Anyone here ever read Burroughs "Naked Lunch"?

[Taverner]

About to read it now...wondering is it worth the time and effort?

(At first glance it seems like it's going to be a tough read, like Dhalgren or Finnegans Wake...)

[Misunderestimator]

1. I read it years ago, but it's worth the read... just have some coffee.

:)

[rfranklin]

17. Burroughs cut his manuscript into pieces and then randomly...

arranged passages into a weird, kaleidoscopic drug-laced nightmare. It was so far out when published that it seemed a work of genius. It certainly was funkier and hipper than anything else at the time.

[Snoggera]

2. Saw the movie that was made

and have read some about his life. If will be interesting!

[joeybee12]

3. Yes, I read it, and can't say I thought it was worth it....

...rent the movie. This is one of the few examples where a movie is better than a book.

[Taverner]

5. But from what I've read the movie is nothing like the book

But that may be a good thing...LOL

I actually saw the movie, but from what it seems the book is a totally different mugwump...

[joeybee12]

12. I actually read the book AFTER seeing the movie--that's what got me

interested. From what I can tell, it's bsically the same story--movie and book, believe it or not.

[Taverner]

13. Cronenberg must have been smoking/shooting/transderming

Whatever Burroughs must have then....

[joeybee12]

15. Probably--anyway, you probably should read the book if, for no other reaso

than most people will tell you you should.

[Madrone]

4. It's worth it. n/t

eom

[Misunderestimator]

6. Yeah... and he's got some weird Kafka kinda influence... or Fellini

[Rowdyboy]

7. Very odd little piece

In retrospect, I doubt I'll ever bother to re-read it.

[leftofthedial]

8. not an easy read

but well worth it

(and easier than Joyce . . .)

[TrustingDog]

9. much likely worth the effort...

I have Ulysses sitting on my table for years now... I just can't get up the courage to read it through - I've delved and have been amazed but it's not a book, it's a commitment!

[Taverner]

11. "Ulysses" I could get through

"Finnegans Wake" took dedication, hours of saying WTF and a serious consideration if Joyce really had any talent as a writer at all...

Then I read "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"...and I renewed my faith in him...

[joeybee12]

18. LOved Portrait, but the others by Joyce I can do without....

...I think you really have to study him to enjoy him, and, quite frankly, there's too much else out there to read for me to do that. I don't have the time!

[tigereye]

19. did read Naked Lunch and bios of Burroughs

are quite interesting. He was an interesting piece of the Beat Generation. I myself have not been able to get through Ulysses (embarrassing for a lit major), although I have delved into it off and on since I was about 15, when I illegally took it out of the library, mainly since it was labeled 18 and over only!

[Amaya]

22. "Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man"

One of my favorites.

[Amaya]

10. Yes, it's worth the read

.

[markses]

14. Ayup...definitely read it

Good shtuff.

If you can get your hands on his Cities of the Red Night trilogy, catch that too. The Western Lands is one of the greatest novels of the 20th century.

[SarahB]

16. It's been years, but...

There was an odd little group of us in high school who were Naked Lunch fans. I don't even remember much about it. Not sure what became of the rest of them. I melted into suburbia quietly. :)

[Westegg]

20. I read it once; I dip into it from time to time...

...One needs to love literature and language in order to find it worthwhile, IMO. I do, so I enjoyed the work that was required to read it. It IS work. Not as much work as "Ulysses"---and not just because it's shorter. WSB writes in a hipster argot, an effervescent slang that is alternately scary and hilarious---and never less than truthful. "TNL" is more "reader-friendly," if you will, than "Ulysses." Do be awake when reading it, or your mind will wander and you'll easily get lost. Bill ain't big on traditional helpful signpost for readers. But it's all there. It's all there...

PS---The movie by Cronenberg uses "TNL" as a touchstone but goes in many diff. directions and can't be compared to the book itself, which is its own thing. Great movie, but the one isn't a substitute for the other. And vice-versa.

[NightTrain]

21. It's a tough read, but certain sections had me laughing out loud.

Just remember, when Burroughs wrote the book, he was on heroin much of the time. As such, "Naked Lunch" is very hallucinatory. At the same time, however, the book is viciously satiric and wickedly funny. I recommend it highly!

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

23. Hell yes. It is essential.

IMHO.