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What are readers saying about Naked Lunch: the Restored Text?
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-13 08:24:10.
(Language: English)
 
oh boy....this book is like a puzzle you can't solve...its the most bizzare, outrageous, bitterly funny, disturbing, thing I've ever read.....its something else.....the chapters are all scattered and unorderly....people who say they don't get the point of this book are just being honest...I'm gonna have to read it again when I have the time...I guess its more about the style of writing....the way its written is completely different than anything you'll ever read...I would say Naked Lunch is not for everyone....doesn't mean you don't give it a try at all....
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-05-11 12:27:37.
(Language: English)
This book is one big psychedelic head trip. It is by no means an "easy read" and should not be read by minors. You either love it or hate it...and I love it. Tyler summed it up perfectly when he said "Bizarre, disturbing, humorous, disgusting, difficult, putrid, shocking, controversial, satirical, thought-provoking, brilliant, and must be read more than once. I have to admit, I had to put the book down numerous times while reading it. It's tough to read because of the graphic content."
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-06-20 11:22:48.
(Language: English)
I use to own this, but it's in Vancouver with the rest of my abandoned things like audio cassettes and clothes I don't want anymore. The author was on drugs at the time, so this book is one long trip. It's full of imagery and some misogyny too. If you're easily offended by homosexuality, then don't read it and complain about it. It was hard to follow, as there's no real plot to it. I was shocked when David Cronenberg was doing a movie on this because I couldn't figure out how this book could be filmable, but he just took William S. Burrough life story and wove it into some of the images mentioned. Not bad, but I think you'd have to be a fan of WSB's to like it, or part of the Beat Generation to understand it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-14 06:01:09.
(Language: English)
I always thought the 1950's beatnik was so sexy. So I was looking forward to getting into their books. Hated them all. I love those girls with racoon eyes and black hair. Hated "On the Road." I love cigarettes and coffee in cafe's. Couldn't even finish "Naked Lunch." I worship the image of James Dean playing the bongos. Beat poetry makes me puke. Burroughs admits in the preface to not being able to remember writing "Naked Lunch." Why on earth would I want to read something the author can't even remember writing?! I'm disapointed in myself for not being hip enough to enjoy this book. It's too bad, because that whole beat mood fits me so perfectly. I can be very pretensios, I look sexy in all black, and I love to smoke!
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-07 10:17:36.
(Language: English)
In the immortal words of Nelson Muntz “I can think of at least two things wrong with that titleâ€. This book has very limited artistic value. The graphic violence, torture, rape, murder, and drug abuse is so outrageous that it feels juvenile. Burroughs tries so hard to be offensive that it comes out sounding silly more than obscene. The erratic flow of the novel was another annoyance, other authors have used this technique brilliantly but once again Burroughs tries too hard and fails. The only thing that keeps you reading this book is the few snippets of absolutely brilliant writing. About 5% of this book consists of fantastic writing and insightful depositions about human nature, government, authorities, and the struggle for success. These brief creative moments leave you wanting more, but sadly they do not last long. I am uncertain if these moments of brilliance are a result of Burroughs’ easing up on the drugs he took, or hitting them harder. (After reading this book I will never listen to the band “Steely Dan†the same way…..)
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-07-16 10:02:56.
(Language: English)
Hard to read. Strange.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-03-22 01:41:10.
(Language: English)
this books is very very strange. psychotic homosexual ramblings of a junkie. it doesnt flow. theres no story TO flow...but parts of it border on profound. most of the positive reviews are all puff and blow of people trying to think they get something just to feel good about themselves. it doesnt make sense, most of its not social satire (though some is), its the inside of a sick mind. which is all of our minds...
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-01-18 12:26:29.
(Language: English)
From franic scenes of graphic rape to junky's drfiting to get there fix giant black centipedes crawling searching for young boys This book is a tough read that will often cause odd sensations. Yet you can't put it down, requires at least a 2nd read if not more, and reading the appendix and outtake chapters (in this print/copy) helps gain more understanding to the text.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-09-06 06:15:15.
(Language: English)
There is absolutely nothing that I have ever read that compares to Burroughs' work. Be prepared to enter some strange territory when you read Naked Lunch or pretty much any of his work. Also, leave pre-conceived notions of a cohesive plot behind because basically this entire book is a collection of vignettes and nothing really connects together in any conventional sense. My reactions ranged from chuckles to utter disgust with some of the material in this book...and I couldn't put it down because it was so well written and shocking.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-01 01:06:02.
(Language: English)
La première impression a été une répulsion, provoquée par le récit d'un avocat bourgeois qui découvre les violences policières. J'avais eu la même réaction en lisant "L'horreur économique" de Viviane Forrester. La comparaison s'arrête, car autant le deuxième est d'une profonde inutilité, le premier s'avère très intéressant concernant l'attitude à avoir pendanty une garde-à -vue arbitraire. L'aspect juridique du livre s'avère utile et donne des armes pour briser l'omerta qui règne dans certains commissariats. Je n'ai pas compris grand chose...
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Ran posted a review at 2009-01-22 07:58:29.
(Language: English)
So disjointed and oblique that it makes Falkner’s work seem smooth by comparison. The overt obscenity and iconoclastic sexual escapades were no doubt scandalous for their time but at this point seem trite and juvenile. It’s broken stories, nonsense words and hallucinations which fast become tedious. All of that may be part of the intent but it makes for a read that by the end of the book is more out of obligation to the finish than to emotional connection to what passes to a story.
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Lisa posted a review at 2010-06-13 10:24:53.
(Language: English)
Don't read before bedtime or around meal time - I for sure lost my appetite and couldn't get a lot of these awful images out of my head. Fascinating, indescribable, vivid, disturbing, a wild ride through a nightmare. I doubt I'll read this book again - but it's worth the ride - it's to be "experienced" more than read.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-08-16 08:06:02.
(Language: English)
Now this is a book that's substantially lewd, hilariously obscene and unfathomably entertaining, in which I had the pleasure of discovering the most terrifying, reprobate faces of bold characterization. And of course Dr. Benway has recently replaced Madame Defarge as my idol, especially since I have always been a fan of rusty sardine cans and all of their medical uses. In short, this book makes Chuck Palahniuk look like a pansy-ass bitch cowering before the massive throbbing phallus of Burroughs' prose. I'm sure Burroughs wouldn't have protested this analogy and would've settled for Chuck, since apparently Ginsberg wasn't bending over and dropping his trousers for him.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-07-23 11:20:15.
(Language: English)
196 pages, 196 love-it-or-hate-it propositions. In one corner you have brilliant pieces of political and social commentary submerged in a wading pool of absurdist science fiction imagery. The pieces on Annexia, the political parties of Interzone, psychiatry (and so-called liberal positions on homosexuality), and addiction are as timely now as they were in 1959. In the other corner, you have a tidal wave of imagery that is simply absurd, and extremely difficult to get through without words just passing through your eyes with zero comprehension. If it weren't for the intelligence of the commentary, I'd assume it was just spank bank material for a really high gay man chasing down boy-ass in North Africa. I want to see something deeper there, but there's an Emperor's New Clothes angle that irritates the hell out of me, and I can't see any evidence of brilliance in said pieces themselves. They were redundant and, worse, any mood of disorientation could have been achieved with shorter segments of that nature. If you don't like to edit your work, fuck you, bad writing is bad writing. I'd still recommend it, and will be poking at it again (a routine here, a routine there), but unless there's some huge revelation with a second glance, I'll save my time for other books.
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Marcel posted a review at 2010-07-26 01:46:17.
(Language: English)
Naked lunch and dead ringers were a while ago, too. It's been a while since cberg was cberg... Did you like Shore's music for LOTR? I didn't. Predictable, I though. And I know you have to do a certain amount of celtic lament, but jeez...The Naked Lunch soundtrack is my favorite Shore. For me, it's dead ringers, naked lunch, videodrome. I think it's sort of a bullshit article. No novel that's worth a shit is filmable, but a good film can be made of any novel. Who would have thought there was a film in Naked Lunch, or The Incredible Lightness of Being. Good filmmakers find ways to illuminate good stories. Granted, it's hard in some cases and maybe not worth the effort, but it can be done. I'm not sure how "emphatically and for the last time" invites an argument, certainly not one based on a false premise...the would-I-prefer thing. The fact is, I did prefer the first Matrix movie to existenZ, but I don't need a comparative. A review is a personal reaction to a movie -- existenZ bored me silly. Period. I'd seen it all before. It has nothing to do with whether I like or do not like video games. It has nothing to do with Videodrome, which struck me as a better movie when I saw it, but I haven't seen it for a long time, so maybe I wouldn't like it as much now. Cronenberg's best work is his less gimmicky stuff, the stuff that doesn't get dated, and existenZ was dated from the git-go. I could get more particular in my criticism, contrast existenZ with Naked Lunch, discuss how existenZ seemed an afterthought to Lunch, substance addiction compared to game addiction, even down to the materials of the game, and talk about the fact that I don't believe Cronenberg is a good scriptwriter, that he works best (generally) when given other people's work, but to do this when talking about a minor Cronenberg movie seems excessive. Boy, he sure likes Howard Shore more than me! I usually like Shore, especially his partnership with Ornette Coleman in The Naked Lunch, but I really loathed this score... I hate Crash, was bored by existenz, and a number of his films just flat leave me cold. I loved Dead Ringers and Naked Lunch--I have feeling this one won't be a Cronenberg movie as much as a Viggo Mortensen - Ed Harris movie. I hate to be the odd man out, but ExistenZ bored the heck out of me, It seemed a rehash of ideas he done in other films. I much preferred Spider. My favorite Cronenberg films are the one about the twin doctors whose name I can never recall and The Naked Lunch. so maybe it's scifi I don't like.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-01-06 12:00:38.
(Language: English)
Holy crap. Naked Lunch. What a book. If you can call it a book, it's more like a complete mental breakdown of everything innocent. William Burroughs is the cause of this disease, and the cure is self-restraint. As disturbing as this book is, and at times difficult to understand, it is worth a once-over because it's such a legend. This has got to be one of the most controversial books ever written (in my opinion that is). It was banned all over the US, in fact the book actually opens with the court hearing of Naked Lunch VS. Boston. I guess they don't find writtings of pedofilia acts, drugs, rapes and hangings (simultaniously mind you) all that charming. Suddenly A Clockwork Orange seems like a bedtime story.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-04 07:56:51.
(Language: English)
I think I've officially given up on this book. I've been trying to read it for over three months now and it's only 200 pages long. I understand that William Burroughs was a homosexual, but the fact that he dragged anal, necrophiliac sex into it was appalling. I understand that he was trying to be shocking (because books with shock value usually sell), but this is just too much. I would read twenty pages at a time and could go no further because I was left with such a feeling of filth and uneasiness. Besides the sexual encounters, this book makes no sense. There is really no sense of a plot, as I believe Burroughs just took a bunch of heroin one day and starting writing. Ramblings of a heroin addict should not be published, let alone be hailed as literary genius. He even admits to his readers in the restored text that he has no recollection of even writing this book. What a joke! I think the thing that bothers me the most about this book was that one of my professors recommended it to me and told me I would LOVE it. I had such high hopes for it and then I was let down immensely. I love beat authors, but Burroughs is one that I will never go near again.
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-01-28 08:57:37.
(Language: English)
I have just finished reading the book called 'Naked Lunch' by William S. Burroughs. And I have to relieve my mind of the disturbing thoughts that are haunting me as a result of the reading. The best parts of the book are the preface and the appendix. The rest is jumbled up thoughts that passed thorugh the mind of a drug addict whose sole reaason for existence was his next dose of drug. May be the book is way above my intelligence or it is a pure nonsense, which got hyped due the ban imposed on it. If there was a lesson to be learnt, I have missed it. If there were any nuances in the book that was worth understanding, it has totally escaped me. There are stray paragraphs in the books that made sense to me but they got lost in the lurid account of addiction and unnecessary details of sodomy. I was totally grossed out by the blasphemy and dirty descriptions by the time I was 30 pages throught the book. But I continued with the thought that I can't crticize a book without reading it cover to cover. So I endured the punishment of reading thorugh pages written by a mind numbed with drugs. And the result was that I still don't get the point of the book, except that I have learnt the name of every known drug and terminologies used by addicts. There is no reason to recommend this book to others, it doesn't even fulfill the task of acting as a deterrent to others in the wrong path. I regret reading this book.
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A Reader posted a review at 2008-06-27 12:38:17.
(Language: English)
"I can think of at least two things wrong with this title" Nelson Munce.I really enjoy a book of this caliber, although after reading I am still not sure exactly what the author is or was talking about. However it is a splendor of well constructed sentences and paragraphs. Also this book deals with some nasty shit I found myself asking many times is there any light at the end of this tunnel, and the answer is no. That being said it forces you to look inside yourself and confront and ideas of right and wrong you might have had. However this read is not for the faint of heart, many times I had to put it down and get a grip on my sanity. Am I better of after reading this..? Probably not, but I enjoyed it none the less.
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A Reader posted a review at 2009-05-20 12:02:09.
(Language: English)
Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It's not exactly what I expected. I read the first twenty pages or so a few times over the period of about a year before I finally found the nerve to actually read the whole thing. While reading Naked Lunch I was 90% confused. The "synopsis" on the back of the book doesn't tell you much, so you don't know what to expect anyway. Once I read the little "extras" in the back of the book did I understand it a little more. It's worth reading if you appreciate odd writing styles. I'm probably going to have to read this again at some point to pinpoint exactly how I feel about it.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-09-03 01:41:32.
(Language: English)
I think Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs is one of those books you either love or hate, but few will be ambivalent towards it. The book was tired as obscene after publishing in 1959, but was found to have literary merit by the US Supreme court. I'm sure it does, but it was hidden very well. After finishing the book, I still can't really describe a coherent story line. It's supposedly about a narcotics addict's journey from New York, to Tangiers and then to the fictional 'Inter Zone'. I understand that the book is written in a disjointed style, mimicking the drug addict's disturbed thought pattern and that's how the book read - disjointed. It was a series of seemingly unrelated tirades, which I know from reading Ginsberg's trial testimony, are satiric jabs. Had I not been equipped with that knowledge, I would have assumed the entire book was an endless stream of gratuitous homosexual and violent imagery. I suppose the brilliance lies in the fact that there is much more than initially meets the eye. For someone who bothers to delve deeper, they will be rewarded, however for others, reading this book will be a grotesque and unpleasant journey.
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Alik posted a review at 2008-01-20 01:46:47.
(Language: English)
I like the style of this book though and ""think i understood most of it but it was pretty hard work.I had to get my mind in a particular way of seeing things and then it all clicks into place albeit at a slow pace for me meaning i had to reread some parts.I think this book truky changes the way you see things and can be pretty unsettling at times.Not a book for those without the time to dedicate to it.which was an issues my 1st time around but definatly worth the effort for a unique and very expressive style of writing. Taking awhile to get though can be difficult but rewarding and mind warping...
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A Reader posted a review at 2010-09-08 03:41:35.
(Language: English)
Naked Lunch isn't profanity. It's a piece of literary defecation. It's a hardcore look into the mind of someone who'd been loading himself eighteen ways from sunday with smack. For all the incredible art that heroin has helped usher into the world, this is not one of them. Yes, Billy Burroughs did make a piece of art... but not all art is good. This book is a needle full of ass sucking word vomit that explores even some of the things a person as depraved as myself haven't bothered to think of yet. While it's writings from a paranoid junkie mind that fears every other form of human life, particularly others of Burroughs' sexuality... man, that dude was one closeted gay hating gay. Regardless, there's been enough talk about the flaws and merits of this novel. I don't have much of anything to add to the legacy in regards to my words on it. I stared into this bombastic abscess hole shaped abyss and I blinked. While this book is a piece of art and an important step forward for the voice of literature on the whole, it's still a terrible book that I only passingly enjoyed reading on occasions that it didn't make me revile that old smack head's Clark Nova.
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-08-30 01:21:34.
(Language: English)
This is not a book to be taken lightly. It is filled with sex, death and mutilation from the start and is often so graphic and brutal there is really no surprise when one learns of the censorship battle surrounding its publishing. I love this book for many reasons; I cherish its insight into the dealings of mankind. This book can be taken at the surface level as the incoherent babbling of a junkie ( which it often is) or as a collection of 'routines' sent in letters to Allen Ginsberg (which it is); but it should always be read with the knowledge that the text is supposed to be foul and (often) incoherent so therefore one may not understand much of it at first. As Burroughs himself wrote: 'The Word is divided into units which be all in one piece and should be so taken, but the pieces can be had in any order being tied up back and forth in and out fore and aft like an innaresting [sic] sex arrangement.'
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A Reader posted a review at 2007-10-23 06:47:06.
(Language: English)
Naked Lunch isn't a book. There's no plot to speak of, no real characters to follow, certainly no structure to comfortably guide us through any story. No, Naked Lunch isn't a book... it's a feast. It's a buffet of words arranged in weird and wonderful but above all powerful ways. It's a six course literary meal from a five-star chef. It's a rollercoaster ride through the worst pit of hell imaginable: our society. It disgusts, it amuses, it horrifies, it saddens, it amazes and it dirties you with a slanted view that cuts through the dressing of a world less ordinary. Some people will hate it, some people will love it and it makes no apologies about that. This is everything prose should be. This is writing dangerously. Sit down and dig in.
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