother Jan had their happy ending.
I don't say this very lightly, but Adrian's story blew me away. It was much more than a young boy transforming into a man whilst at the same time trying to come to terms with the impact his father's imprisonment and notoriety had on him. Quite simply, Adrian has led an incredible life and the snippets he shares of his mother's life story is 10 times more worthy of your sympathy than what her husband went through.
But I don't want you to think this is all doom and gloom. Yes, there is tragedy and heartbreak at the spine of this story. Adrian sees his father locked away at just two-years-old, his family life is violated by the media and they are shunned by those around them, and then he suffers a nervous breakdown at just nine-years-old. And at this point he still has another three decades of life to live!
But boy does he live it. No matter what the setback, no matter what the knock, Adrian just rolls with the punches and he has more life experiences by the time he is 30 than most people have in a lifetime. The tales of him traveling around Europe and the people he meets are worthy of a story on it's own.
Did it help that I had read The Damage Done? Yes, I would be lying if I said it hadn't, but that was only because my knowledge of that history helped me empathise and understand the emotion pouring out across those pages a little bit more. I was ferociously clawing at the pages, waiting for the moment when his father was released from prison to re-enter his sons life. It filled a lot of gaps for me.
With that being said, if I had not read Warren Fellows' book then I would still give this book a four star rating and recommend it to anyone who didn't know the backstory already.
But because I do have that knowledge, this one gets bumped to a five star rating, and it has nothing to do with Warren Fellows. This is my small pat on the back for the courageous bravery shown by Adrian and his mother Jan, and the incredible lives they have led all told with charm, wit and brutal honesty.
Read more of my Lad Lit Book Reviews here: http://stevenscaffardi.blogspot.co.uk...
July 12, 2016
‘Milk Blood,’ written by Adrian Simon, is a first-hand experience of the good, the bad, the highest-of-highs and the lowest-of-lows, in this world. Life is a myriad of experiences and some people are dealt the seemingly right cards, then choke on their experiences. Others get dealt the seemingly wrong cards, and then thrive. This story is Adrian’s transformation from the tough hand dealt by his father’s risk-filled greed.
To an extent, everyone plays the game. Breaking the law by going 61 in a 60 zone, is a risk. Then there’s those who live in the fast-lane, where risk is constantly scaled next to gain. Adrian’s father, the notorious heroin smuggler, Warren Fellows, author of ‘The Damage Done,’ risked himself, his youth, and his family, for short-term gain … and lost. Adrian sees risk in a different light.
In this dog-eat-dog world, Adrian’s trump card is his mother’s love, cradling him from the overwhelming, chaotic truth of who-and-what his father was … and is. She guided her son through the inner turmoil, all the while struggling to make sure her husband survives in jail. Money sent, transacted to shooting heroin into his veins. Corruption upon corruption upon corruption. Whilst his father discovered a heroin addiction in jail, Adrian looked at other families with awe and jealousy, wishing to be a part. His mother also took risks to give her child a safe upbringing, but her risks were out of love, not greed, which is the profound difference.
Milk Blood is a transformative story written with Gen X jargon. Sometimes: ‘Reality is a bitch served cold.’ But no child should have a nervous breakdown at ten! A sensitive child who’s dream of his father being a male role model, is shattered over and over and over again, especially after his King’s pardon. Ultimately Adrian realises it’s ok to be different, and the struggles don't stop, you just get better at dealing with them.
Difficulties in families are natural, so is forgiveness, but some family members are simply — constitutionally — bad. Building the proverbial bridge, yet again, means you are open to fall with them, again. How many times can one hold the scars of someone else’s boot on their back, before stopping that person’s boot from being there in the first place? Further, there’s the societal parameters Adrian’s peers perceive, with their families, and the groupies that fly along with the folklore that is, Warren Fellows. To quote Adrian, ‘What’s worse than a criminal? A criminal put on a pedestal.’
This book truly shows a man’s healing, not from a guru ‘self-help’ point-of-view, but from a male who has walked an emotional journey. There is his generational slant of ‘drugs, sex and doof music’ within this wise expression of a rebelling kid, who had better reason to rebel than most.
Experience shores up one’s personality and Adrian epitomises this throughout his life’s journeys. Through adversity, he ends up transforming the cards in his hand.
Milk Blood is a pilgrimage into the consequences of greed. A great read.
Review by David Morgans
davidmorgans.com.au
To an extent, everyone plays the game. Breaking the law by going 61 in a 60 zone, is a risk. Then there’s those who live in the fast-lane, where risk is constantly scaled next to gain. Adrian’s father, the notorious heroin smuggler, Warren Fellows, author of ‘The Damage Done,’ risked himself, his youth, and his family, for short-term gain … and lost. Adrian sees risk in a different light.
In this dog-eat-dog world, Adrian’s trump card is his mother’s love, cradling him from the overwhelming, chaotic truth of who-and-what his father was … and is. She guided her son through the inner turmoil, all the while struggling to make sure her husband survives in jail. Money sent, transacted to shooting heroin into his veins. Corruption upon corruption upon corruption. Whilst his father discovered a heroin addiction in jail, Adrian looked at other families with awe and jealousy, wishing to be a part. His mother also took risks to give her child a safe upbringing, but her risks were out of love, not greed, which is the profound difference.
Milk Blood is a transformative story written with Gen X jargon. Sometimes: ‘Reality is a bitch served cold.’ But no child should have a nervous breakdown at ten! A sensitive child who’s dream of his father being a male role model, is shattered over and over and over again, especially after his King’s pardon. Ultimately Adrian realises it’s ok to be different, and the struggles don't stop, you just get better at dealing with them.
Difficulties in families are natural, so is forgiveness, but some family members are simply — constitutionally — bad. Building the proverbial bridge, yet again, means you are open to fall with them, again. How many times can one hold the scars of someone else’s boot on their back, before stopping that person’s boot from being there in the first place? Further, there’s the societal parameters Adrian’s peers perceive, with their families, and the groupies that fly along with the folklore that is, Warren Fellows. To quote Adrian, ‘What’s worse than a criminal? A criminal put on a pedestal.’
This book truly shows a man’s healing, not from a guru ‘self-help’ point-of-view, but from a male who has walked an emotional journey. There is his generational slant of ‘drugs, sex and doof music’ within this wise expression of a rebelling kid, who had better reason to rebel than most.
Experience shores up one’s personality and Adrian epitomises this throughout his life’s journeys. Through adversity, he ends up transforming the cards in his hand.
Milk Blood is a pilgrimage into the consequences of greed. A great read.
Review by David Morgans
davidmorgans.com.au
May 29, 2016
Very enthralling personal account of living life--and I mean LIVING life! This guy has seriously seen and been through it all! Almost doesn't seem real! Interesting to read his account of Warren Fellows and see that not everything or everyone is who they're made out to be. His story is very encouraging and inspiring.
(Won my copy through GoodReads Giveaways)
(Won my copy through GoodReads Giveaways)
May 17, 2016
What a prick Warren Fellows is. I loved his book The Damage Done in fact it is one of my all time favourites. I'm glad I picked up a copy from a charity shop though so no money will have found its way to him.
Very interesting to hear the story from his sons perspective
Very interesting to hear the story from his sons perspective
November 16, 2015
captivating and emotional... Sensational read...
April 9, 2016
I received a copy of this book in exchange for a review. I found most of the book good and I think Adrian is a good story teller. I think, though, that he was too close to this story. I normally love autobiographies and love learning about different people experiences and view of the world so that was not the problem, it seemed as though he has not yet got a grasp of his own story so the writing of it was quite disjointed. It was good to have a story written from the family members of an infamous person as they are generally the people most impacted and they tend to suffer in silence.
Whilst reading this book I felt the lostness of the young Adrian and his ongoing desire to separate from his father's past, whilst also not being able to move on from it. It did feel like there were big chunks of his story left out and this meant that I really struggled to identify with him.
Whilst reading this book I felt the lostness of the young Adrian and his ongoing desire to separate from his father's past, whilst also not being able to move on from it. It did feel like there were big chunks of his story left out and this meant that I really struggled to identify with him.
June 13, 2023
Volgens Adrian’s eigen filosofie ben je ofwel een goede verhalenverteller, of heb je een heel erg uitzonderlijk verhaal te vertellen. Wat mij betreft overschat hij zichzelf hier.
Adrian is een man die sukkelt. Met het leven, de relaties met de mensen rondom hem, werk, zijn gezondheid en vooral met zichzelf. Zijn strijd proef je overal doorheen. Hij houdt zichzelf recht door grote wilde plannen en ambities te koesteren waar weinig van in huis komt.
Hij zoekt erkenning door het vertellen van stoere verhalen. Over zichzelf, over zijn reizen en werk, over zijn moeder (waar hij het niet kan nalaten om te eindigen met de boel naar zich toe te trekken met de uitspraak dat hij net zo dapper is als zij).
Het boek is een warrige opsomming van zijn leven. Verwacht weinig rode draad, opbouw, hoofd- en bijzaken of goede schrijfstijl. Hoe verder je komt, hoe minder samenhang er is. Dit wordt in het laatste deel wel weer beter.
Een hele hoop losse gebeurtenissen worden kort beschreven (‘ik ging naar de trouw van Pietje, ik nam veel drugs, ik woonde in Londen’) zonder dat ooit duidelijk wordt waarom precies dit verteld wordt of enig vervolg te geven op losse eindjes. Blijkbaar mocht alles wat in hem opkwam in het boek. Als lezer verlies je je in namen en plaatsen en de vele Trivia. Less is more was hier zeker van toepassing.
Ik kon me persoonlijk weinig inleven in hem omdat hij weinig lijkt te groeien. Hij wil over komen als iemand die veel heeft meegemaakt en heel bijzonder is, terwijl ik dat allemaal wel vind meevallen.
Adrian ziet ook voor alles wat gebeurt een schuldige maar hij wijst weinig naar zichzelf. Hij is duidelijk kwaad en die emotie proef je in elke bladzijde. En ja hij heeft natuurlijk wat zaken die echt tegenvallen buiten zijn wil om, maar hij heeft ook veel kansen gekregen.
Maar ipv daar enige dankbaarheid voor of besef van te hebben, reist hij rond, springt hij van job naar job, van relatie naar relatie, met wilde dromen waar hij niets mee doet, terwijl hij daar altijd excuses voor vindt en anderen de schuld geeft voor wat mis gaat. Hij schat zichzelf ook vaak hoog in, maar het blijft bij praatjes. Terwijl hij zichzelf ziet als succesvolle ondernemer, doet hij lang de meest uitvoerende jobs. Daar is niets mis mee, maar er lijkt vaak een grote discrepantie tussen zijn realiteit en die daarbuiten te zijn.
Hij laat uitschijnen dat zijn leven extreem is maar alles bijeen doet hij helemaal niet zo uitzonderlijke zaken. Hij is op zoek naar zichzelf en heeft veel interne struggles, maar lijkt hier zelf weinig inzicht in te hebben. Adrian komt bij mij wat arrogant en zelfoverschattend over. Zo vertelt hij over hele gewone zaken alsof ze supermoeilijk zijn en alleen hij zoiets kan. Soms vond ik dit wel treurig want het laat ook zien hoe wanhopig op zoek hij is naar erkenning.
Verder maakt hij vaak de allusie dat hij ‘het echte verhaal over zijn vader’ vertelt, maar ik heb geen discrepanties gevonden met het boek van zijn vader. Adrian vertelt gewoon zijn verhaal. Als je geïnteresseerd bent in hoe het Warren verging voor en ná zijn boek, krijg je daar wel een inkijk in.
Een kleine ergernis zijn de vele verwijzingen naar hoe hij en zijn moeder drugs nemen zonder erbij stil te staan dat hij zo precies mee datgene in stand houdt waar hij zo kwaad over is.
Naarmate je vordert vindt Adrian een baan waar hij succesvol in is. Maar hij laat deze achter en gaat weer achter een groot project aan. Intussen verslechtert niet alleen de gezondheid van zijn vader, maar ook die van hem. Hier vond ik hem wel iets beter schrijven. Dit is echt een hele nare periode voor hem. Als laatste loopt de relatie met zijn vader finaal stuk over een discussie over de filmrechten van het boek van zijn vader. Je proeft doorheen dit hele ‘project’ al dat ze hier niet hetzelfde in staan en dat het mis liep, is dan ook niet verrassend. Voor Adrian is het een harde klap want hij heeft er jaren tijd in geïnvesteerd. Het zorgt ervoor dat hij besluit om zijn vader eindelijk los te laten en verder te gaan met zijn leven.
Biografieën zijn altijd een gok, en deze stelde toch wat teleur…. Weinig kunde qua schrijven, een feitelijke opsomming van banen, locaties en gebeurtenissen zonder veel verrijking. Een man die worstelt en niet vooruit lijkt te komen, een trieste realiteit. Wat dat betreft is het misschien wel verfrissend om ook eens zoiets te lezen: het zijn niet allemaal happy endings. Ik hoop dat hij dat alsnog vindt.
Adrian is een man die sukkelt. Met het leven, de relaties met de mensen rondom hem, werk, zijn gezondheid en vooral met zichzelf. Zijn strijd proef je overal doorheen. Hij houdt zichzelf recht door grote wilde plannen en ambities te koesteren waar weinig van in huis komt.
Hij zoekt erkenning door het vertellen van stoere verhalen. Over zichzelf, over zijn reizen en werk, over zijn moeder (waar hij het niet kan nalaten om te eindigen met de boel naar zich toe te trekken met de uitspraak dat hij net zo dapper is als zij).
Het boek is een warrige opsomming van zijn leven. Verwacht weinig rode draad, opbouw, hoofd- en bijzaken of goede schrijfstijl. Hoe verder je komt, hoe minder samenhang er is. Dit wordt in het laatste deel wel weer beter.
Een hele hoop losse gebeurtenissen worden kort beschreven (‘ik ging naar de trouw van Pietje, ik nam veel drugs, ik woonde in Londen’) zonder dat ooit duidelijk wordt waarom precies dit verteld wordt of enig vervolg te geven op losse eindjes. Blijkbaar mocht alles wat in hem opkwam in het boek. Als lezer verlies je je in namen en plaatsen en de vele Trivia. Less is more was hier zeker van toepassing.
Ik kon me persoonlijk weinig inleven in hem omdat hij weinig lijkt te groeien. Hij wil over komen als iemand die veel heeft meegemaakt en heel bijzonder is, terwijl ik dat allemaal wel vind meevallen.
Adrian ziet ook voor alles wat gebeurt een schuldige maar hij wijst weinig naar zichzelf. Hij is duidelijk kwaad en die emotie proef je in elke bladzijde. En ja hij heeft natuurlijk wat zaken die echt tegenvallen buiten zijn wil om, maar hij heeft ook veel kansen gekregen.
Maar ipv daar enige dankbaarheid voor of besef van te hebben, reist hij rond, springt hij van job naar job, van relatie naar relatie, met wilde dromen waar hij niets mee doet, terwijl hij daar altijd excuses voor vindt en anderen de schuld geeft voor wat mis gaat. Hij schat zichzelf ook vaak hoog in, maar het blijft bij praatjes. Terwijl hij zichzelf ziet als succesvolle ondernemer, doet hij lang de meest uitvoerende jobs. Daar is niets mis mee, maar er lijkt vaak een grote discrepantie tussen zijn realiteit en die daarbuiten te zijn.
Hij laat uitschijnen dat zijn leven extreem is maar alles bijeen doet hij helemaal niet zo uitzonderlijke zaken. Hij is op zoek naar zichzelf en heeft veel interne struggles, maar lijkt hier zelf weinig inzicht in te hebben. Adrian komt bij mij wat arrogant en zelfoverschattend over. Zo vertelt hij over hele gewone zaken alsof ze supermoeilijk zijn en alleen hij zoiets kan. Soms vond ik dit wel treurig want het laat ook zien hoe wanhopig op zoek hij is naar erkenning.
Verder maakt hij vaak de allusie dat hij ‘het echte verhaal over zijn vader’ vertelt, maar ik heb geen discrepanties gevonden met het boek van zijn vader. Adrian vertelt gewoon zijn verhaal. Als je geïnteresseerd bent in hoe het Warren verging voor en ná zijn boek, krijg je daar wel een inkijk in.
Een kleine ergernis zijn de vele verwijzingen naar hoe hij en zijn moeder drugs nemen zonder erbij stil te staan dat hij zo precies mee datgene in stand houdt waar hij zo kwaad over is.
Naarmate je vordert vindt Adrian een baan waar hij succesvol in is. Maar hij laat deze achter en gaat weer achter een groot project aan. Intussen verslechtert niet alleen de gezondheid van zijn vader, maar ook die van hem. Hier vond ik hem wel iets beter schrijven. Dit is echt een hele nare periode voor hem. Als laatste loopt de relatie met zijn vader finaal stuk over een discussie over de filmrechten van het boek van zijn vader. Je proeft doorheen dit hele ‘project’ al dat ze hier niet hetzelfde in staan en dat het mis liep, is dan ook niet verrassend. Voor Adrian is het een harde klap want hij heeft er jaren tijd in geïnvesteerd. Het zorgt ervoor dat hij besluit om zijn vader eindelijk los te laten en verder te gaan met zijn leven.
Biografieën zijn altijd een gok, en deze stelde toch wat teleur…. Weinig kunde qua schrijven, een feitelijke opsomming van banen, locaties en gebeurtenissen zonder veel verrijking. Een man die worstelt en niet vooruit lijkt te komen, een trieste realiteit. Wat dat betreft is het misschien wel verfrissend om ook eens zoiets te lezen: het zijn niet allemaal happy endings. Ik hoop dat hij dat alsnog vindt.
June 1, 2021
I live by the rule that things come to you in life when you need them and this book was no exception. I have been through some very tough personal things in the last 7 months and something told me to read this book. I often do not listen to my inner voice but this time I did, I am so glad I did. Milk Blood is an inspiring read. Adrian Simon is the truest example of how you can make something of your life when all the odds are stacked against you.
It will make you laugh, cry, cringe, get angry, frustrated but most importantly it will make you realise that nobody has the perfect life and we are all fighting demons whether they be ours or the demons of others sent to try and break us.
It will make you laugh, cry, cringe, get angry, frustrated but most importantly it will make you realise that nobody has the perfect life and we are all fighting demons whether they be ours or the demons of others sent to try and break us.
January 31, 2024
Not the type of story i'd usually go in for, a friend recommeneded, who's mother read it, seemed like the whole family had, so thought I'd give it a shot. Glad I did, quite different to most bio's, full throated, fast paced, expressive, very telling and entertaining. is quite interesting what some people go through, how they deal with stuff and come out the otherside.
in short, Adrian's father was a big deal drug trafficker, busted in Thailand, sentenced to death, the author shares wheat he and his family went through. Pretty full on. I just orederd his father's book. The Damage Done.
Check it out.
in short, Adrian's father was a big deal drug trafficker, busted in Thailand, sentenced to death, the author shares wheat he and his family went through. Pretty full on. I just orederd his father's book. The Damage Done.
Check it out.
September 3, 2020
For me a must-read, he's fathers book, The Damage Done is my FAV book ever read.
But this book tells the other side of the story, never seen anyone wrote this.
For me, 5stars for sure!
A must-read, of course, after you read Damage Done.
But this book tells the other side of the story, never seen anyone wrote this.
For me, 5stars for sure!
A must-read, of course, after you read Damage Done.
March 1, 2017
*Received free through a Goodreads giveaway*
A facinating glimpse into someone else life.
A facinating glimpse into someone else life.
October 14, 2023
This is a raw and generous account of having a dad who lives a life of crime. How does a child make sense of the situation? What’s it like when you are aged four and go to a Thai prison to visit your dad.
Adrian is an excellent writer who gives us a glimpse inside his story. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Adrian is an excellent writer who gives us a glimpse inside his story. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews