William S. Burroughs

:sigh:
:deep breath:
: orgasm:
yeah, just kidding.
burrough's books are really amazing, i'm sure you guys have read him before. i think my favorite book is probably Junky; and Naked Lunch was really good, but i think it was kind of hard to follow. i think his whole style of writing is amazing because it just sucks you in, even when it gets boring he makes it hard to not want to read it just for the words. i remember reading this Bjork quote and she had described a song as feeling like "doing something dirty, like reading a William Burroughs book". i never really got that until i read Naked Lunch. it gets kind of raunchy, but i think that just adds to how well he can incorporate such animalistic things into a satire book without seeming stupid.
hoorah for burroughs.

 

I can't say enough good things about Burroughs, he's one of my favorites.

 

i read naked lunch before i read junky...and i wish someone had told me to read them the other way around...naked lunch is a difficult book to get through...but i found junky to be a lot easier...it only took me about 5 hours to read it all the way through...whereas naked lunch took days and days cos i had to keep rereading bits to make sure i hadn't missed something...

but both very good books...i'd highly recommend them to anyone...unless you're offended by homoerotica

 

I'm reading Naked Lunch now, and I find I'm enjoying it alot more than I thought I would. I mean, I expected it to be completely without direction, just random words strung together, but really so far I've found it to just be slightly twisted stories that come and go. I think the problem is that most people who can't get into it are expecting more of a continous plot. I can enjoy it on the grounds that I just go with the flow of what's happening, and think of it as it is, not think of it in the same basis I would for most books.

 

if you liked Naked Lunch, maybe you should check out Godfuck, by that Lord Rago Pulse character. He's a real twisted FUCK, he writes pornographic philosophy.

 

I believe Burroughs is one of the most important writers of all time.

My copy of Naked Lunch is riddled with underlines, brackets, circles, notes in the margins, etc. I remember when I first tried to read it I didn't get beyond a few pages. A year or so later I tried it again and it blew my mind. Now I've read it maybe a dozen times.

This is probably cliche but if you really want to be devastated, try flipping through one of Burroughs' books when you're tripping.

 

William S Burroughs is one of my all time favourites, the greatest of the Beats, and probably one of the few really great American writers.In fact, one of the few great post-war writers internationally....

Recently, I read 'ghost of chance', a short work but a great read both for those unfamiliar with WBS work, and old hands.

Also recently read a biography: 'el hombre invisible' by Barry Miles, which is very interesting, and gives great insight into some obscure phases of Burrough's work.

 

Hey guys i'm new to this board, i'm a huge fan of Burroughs and have collected a number of his first editions, anyway I noticed that you guys mention junky and the naked lunch alot, he has tons of stuff out there thats worth reading such as the ticket that exploded,soft machine,nova express and also his later trilogy of the cities of the red night,place of dead roads and the western lands. If you are interested I know an awesome site of which I am a member. Its located here http://realitystudio.org/ and is probably the best and most current pool of information about Burroughs. Bye.

 

I heard of him a lot before I picked up one of his books.. I read Junky (Naked Lunch looked hard to follow indeed) and honestly, I didn't like it. There was no descriptions of characters, no personality to them or the environment or anything. I found it a bit bland and I couldn't finish it.

I might have expected too much.. When I pick up a book called Junky, I want to read about the ride heroin takes you on, heroin being the crazy drug it is interests me. I got sick of reading about dealing and buying drugs and money ya know.

 

I bought western lands but haven't started it yet. I'm woundering, what did that book or his books in general do to you mentally, like are they eye opening about life at all? I'm too lazy to look it up. Thanks for loving someone around you.
Peace

 

I pick up Naked Lunch off an on, still haven't finished it yet. I'm reading The Wild Boys right now, which I absolutely LOVE.

 

great writer, crazy guy................

 

That is what the life of an addict consists of mainly.

 

Is Naked Lunch banned or somthing? I can't find it in any book stores.

 

Naked Lunch sucked
but I must commend the concept

 

The book or the movie?

I have to be honest, I'm finding the book a real struggle to read, more so than Requiem for a Dream. I can't find any structure, and I just don't get it, but maybe it's just me.

On the other hand, I found the film a pure stroke of genius!

 

Nope, not where I live at least...

To go into a little more detail about my thoughts on Burroughs' less straightforward books (Naked Lunch, Wild Boys, etc.) it seems like certain scenes are absolutely amazing and are incredibly memorable while others are just downright boring...it makes the books hard to stay with.

 

It's not just you...

It's meant to be like that ... or rather, if you believe the legend, Burroughs wrote it all under the influence of various drugs and had no recollection of having written it... I found it extremely difficult to read but there are some incredible and startling scenes, particularly the sex scenes

 

Yes, a memorable one being the gay sex in the gay bar...I think...Lots of obscenities and crudeness.

But I fucking love it!

 

I meant the book...