Naked Lunch

Rating:
Summary: maybe I have to read it again
Review: You know Burroughs to me, is very hit or miss. Junky was a hit. Some of interzone was a hit.... But Naked Lunch to me, while I guess many consider it a great work of art, seems to me to be a rambling self indulgent diatribe. Again maybe I have to read it again, but I don't quite have the desire to do so. There are some good moments it the book. But since it's basically a junkie talking while on junk I didn't think I could relate. Burroughs was a fantasic writer with such a sharp mind, and occasionally I just think he is being lazy with it, masking bull for ART.

Rating:
Summary: Naked Lunch is Frightening & brutal
Review: Naked Lunch was the book whose landmark 1965 obscenity trial ensured literary freedom in the United States. Released shortly after its author, William S. Burroughs, regained control of his life after a fifteen-year addiction to opiates, Naked Lunch reads like a junky's account of a small, incredible period of time full of the extreme and incredible and told in a rambling, sometimes incoherent stream of conscious as if the author's mental health could produce nothing concrete. Feeling threatened by sadistic U.S. law enforcement, drug pusher and habitual user, Bill Lee, flees to Interzone a surrealist netherworld in Mexico filled with extremes of brutality, poverty, politics and madness. The book presents such unforgettable characters as sadistic medical artist, Dr. Benway; crude, international prankster, AJ and moraless drug dealer, Fats Terminal. In the forward of another novel, Queer, Burroughs states that his actual time in Mexico was made more enjoyable by the primitive nature of the citizens which Burroughs found oddly humorous, stating simple disputes ending in savagery and all types of what Americans would consider lewdness. Approach Naked Lunch as you would the account in Queer's foreword: An incredible account from a not-to-dependable source who has been to places and mindsets you will never experience and you will be strangely compelled to think how much of this savage book was based on an actual experiences or actual truths concerning cruelty Burroughs experienced. I think it was meant to be read as such considering the book of first released under the pseudonym of its main character. Of coarse being based in a fictional area of Mexico does not mean Naked Lunch has no parallel to life in the states. I can't help but see satire of America's social structure during the scenes portraying Interzone's political parties and scenes portraying its class stratification. Written superbly with beatnik-style lyricism, Naked Lunch presents wonderful satire and a confrontational nature destined to appeal to those of us with more extreme senses of humor.

Rating:
Summary: ACS 200
Review: What in the world is up with this book? This was an interesting story. There is no plot, which gets a little confusing. This book was really confusing to read because it seemed to jump around and not have a continue flow. William Burroughs was very creative in coming up with this story though. How many authors have the imagination and courage to write a story like this? This book went through a lot of court cases because people were trying to get it banned. But in the end it won the court cases and is permitted on the bookshelves. Even though I found this interesting it took me a while to realize that the only way to understand it was to just read and not really understand it. That made it a bit confusing, but it was actually pretty fast reading. It's been a while since the last time I could say that I was able to read 90 pages in just one day. I recommend anyone who is up for a good read where they do not want to have to really think when reading, to read this book. I am not used to reading books and not thinking about them and just reading, so it was a little difficult to make myself do at first, but after not very long it was a lot easier and made the book much more enjoying not having to think about what I am actually reading. Overall I really thought that this was a pretty good book.

Rating:
Summary: Crazy book
Review: This book is one of the most frustratingly amazing books in the world! I cannot believe that I made it through, but I did. When I was finished, I was exhausted, perplexed, and startled. At first glance the book looks like a novel, but it reads like an array of short stories interlaced. The scenes jump around so much that you get the real idea of what goes on in the mind of a heroin addict. Burroughs is one of the most masterful poets in the world. My recommendation is do not try to read this book to find a plot, understand the characters, or make sense of what happens. Just read the book word for word, sentence for sentence, and paragraph for paragraph. Take it at face value and you will enjoy the book thoroughly. Try to think too deeply, you will not be able to take it, and the book will anger you to no end. Definitely a good read!

Rating:
Summary: outrageous genius
Review: This is a book that truly presents a multiplicity of elements and allows for the reader to combine them as he pleases. Thus, as this book comes from many different angles, there are many different ways of interpreting the style, themes, and general content. Most of the scenes in "Naked Lunch" come off as cartoonish, however, this does not mean that the social commentary is weakened; nor does it mean that Burrough's vision of "hell" is somehow thinned out. Rather, only by writing in such a manner is Burroughs truly able to exploit those elements of humanity that he wishes to discuss and comment on. That is, he takes something (for example, addiction in general) and raises it to the highest power--exploiting the exploitation. On another level, "Naked Lunch" can be interpreted from an aesthetic viewpoint. Remember, it was Burroughs who saw that "literature was about 50 years behind other forms of art". Thus, we get the cut-up method, which is roughly word-collaging. This method allows for Burroughs to present multiple layers and form various connections both within the text and to elements outside of the text that normally would not be made. This method allows for the writer to truly refute "the man" in the sense of all of those do's and do-not's that we have been taught about writing; it allows for one to enter the text at any point and form a maximum amount of relays both within itself and with the outside world. Thus, to call commentary that is carried out in such a manner "juvenille", etc. seems to ignore exactly what Burroughs was attempting to accomplish (among other things) in "Naked Lunch". Granted, if one is expecting suspenseful plots, one will be dissappointed by this book, but to a degree, that is the point: that direct story-lines are the ideal creations of authors and fail to display, in thier very conception, the various layers at work in life. Because of the complexity of "Naked Lunch", it demands to be read multiple times and the outrageous, and often funny, scenes make this an enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: Not For The Faint Of Heart
Review: This novel is unlike anything that I've ever read. Burroughs's flights of fancy are wildly imaginative and often repugnant; he displays an unusual mastery of language and an outrageous prose. With its highly volatile and pornographic content, sometimes homosexual in nature, it's somewhat hard to believe that "Naked Lunch" was printed in 1959. (In fact, censorship proceedings are documented in the introduction to the paperback version. For this episode alone, the book is important.)

Whether you like this fiction is a serious matter of taste, but it IS vilely artistic and undeniably useful to the student of literature. What's ultimately the point of the novel? I can only offer a subjective opinion. But we are fed the notion that the novel condemns all forms of addiction -- addiction to drugs, power, subservience, sex, etc. -- though it's difficult to see this without prior guidance. I thought that I'd seen and heard everything, but my first encounter with Burroughs proved me wrong -- big time!

This kind of writing isn't for the faint of heart. Although Burroughs definitely displays a prodigious talent, his art may be compared to Henry Miller on drugs. If you feel that you COULD'VE liked this book, but the style threw you off, give Miller's "Tropic of Cancer" a whirl.

Rating:
Summary: It's certainly a classic
Review: A classic of the Look at Me Look at Me I'm Going to Shock You Out of Your Bourgeois Complacency School of Literature. Ground breaking only in that Burroughs was one of the first to get this kind of book published. If you enjoy having juvenile social commentary screeched at you with all the intensity normally reserved to angry and deep high school juniors, with the added bonus of having it obscured by scatological metaphors whose referents reside mainly in Burroughs's drug addled brain, then read this book - there is no better. All these 5 star reviews only go to prove that Emperors with out clothes will always have their fans. I must admit though that it was kind of fun to spot the phrases Steely Dan co-opted - nothing is without some value I suppose.

Rating:
Summary: A Literary Classic!
Review: Naked Lunch is one of the greatest books of the 20th century. It is a must for anyone who dare think of themselves as literary connoissuers (sp?). Filled with humor, symbolism, fantasy, and ground breaking writing style, I recommend it to everyone. The book replaces traditional measures such as "plot" and "story" in favor of creating an overall "feeling". When you are finished it will hit you, and when it does you will never forget Naked Lunch.

Rating:
Summary: ...cancer is waiting at the door with a singing telegram...
Review: William S. Burroughs was on a quest to overthrow time. And although "it" still governs us, he has succeeded in creating a universal anti-religious, unconventional, and cosmic Bible for the futuristic cynic in us all. A commentary on the darkest possibilities we are capable of, but neither a criticism or an admiration; a twisted glimpse at all the wonderfully abstract beauty we could appreciate if we just expanded the gateways in our mind; but most importantly, a truly great piece of "enlightenment through words" if there is such a thing. And to think-Webster probably never expected this when he created his first dictionary. Read this book, expect nothing, and let your universe mutate...ah, protoplasm...FADEOUT.

Rating:
Summary: Symbolic and mysterious
Review: It would take a lifetime to uncover the meaning of all the symbolism of this book. With that in mind, I say, read this with an open mind and realize that the apparant vulgarity or 'obscenity' as the trial called it is, for the most part, symbolism for something else entirely. This is most definitly not an easy read, so expect to spend some time on this - and have fun doing it. I have only read it once, but plan to read it many more times to uncover more of the mystery once my to-read book list is slightly shorter. Something interesting I noticed that I will share without giving any of the story away is that it would go from an intense, seemingly schizophrenic scene to a much calmer scence where a character takes more drugs - this whole book could be interpreted as a drug trip, the interludes being when the druggie comes down off the drug. Burroughs says that while being a junkie himself all he did for days was stare at his shoe, only paying attention to things in his line of vision - this book could be what was going on inside his head while he did this. Do not expect an easy read or a clear cut story, but you should most definitly read this book.