the WILLIAM SEWARD BURROUGHS thread

B

Buick6

too punk to drunk
I must admit I only got into Burroughs in a big way in the last 2 years, ignoring most of his stuff because of the disgusting bad taste 'beatnik' literature left in my mind as a late -teen

Of his work, I *LOVE* his 'cut-up' trilogy of Soft Machine, Ticket That Exploded and Nova Express, with Ticket being my very favourite. I just can't get enough of his splattered pulp, sci-fi, sexual, techno ultra-violence mind fuck universe of anti-logic, terrific fun to read both straight and off yr gonads. The guy was just so fucking brilliant, and I guess being a respecter of the rock, it's amazing how his literature just completely blew minds of young musicians and counter-culture music fans in the 60s, 70s, 80s, shit even NOW.

Beautiful, life affirming stuff. Yep William S. IS the BLOKE!

Was wondering what other dissensans think of Burroughs werk?
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
"Was wondering what other dissensans think of Burroughs werk?"
Click to expand...
Really enjoyed what I've read although that isn't that much. I think I was saying before on here that I found Cities of the Red Night frustrating in the way that it sets up a brilliant story and then just buries it in weirdness. I don't have this problem with Naked Lunch or any of the others because they don't hint towards a great story in the same way, they just jump all over the place to start with.
Also read one called, I think, Burroughs File which has loads of short essays, some of which are interesting, some of which are literally just chapters of punctuation. I wonder what exactly the point of that is.
Obviously such an interesting author though, in his techniques and lifestyle but also in his ability to conjure up amazing images and crazy ideas that are totally memorable. I remember some scene where a character tosses a coin to a beggar who moves his diseased head to catch the coin in the hole where his nose should be, I don't know why but I love that kind of thing.
 
P

polystyle

Well-known member
i think one can find a decent lotta luv for the ol' WB on Dissensus B ,
sprinkled into the Sci Fi thread prolly and elsewhere.
Burroughs fan since mid 70's when I latched on to Naked, Soft, The Ticket that Exploded (great title),
Burrough's "The Job" with Daniel Odier (W B on cover sitting with shotgun across his lap) is another great one , not so easy to find perhaps , but worth it.
Surely, all found on the web somewhere some price,
simply finding it in a Thai used bookstore on Kow San Rd brought a smile at end of a long travel ...
'Journey Through time - space'
 
D

DJ PIMP

Well-known member
Reading Naked Lunch was a revelation.

Last thing I read was a critique of Scientology published in 1970, which was a bit interesting but dissolves into his fruity delusions toward the end.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
There are some anarchists on Radio 3 talking about the utopian pirate republic in Madagascar in the 18th century that inspired WSB in Cities of the Red Night...

Edit: worth a listen - one of them co-authored a book with David Graeber.

www.bbc.co.uk

BBC Radio 3 - Free Thinking, Anarchism and David Graeber

Matthew Sweet and guests look at the ideas of the American anthropologist (1961-2020)
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
ST Coleridge and Southey came up with the idea of founding a utopian republic too, called Pantisocracy (government by all) in the New World.

Fizzled out pretty quick obviously, but it seems they were pretty serious about actually making it happen for a while.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Benny B said:
ST Coleridge and Southey came up with the idea of founding a utopian republic too, called Pantisocracy (government by all) in the New World.

Fizzled out pretty quick obviously, but it seems they were pretty serious about actually making it happen for a while.
Click to expand...
Might have worked if they hadn't given it a name that sounds like a bunch of underwear fetishists.
 
Mr. Tea

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Woman on the programme just said "Nostalgia is the right-wing version of utopia" - what a great quote.
 
Corpsey

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
www.beatdom.com

Bill on Will and Writing

William S. Burroughs knew his William Shakespeare and referenced him in conversations in everyday life throughout his life. Young Billy Burroughs first immersed himself in Will at the Taylor tutoring school in his hometown of St. Louis, and later as a student who audited George Lyman Kittredge’s...
www.beatdom.com www.beatdom.com
 
version

version

Well-known member
He has a go at Christian anti-vaxxers in the one I'm reading atm, but I can't help picturing him going full crank in response to vaccines and lockdown re: COVID. That whole period feels like it was conjured out of his nightmares.
 
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