the WILLIAM SEWARD BURROUGHS thread

[version]

That's the one I tried and couldn't really get into.

Yeah, I got fed up with how repetitive it was when I read it, but I'm gonna give it another go. The edition I've bought has a bunch of notes with it which I'm interested in too. It's part of the same run as my copy of Nova Express. Those "restored" Penguin ones.

 

[Mr. Tea]

Yeah, I got fed up with how repetitive it was when I read it, but I'm gonna give it another go. The edition I've bought has a bunch of notes with it which I'm interested in too. It's part of the same run as my copy of Nova Express. Those "restored" Penguin ones.

The phrase that occurred to me at the time was "page after page of drug nonsense and random buggery." Which is fine, I mean this is Burroughs after all, but I prefer it when there is some element of a narrative to follow as well.

 

[version]

It's got that one chapter called 'The Mayan Caper' where he introduces a bit of linear narrative, but the rest I remember being all over the place. I think some of it's recycled from Naked Lunch or at least The Word Hoard manuscript too.

 

[Murphy]

Beyond certain core texts prefer his interviews, takes and lectures

 

[version]

Beyond certain core texts prefer his interviews, takes and lectures

I wanted The Job, but was out of stock when I was looking. They had a couple of the letters collections, but didn't fancy them. The main ones I want are The Ticket that Exploded and The Western Lands.

 

[woops]

I wanted The Job, but was out of stock when I was looking. They had a couple of the letters collections, but didn't fancy them. The main ones I want are The Ticket that Exploded and The Western Lands.

got job the other day from a charity shop, just after running some male lesbian posts through a cut up generator

 

[Murphy]

The Job et al got a modern classics rerelease, black and white photo-sleeved batches @version

I know screen time is a killer and turning an actual page suits some but archive has one of your picks

The western lands : William S. Burroughs : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

archive.org

 

[version]

Nova Express and Cities of the Red Night are my favourites of the ones I've read. It's been ages since I've read some of the others though.

 

[luka]

theres a giant book of his collected interviews ive got. its really good

 

[version]

theres a giant book of his collected interviews ive got. its really good

The Semiotext(e) one.

 

[luka]

yep

 

[version]

The only one I've got that isn't a novel is The Adding Machine.

 

[Benny Bunter]

Why has no nobody ever put out an edition of the nova trilogy in one book? (Or have they?) I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

 

[william_kent]

Why has no nobody ever put out an edition of the nova trilogy in one book? (Or have they?) I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

it hasn't been done yet - the nearest is "three novels" which is missing "The Ticket That Exploded"

 

[version]

There doesn't seem to be a definitive answer to what the actual order of the trilogy is other than The Soft Machine coming first. I think there are multiple versions of all three too. I've even read someone argue Naked Lunch might be considered one of the three as well as some of the recordings and that it's a multimedia project. The whole thing's still alive and mutating.

 

[version]

I think Pynchon borrowed a ton from Cities of the Red Night and The Place of Dead Roads for Against the Day. All the stuff about cowboys, time travel and the crew of boys. The trip to England as an agent. There are even similarities in some of the minor asides, stuff about light and painting, strange escape cabinets. It feels like he used the Burroughs stuff as notes to be fleshed out.

 

[version]

Why has no nobody ever put out an edition of the nova trilogy in one book? (Or have they?) I'd buy that in a heartbeat.

Maybe they don't sell so well and the publisher does better selling the three individually. You can charge more for three separate books than you can a single volume.

 

[Benny Bunter]

Yeah maybe. His back catalogue seems like a right mess. When I was into him, a long time ago now, his books were quite hard to come by. I've only read Naked Lunch, Junky, that one he did with Kerouac and a collection of letters. I don't have any of them now unfortunately.

 

[version]

Penguin have most of the major ones now. The only one they don't seem to have is Port of Saints.

 

[Benny Bunter]

Penguin have most of the major ones now. The only one they don't seem to have is Port of Saints.

Never even heard of that one.

I have had an urge recently to revisit stuff I read in my late teens/early 20s, see how they stand up - Burroughs, Ballard, PKD, all dissesnsus favourites - but I lost most of my collection when I moved to Spain.