Naked Lunch
 

I just started reading it around 15-20 pages in, I really dig it's lack of any kind of sense of real continuity or plot, and this guy can really write but sometimes I find him a little too effective and real nautious like when he talks about the ectoplasm and the broken glass in legs.
Anybody read it? Any thoughts? Has anybody seen the movie becasue so far I don't see how it could wyrk as a movie...

Yeah, the book as it is is pretty much unfilmable.
The movie is great, but it's more of an amalgamation of certain details from the book intermixed with biographical details from Burroughs' life.
I enjoyed it a lot, but it seems to polarize opinion.

I love the book. It really opened my mind in regards as to what a novel could be, and it oozes evil like nothing else I've read. It's great.

Oh yeah, there is somewhat of a plot, but it takes a while to get going.

i read it, i thought it was quite boring, except for his theories on apomorphin etc. i find burroughs quite overrated by people who are into drugs, i mean, looking for an excuse to get high.

I'm not into drugs, I actully find most drug movies boring, but this I'm really enjoying this book so far.

Fuck yes.

I find his adulation puzzling to say the least.

Exactly!

I bought it the other month. I'm yet to read it. I'm looking forward to when I do.

Same thing for me. I loved the book, and regardless of whether or not there is a plot (I suppose it can be argued for or against), don't go searching for plot in the book, read and enjoy, or read and don't enjoy. It's a tough read at parts, especially the weird death/sex 'scenes'. I grimaced and ...can't remember the word...'d at many parts, but enjoyed it no less, if not more for it's ability to make me do that.
I want to see the movie baaad.

*Oh, and !@#$%!, I'm not into drugs either, and enjoyed it.

i read on the road 2 years ago, and was really hoping to like burroughs.
unfortunately, in my opinion, i think it's over-rated. i thought it was a mediocre book at best, didn't get the hype. the cut-up technique was an original and "far out there" existential technique yada yada yada, yeah, but i find the majority of the writing terribly boring. some passages are fabulously written however, with wonderful ideas, but the novel never did anything for me as a whole.
it's not a bad book, just not as brilliant and genius as everyone makes out.
"junky" is much more interesting, i thought.

Yeah, it's one of the few books that really messed with me and made me feel ill at ease. I haven't seen the movie, but I'm considering it. I sort of decided to give up on book-to-movie adaptations recently, but from what I've heard about the movie I might go back on that decision.

On the Road is great.

I started reading Naked Lunch today. I read Burroughs introduction which I found interesting, but only got through a few pages of the novel. Only a few pages when my mind wasn't completely focused on reading and them few pages are a blur as to whats going on. I'm like what the fuck? I'll most likely have to read them pages again.

the book is great and so are all the other burroughs i have read except for maybe the wild boys. the movie is also fantastic. however my favourite(s) are the western lands trilogy which has a lot of content based around the geopolitics of a future which we are quite close to now.

the movie is fucking great-- cronenberg is a film god.

I haven't read the book, but the movie was good.

liked the book and the movie. there is no way that the movie could have anything like as much as the book does in it but it wasnt a bad adaptation especially as burroughs himslef was on set for a lot of it.

Do it just cuz you feel like doing it . you dont miss things when you dont "get" a passage of this book . just take it as it is .

i've seen the movie which was pretty good but not amazing, but i still want to read the book because from all accounts its quite alot different and i've got some audio files of burroughs which i think are pretty interesting, so i'd like to see how he writes

i think you misunderstand.
i meant that i read "on the road", and was immediately in love with it, so i thought i would search out other books written by the beats. that is why i was wanting to like burroughs so much, but it never clicked with me. i know all about on the road, haha, i was extremely obsessed with it for a year.

One of the best films and books ever. Though they don't really have much to do with each other...

There's no Burroughs thread that I could find so I'm posting here.

Been listening to the junky audiobook lately. Great stuff.

where to get?

Are you anywhere? Are you holding? ... Do you have any junk or weed on you?

Beat ... To take someone's money. For example, addict A says he will buy junk for addict B but keeps the money instead. Addict A has "beat" addict B for the money.

Benny ... Benzedrine. It can also mean overcoat.

Bring down, Drag ... The opposite of high. Depressing.

Brown Stuff, or Mud ... Opium

Burn Down ... To overdo or run into the ground. Certain restaurants are used so much by junkies as meeting-places that the restaurant gets known to the police. Then the restaurant is "burned down."

Burning Down Habit, an Oil Burner Habit ... A heavy habit.

C, Coke, Charge, Charly ... Cocaine.

Caps ... Capsules of heroin.

Cat ... A man.

Chick ... A woman.

Chucks ... Excessive hunger, often for sweets. This comes on an addict when he has kicked his habit far enough so that he starts to eat. When an addict is cut off the junk, he can't eat for several days. I have seen addicts who did not eat for a month. Then he gets the "chucks" and eats everything in sight.

Clean ... A user is clean if he does not have any junk on his person or premises in the event of a search by the law.

Cold Turkey ... To quit using suddenly and completely with no gradual reduction of the dose. Almost always involuntary.

Collar ... Strip of paper wrapped around a dropper to make a tight fit with a needle.

Come on ... The way someone acts, his general manner and way of approaching others.

Come up ... A lush waking up while he is being robbed.

Cook ... To dissolve junk in water heated in a spoon or other container.

Cop ... To pass a cap of junk to someone; to hold out a hand for a cap.

Copper Jitters ... Exaggerated fear of cops. When you have the Copper Jitters, everybody looks like a cop.

Croaker ... A doctor.

Dig ... To size up, to understand, to like, or enjoy.

Fey ... White.

Five-Twenty-Nine ... Five months and twenty-nine days. This is the term in the workhouse that a lush-worker receives for "jostling." If a detective sees a lush-worker approach or touch a lush, he places a "jostling" charge.

Flop ... Drunk passed out on a subway station bench.

G ... One grain. Morphine is the standard for junk measurement. One-half grain of morphine is one "fix." A capsule of heroin should contain at least the equivalent of 1/2 grain of morphine. Heroin is seven times as strong as morphine.

Gold ... Money.

H, Horse, Henry ... Heroin.

Habit ... A junk habit. It takes at least a month of daily use to get a needle habit, two months for a smoking habit, four months for an eating habit.

Heavy ... Junk, as opposed to marijuana.

Hep or Hip ... Someone who knows the score. Someone who understands "jive talk." Someone who is "with it." The expression is not subject to definition because, if you don't "dig" what it means, no one can ever tell you.

High ... Feeling good, in a state of euphoria. You can be "high" on benny, weed, lush, nutmeg, ammonia (The Scrubwoman's Kick). You can be high without any chemical boot, just feeling good.

Hog ... Anyone who uses more junk than you do. To use over five grains per day puts a user in the hog class.

Hook ... Lush-workers usually work in pairs. One lush-worker covers his partner with a newspaper, while the other goes through the lush's pockets. The one who covers the other is the "hook."

Hooked ... To get a habit.

Hot, Uncool ... Somebody liable to attract attention from the law. A place watched by the law.

Hot Shot ... Poison, usually strychnine, passed to an addict as junk. The peddler sometimes slips a hot shot to an addict because the addict is giving information to the law.

The Hype, The Bill ... A short-change racket.

John ... Someone who keeps a woman and spends money on her.

Joy Bang ... An occasional shot by someone who does not have a habit.

Kick ... A word with several meanings. It can mean the effect of a drug or a mood brought on by some place, or person. "This bar gives me bad kicks." "This bar depresses me." You can also be on "good kicks." A kick is also a special way of looking at things so that the man who is "on kicks" sees things from a special angle.

Kick a Habit ... To quit using junk and get over a habit.

Lay on ... Give.

Loaded, On the Nod ... Full of junk.

Lush-worker ... A thief who specializes in robbing drunks on the subway.

M., M. S. ... Morphine, M. S. stands for Morphine Sulphate which is the morphine salt most commonly used in the U. S.

Main Line ... Vein, a vein injection.

Making Cars ... Breaking into parked cars and stealing the contents.

Mark ... Someone easy to rob, like a drunk with a roll of money.

Meet ... An appointment, usually between peddler and customer.

Nembies, Goof Balls, Yellow Jackets ... Nembutal capsules. Nembutal is a barbiturate used by junkies "to take the edge off" when they can't get junk.

P. G. ... Paregoric. A weak, camphorated tincture of opium, two grains to the ounce. Two ounces will fix a sick addict. It can be bought without prescription in some states. P. G. can be injected intravenously after burning out the alcohol and straining out the camphor.

The People ... Narcotics agents. Another New Orleans expression.

Pickup ... To use. Generally refers to weed. But you can "pickup" on nembies, lush, or junk.

Piece ... Gun.

Pigeon, Fink, Rat ... Informer.

Plant, Stash ... To hide something, usually junk, or an "outfit."

Poke ... Wallet.

Pop, Bang, Shot, Fix ... Injection of junk. Pop Corn ... Someone with a legitimate job, as opposed to a "hustler" or thief. Pusher, Peddler, "The Man" ... Junk seller. "The Man"

is a New Orleans expression, and can also refer to a Narcotics Agent. Put Down a Hype or Routine ... To give someone a story, to persuade, or con someone. Put Your Hand Out ... To go through a lush's pockets. Score ... To buy weed or marijuana. Serve, Take Care Of ... To sell junk to a user. Shake, Rumble ... Search by the law. Skin ... Skin injection. Sick, Gaping, Yenning ... Sickness caused by lack of junk.

Smash ... Change, money, coins. Square ... The opposite of hip. Someone who does not understand the jive. Spade ... A Negro.

Speed Ball ... Cocaine mixed with morphine or heroin. Spike ... Needle.

Stuff, Junk ... General terms for opium and all derivatives of opium: morphine, heroin, Dilaudid, pantopon, codeine, dionine. Take a Fall ... To get arrested. Tea head, Head, Viper ... User of marijuana. Tie-up ... Tie, or handkerchief, used as a tourniquet for a vein shot. User, Hype, Junky, Junker, Shmecker ... Junk addict.

Weed, Tea, Gage, Grass, Greefa, Muggles, Pot, Hash ... Marijuana, hashish.

White stuff ... Morphine, or heroin, as opposed to "brown stuff."

Working the Hole ... Lush-working.

Works, Outfit, Joint ... A user's outfit for injecting junk. Consists of an eyedropper, hypodermic needle, strip of paper to fit the dropper tight into the needle, and a spoon or other container in which to dissolve the junk.

Write ... To write a narcotic prescription. To "make a Croaker for a Script" means to persuade a doctor to write a prescription for junk.

Wrong ... Term used to describe an informer.

Yen Pox ... Ash of opium after the opium has been smoked. Yen Pox contains about the same morphine content as opium before smoking. It can be eaten with hot coffee, or dissolved in water and injected intravenously.

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jxdzfadzmzd

junky.. it's 3 hours and 5 minutes long, and it's about 90mb or something.

freakin awesome!
thanks!!!

edit: all the rep goes out to you

thanks, atsonicpark.

I read like half of Naked Lunch two years ago, and decided that it wouldn't make a difference if I finished reading or not, and did not continue.

I read a few pages in the bookstore and couldn't stand it.

i think the western lands trilogy is by far a better example of WSB's work. Naked lunch is good but i don't think it is a great book. As for the movie I think Cronenberg did a very good job of it and made it into a tenable piece of cinema.

not an easy read, thats for sure.
but if you get really into it, it's a fucking great experience.
i needed a couple of times re-reading it, and i'm definately not sorry i got the understanding.

it's worth it.

Naked Lunch is whatever you make of it. I find it amazing.. really interesting, thought-provoking, well-written, and most of all -- fucking hilarious! It's not easy reading, but I've read some stuff that's a loooooot more difficult to read (look up BLOOD ELECTRIC...).

My personal favorite Burroughs is THE TICKET THAT EXPLODED.

Anyone read Queer yet? It's been sitting on my shelf for a while now and I haven't gotten around to checking it out. Although it's a partial sequel to Junky, I've heard that it's not nearly as good.

you can't say 'nearly as good' competing queer and junky. they are just different. i liked queer very much. it has a storyline! + is a funny and emotional read.
the ticked that exploded! personal favorite too, atsonicpark!

Burroughs + Cronenberg = geniusgenius.

love the book, love the film

Not read that one of his yet...

Anyone seen the documentary Burroughs? I think it's from 1984 or something. I got a copy of it, though I just looked and it's on google video as well. Awesome stuff.

Junky is probably the best book to start with

burroughs was not using the cut up technique yet with naked lunch tho it might seem like that's the case.


i like both the book and the movie. and like atsonic wrote the humor is really great.

i havent read any of the thread
but i must say

i fucking love naked lunch


love it.

know all the parts.