tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post5950599171969203864..comments2024-02-12T23:25:09.583-08:00Comments on Overweening Generalist: William S. Burroughs at 99: Viruses, Memes, Cats, Art, ETCmichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-74113964198086073962022-08-11T00:10:55.284-07:002022-08-11T00:10:55.284-07:00WSB got the term, "Mind Parasites," from...WSB got the term, "Mind Parasites," from the Colin Wilson novel with that title, which Burroughs liked.Kickaha23noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-29037551178625397342013-02-09T00:29:55.971-08:002013-02-09T00:29:55.971-08:00Tom, The Job is an excellent introduction to some ...Tom, The Job is an excellent introduction to some of Burroughs ideas.It's short and provocative and doesn't get into the utter weirdness that makes some of his writing so hard to get in to. I think Word Virus is the best intro to the man and his work. There are nice introductions to different periods of his writing, along with selections from his work to give you a taste of what he had to say and how he said it. From there, you can choose where to dive in further...<br /><br />Michael, I have not written about the virus/paraclete but I should. I haven't read all of the Exegesis myself, but what I have read is very interesting. I need to pick it back up. I would suggest you read Ubik before you page through the Exegisis, or perhaps tackle them concurrently. It seems to set the tone nicely. I will let you know if I post anything further on the subject! lavafacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03827596134540945946noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-62795787558477877762013-02-09T00:10:52.256-08:002013-02-09T00:10:52.256-08:00ADDENDA: I don't know how I could've forgo...ADDENDA: I don't know how I could've forgotten about The Job as a good first WSB book for those new to him.<br /><br />Odd, short books to get a feel: Ali's Smile, Naked Scientology, and the unfilmed (AFAIK) screenplay Blade Runner (which bears no resemblance to PKD's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, or Ridley Scott's adaptation).michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-56974868476145680472013-02-07T13:51:47.502-08:002013-02-07T13:51:47.502-08:00For someone who's already read some "expe...For someone who's already read some "experimental" modernist writing and feels comfortable: Naked Lunch.<br /><br />To ease in before NL, check out Junky/Queer/and WSB's hilarious letters to Ginsberg, The Yage Letters. Also: And the Hippos Were Boiled In Their Tanks finally came out; WSB co-wrote it with Beat colleagues. They didn't like it. I thought it was hilarious.<br /><br />Also: Word Virus is a good overview of the entirety of WSB. I love The Burroughs File and thought The Adding Machine was very much like - oddly - Right Where You Are Sitting Now by RAW.<br /><br />Do NOT start with the Nova Trilogy unless you're really weird.<br /><br />The last novels of his career are, to me, just stunning works: incredibly high in phanopoeia; i.e, very cinematic. But I assert the reader won't get as much out them if they hadn't read the earlier stuff.michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-13178942233425382732013-02-07T07:34:46.524-08:002013-02-07T07:34:46.524-08:00Really interesting blog post. Do you want to make ...Really interesting blog post. Do you want to make a suggestion on what book a Burroughs newbie should read?Cleveland Okie (Tom Jackson)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07810736442596736041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-36142224064141075362013-02-06T17:24:34.105-08:002013-02-06T17:24:34.105-08:00Always good to hear from you, Lavaface. I'd wa...Always good to hear from you, Lavaface. I'd wanted to check the WSB cat story in my copy of Word Virus, but it's in storage. Thanks for that. The PKD idea seems even more interesting to speculate about. The virus/paraclete idea: have you written on it? <br /><br />I've only spent about 90 minutes paging through the Exegesis; it seems to require a true commitment. <br /><br />I had loads of other items regarding viruses, memes, subconscious processes, metaphor, and other gnostic ideas, but I think I let that WSB birthday post get out of hand as it was.<br /><br />I do appreciate your readership and hyper-thoughtful and erudite comments. Also: any speculative ideas in the OG should be stolen and combined with the author's own ingenium.<br /><br />Re-reading your comment, what makes me really want to get hold of Exegesis again is "he found evidence of this hidden information in his own work." michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526042582094867513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1178284085080580526.post-62004266408021638702013-02-06T14:36:40.591-08:002013-02-06T14:36:40.591-08:00Thanks for the good post! I always like to read ab...Thanks for the good post! I always like to read about Burroughs. The toxoplasmosis/word control virus is interesting (and something that I've pondered before,) but as far as I know, Burroughs' love of cats came later in life, when he settled down in Lawrence, KS. This information comes from Word Virus, an excellent anthology of his work with illuminating biographical notes from his last lover. <br /><br />I find an affinity between Burroughs' word virus and Philip K. Dick's musings on the paraclete, an aspect of the Holy Spirit that masquerades as information and can "infect" unsuspecting readers, turning them into a form of being he termed homoplasmates. Indeed, looking back at his own work in the Exegesis , he found evidence of this hidden information in his own work (particularly Ubik and Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said.) Where Burroughs saw the word as malevolent, and used his work to unshackle minds from Control, Dick considered this hidden information as benevolent, perhaps even necessary to salvation. I think they are both right in their own ways. If you haven't read the Exegesis, I can't recommend it enough. Seems like it would be some good fuel for future posts.... lavafacehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03827596134540945946noreply@blogger.com