Finally did I finish The Soft Machine; probably not the best Burroughs to start off with.
In the meantime I attempted to read two others without success:
Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer
This may not be the best Mailer book to start out with, either. Set in Ancient Egypt where all of Mythology is real, it seems that Mailer was mostly interested in offending your sense of good taste, which he does quite well. Here are graphic depictions of sex: homo, hetero and incestuous; necrophilic and scatological. It is vulgar and distasteful, but the language used has its moments of beauty. After page 233, I decided that the book really has nothing else to offer and was quickly placed back on the shelf.
The Diviners, by Rick Moody
Moody wrote The Ice Storm, which was adapted by Ang Lee in the 90s and was pretty good.
Perhaps its the close proximity of themes with House of Sand and Fog, but I found this to be mostly unreadable and boring, especially in comparison to the beautiful other. Honestly, I can't say much because I couldn't read much, but what I did read involved 20 pages of the morning sun stretching across the earth, followed by an octogenarian on the toilet taking a massive and painful bloody dump.
Not what I call entertaining.
However, I have finished:
Jack Frusciante has left the band, by Enrico Brizzi
Entertaining, but not what I expected. I'm still not sure why the name was changed. I'm aware that it was intentional, but I don't know if it was artistic or legal. Either way, I found this book randomly in the library, and found myself reading of the comparisons to Salinger, and most notably Catcher in the Rye. I really wish people wouldn't throw that name and title around as if it didn't mean anything. To say the least, the comparison is not apt. While the book is entertaining, it does not, in ANY way, equal Salinger or Catcher (which, I guess, should be expected). Of course, there could always be something lost in translation.
The movie adaptation looks pretty silly, too.
And I'm currently reading:
Here's my recommendation for you all. I'm half way through and this one book makes up for all the above. Beautiful language and style, and the passion for literature and poetry is palpable, through the characters and the author. Lovely lovely lovely.
In the meantime I attempted to read two others without success:
Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer
This may not be the best Mailer book to start out with, either. Set in Ancient Egypt where all of Mythology is real, it seems that Mailer was mostly interested in offending your sense of good taste, which he does quite well. Here are graphic depictions of sex: homo, hetero and incestuous; necrophilic and scatological. It is vulgar and distasteful, but the language used has its moments of beauty. After page 233, I decided that the book really has nothing else to offer and was quickly placed back on the shelf.
The Diviners, by Rick Moody
Moody wrote The Ice Storm, which was adapted by Ang Lee in the 90s and was pretty good.
Perhaps its the close proximity of themes with House of Sand and Fog, but I found this to be mostly unreadable and boring, especially in comparison to the beautiful other. Honestly, I can't say much because I couldn't read much, but what I did read involved 20 pages of the morning sun stretching across the earth, followed by an octogenarian on the toilet taking a massive and painful bloody dump.
Not what I call entertaining.
However, I have finished:
Jack Frusciante has left the band, by Enrico Brizzi
Entertaining, but not what I expected. I'm still not sure why the name was changed. I'm aware that it was intentional, but I don't know if it was artistic or legal. Either way, I found this book randomly in the library, and found myself reading of the comparisons to Salinger, and most notably Catcher in the Rye. I really wish people wouldn't throw that name and title around as if it didn't mean anything. To say the least, the comparison is not apt. While the book is entertaining, it does not, in ANY way, equal Salinger or Catcher (which, I guess, should be expected). Of course, there could always be something lost in translation.
The movie adaptation looks pretty silly, too.
And I'm currently reading:
Here's my recommendation for you all. I'm half way through and this one book makes up for all the above. Beautiful language and style, and the passion for literature and poetry is palpable, through the characters and the author. Lovely lovely lovely.