What are you currently reading?

[Florestan]

Do not forget 1984 which remains brilliant - and remains timeless whereas We, for all its merits, feels very much of its time.

Possibly. But its time is very much timeless, at least for those of of us who have experienced Communism first hand.

[vers la flamme]

Having read both We and 1984, I find it quite possible to praise each without trashing the other—for one, because they seem to have quite little in common. Both good reads...

[Florestan]

Having read both We and 1984, I find it quite possible to praise each without trashing the other—for one, because they seem to have quite little in common.

Little?

[vers la flamme]

Little?

The books are superficially similar, yes. But ultimately I found them to be very different books.

[Florestan]

The books are superficially similar, yes. But ultimately I found them to be very different books.

Funny you should say that! I find totalitarianisms superficially different but ultimately very similar. 

[aligreto]

Whilst contemplating Totalitarianism and Dystopian Societies do not forget Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World".

[Florestan]

Whilst contemplating Totalitarianism and Dystopian Societies do not forget Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World".

That's also very good.

Just to clear up any misunderstanding: I like Orwell's books very much. It's just that We dealt with pretty much the same issues two decades earlier and is virtually unkown.

[Jo498]

I'm constantly blown away by my un-well-read-ness (seriously, there must be an English word for this concept) while reading this thread, and constantly adding to my list of books to read. Many fascinating works named on the previous page. For example I have not read a single of the 1001 Nights.

I am pretty sure you encountered some of the Arabian nights in abridged/bowdlerized versions as a kid. Although I think two of the most famous ones that I was presented with as a kid ("Ali Baba and the 40 thieves" and "Aladin and the magic lamp") are not even in the original but either from another collection or made up in an oriental style. Unless one is really into this, an anthology of better knowns should be enough. But try to get "adult" versions because most do have at least mildly erotic content that is redacted in older editions or those for children.

[vers la flamme]

Excellent book!

I think I enjoyed it more this go around than when I last read it some 5 years ago. The first time I was more interested in the anthropological observations of it all, but this time I think I was more in tune with the personality of it all. The book is not in truth a hardboiled recollection of junkie life in the '40s, but a reflection of a side of Burroughs himself, who would become of the most unusual and contradictory characters in American literature. Fascinating stuff. Definitely need to read more Burroughs now; I'm interested in Queer and The Yagé Letters. (Not ready to revisit Naked Lunch which bewildered me upon reading at age 18, after finding a very beat old copy at a used bookshop in Philadelphia.)

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

I think I enjoyed it more this go around than when I last read it some 5 years ago. The first time I was more interested in the anthropological observations of it all, but this time I think I was more in tune with the personality of it all. The book is not in truth a hardboiled recollection of junkie life in the '40s, but a reflection of a side of Burroughs himself, who would become of the most unusual and contradictory characters in American literature. Fascinating stuff. Definitely need to read more Burroughs now; I'm interested in Queer and The Yagé Letters. (Not ready to revisit Naked Lunch which bewildered me upon reading at age 18, after finding a very beat old copy at a used bookshop in Philadelphia.)

I like the Yage Letters! I must get a copy of Queer.

[Carlo Gesualdo]

The mising link it's a book about the book f all the herbs and mushroom of the forest, we hide it from humain, the druid gave it to us, the book of the herbs is hidden in the Basque country somewhere, we have another copie in Italia, of super Hogobelin of Sicily it's very good Book.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

Coin Locker Babies, Ryu Murakami. 1980s Japan.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The mising link it's a book about the book f all the herbs and mushroom of the forest, we hide it from humain, the druid gave it to us, the book of the herbs is hidden in the Basque country somewhere, we have another copie in Italia, of super Hogobelin of Sicily it's very good Book.

What's the name of book? Is it written by Richard Evans Schultes?

P.s. I think I misunderstood what you are saying (if you are saying.)

[Mandryka]

William S. Burroughs, Junky



A reread. Orwell's Down & Out had me in the mood for something similar, and I think this is certainly that, but with several key differences; namely, I am much more convinced with Burroughs fitting into this underworld, even though he entered into it as an outsider, a person of privilege, or even a "tourist" much as did Orwell. Still, it's an intriguing and often hilarious read. I have long admired Burroughs, though I have read little of his work.

Yes I like the Burroughs very much, especially the defence of heroin at the start. Is that the one where he's always going on about a quest for some sort of weird hallucinatory mescaline drug, something that comes out of a cactus in Mexico?

Have you read the Jean Genet? He's got something in common with Burroughs I think. The Thief's Journal.

[SimonNZ]

Coincidentally I picked up a copy of The Thiefs Journal at a secondhand bookstore just last weekend.

Along with the copy of Augustus by John Williams I knew they had after seeing it praised on this thread.

[Mandryka]

Coincidentally I picked up a copy of The Thiefs Journal at a secondhand bookstore just last weekend.

Along with the copy of Augustus by John Williams I knew they had after seeing it presided on this thread.

i read it when I was about 18 and loved it! It just seemed so seedy and so spiritual, and I remember visiting the port at Rotterdam one day in a sort of teenage homage to Genet.

Then about five years ago I thought I'd try it again, this time in French. I couldn't finish it, it just seemed over long. But there are still some memorable things.

At some point I'd like to read Sartre's St Genet. 

[Mandryka]

I'm constantly blown away by my un-well-read-ness (seriously, there must be an English word for this concept) while reading this thread, and constantly adding to my list of books to read. Many fascinating works named on the previous page. For example I have not read a single of the 1001 Nights. I'm always grateful for these frequent reminders of my own ignorance  0:)

You must read 1001 nights, and in a decent translation - one which keeps all the sex in. It's the sort of thing you keep by the bedside and dip into every so often. The stories are memorable, complicated (because they nest, mise en abîme), very raunchy and humane.

I've read a whole bunch things in this genre - Decameron (which I never got into), Canterbury Tales (which I liked), but 1001 Nights is my favourite.

[Mandryka]

Funny you should say that! I find totalitarianisms superficially different but ultimately very similar. 

Maybe everything in the universe is superficially different but ultimately very similar. After all, according to the heart sutra, all things are by nature void.

[Artem]

Coin Locker Babies, Ryu Murakami. 1980s Japan.

How do you like Ryu?

[vers la flamme]

Yes I like the Burroughs very much, especially the defence of heroin at the start. Is that the one where he's always going on about a quest for some sort of weird hallucinatory mescaline drug, something that comes out of a cactus in Mexico?

Have you read the Jean Genet? He's got something in common with Burroughs I think. The Thief's Journal.

The way the book ends is with his announcement of a quest to find "yagé" which, I believe, is ayahuasca, which comes from a vine in South America. He does also try mescaline while living in Mexico in the final third of the book and seems unimpressed.

Never read any Jean Genet, but I have been meaning to. Will try and find The Thief's Journal. (And 1001 Nights!—is there a translation you recommend?)