Burroughs and Ballard?

sterculelum

What are these writers like? I read Crash a while ago and kinda liked it, though I don't know why. I've heard that High Rise and The Drought by JG and Junky by William S were good... I saw Naked Lunch (the movie) ages ago and didn't really know what to make of it...

o Fiac

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sterculelum

K thanks. I might do that. I like other Cronenberg stuff, like Dead Ringers...

Don't worry about my stomach, should be fine. Most sickening I ever read was American Psycho, and that was pretty horrible.

dudara

Personally, I'm not a huge Burroughs fan. His style of writing really irritates me. But that's a personal thing.

I do however love Ballard. Crash is an excellent novel, pity about the film. Certain phrases and scenes from the book still keep popping into my mind, even though it's been a while since I read it.

punka

If you want to read some Burroughs I'd suggest you check out Junky or Queer before you try to tackle Naked Lunch, they're way more accessible and give you a good idea of the general subject-matter Burroughs covers in his work. I found Naked Lunch quite tough going, tbh, but rewarding at the end. I guess it's a bit like Joyce, you know the way everyone says you should read Portrait before you read Ulysses? Same dealio with Burroughs.

Karlusss

William Burroughs is one of my favourite writers, but I think one of the best places to catch his writing as an organic sort of thing (which it was meant to be) is in the letters he sent home from Tangiers. They sort of... morphed into Naked Lunch later on, but they carry so much more punch when you know he's talking half out of experience and half out of being mad off his face for six months.

My favourite passage in literature is in Naked Lunch, too. "Rock and roll adolescent hoodlums storm the streets of all nations.... "

It's a classic.

o Fiac

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shuushh

read 90 pages of naked lunch couldnt really keep going was too difficult although there is obviously some nice writing there most of it is just crazy ramblings which is interesting enough in itself. give it a go anyway

Karlusss

Oh those crazy candiru.

Illkillya

Never read Crash, but Ballard's "Millenium People" was quite bad imo.

sterculelum

I'm reading Junky at the moment and loving it. I will read Naked Lunch after it. Where next? The Soft Machine?