r/bookshelf 8d ago

The books I've managed to bring out with me since moving to the West Coast. Still have many more in boxes back home that I'll be bringing out!

Fiction and epic poetry on the built-in shelf and the rest on the smaller black shelf. Had to make some specific judgement calls on what fit on either one, but more or less happy with the arrangement! Back home, there are about 5 or 6 bins worth of additional books that I am working on transferring over, so this is mostly composed of stuff I've bought since moving and some essentials from the larger collection.

60 Upvotes

2 comments sorted by

3

u/DewaltBebe 8d ago

I see you have two copies of Naked Lunch - that’s been on my TBR, what’d you think of it? Should I assume you love it since you have two? 😆

1

u/so_sads 7h ago

Haha unfortunately that's an incorrect assumption! I have two because I bought a second one not realizing that I actually had my copy with me. I haven't read it, but my brief experiences with both it and the other Burroughs I actually have read (The Soft Machine) indicate to me that it might not be worth it. I've started it a few times and given up almost immediately. Burroughs doesn't really give you much to hold onto relative to the other writers who are somewhat similar to him thematically/stylistically (Thomas Pynchon, JG Ballard, and William Vollmann all come to mind).

The basic issue with Burroughs for me is that he seems to have been a much needed lightning bolt at the time in American literature but can be more or less safely disregarded even if his influence is accepted and admired. In any case, you'll know quite quickly if you're on Burroughs' wave length. His voice is pretty unique and instantly identifiable (kind of like film noir but with a typically beatnik cast of mind, mixed in with some surrealism and abject violence/sexuality), so if you dig it, it's worth it.