William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs died recently at the age of 83 in the quiet of Lawrence, Kansas. Probably no other major American writer ever received such viciously damning "praise" upon his death. Whereas the once ridiculed Ginsberg was eulogized as a major American bard, obit writers like the New York Times' Richard Severo (someone enormously unacquainted with Burroughs' work) could dismiss this oeuvre as druggy experimentation and Burroughs' audience as merely "adoring cultists
The Apocalypse of William S. Burroughs’ Naked Lunch The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and the destructive sword, are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man. (William Blake, The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, p. 7) In 1980, William S. Burroughs delivered a speech at the Planet Earth Conference at the Institute of Ecotechnics in Aix-en-Provence titled ‘The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse’.1 In this speech, Burroughs, following religious tradition
The Aesthetic, the Postmodern and the Ugly: The Rustle of Language in William S. Burroughs’ The Soft Machine and The Ticket That Exploded Ugliness is everywhere. It is on the sidewalks—the black tar phlegm of old flattened bubblegum—squashed beneath the scraped soles of suited foot soldiers on salary. It is in the straddled stares of stubborn strangers. It is in the cancer-coated clouds that gloss the sweet-tooth sky of the Los Angeles Basin with bathtub scum sunsets rosier than any Homer
Getting Hep to the Beat In the mid 1940’s a movement began, a generation of writers and poets would emerge; they were called the ‘Beat Generation’. The term was first used by Jack Kerouac while talking to fellow writer John C. Holmes, in 1948, Kerouac said to him, “So I guess you might say we’re the beat generation” (What’s Beat). The ‘Beat Generation’ was a movement that influenced the next generation of young rebellious minds of the 1950’s and ‘60’s through poets and writers who did not follow
The Struggle in My Name is Asher Lev and Naked Lunch Though most of the experiences and actions revealed in William S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch directly contradict philosophies believed by the Jewish faith, there is a definite connection between My Name is Asher Lev and Naked Lunch. This connection lies is the narrators' artistic roles in society. Both Lev and Burroughs stray from the surrealistic aspect of their mediums: art and writing, respectively, and portray life as they see that it really is
Ginsberg and William S. Burrough. But what exactly is the Beat Generation? What does it mean? Who of note was involved? When did it take place? The “Beat Generation” is a play on words, implying that the participants had been beaten down. The Beat Generation at its core is a collection of post-World War II authors who started to gain notoriety around the 1950’s (Schwartz, Richard A). The Beat Generation can also be classified as a literary and political movement, starting as early as the 1940’s that popularized
in-between, the ambiguous, the composite’, with a distinct focus on that the abject refers to the human reaction to a threatened breakdown in meaning caused by the loss of the distinction between subject and object or between self and other . William Burroughs’ Naked Lunch and Angela Carter’s collection of re-worked fairy tales in The Bloody Chamber, both exude the notion of the abject forcing the reader to question their own reaction . These texts focus on the abject notion of sex, that which is
generation was a literary movement started by a group of authors, including Allen Ginsberg, whose work influenced American culture and politics in the post-World War II era. This unusual movement was started by Allen Ginsberg and his friends William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac who he met while studying at Columbia university. These three were essential figures in the Beat Movement. Allen Ginsberg was one of the founding fathers of the Beat Generation, through this time he was a writer who advocated
“It was John Kerouac…who several years ago…said ‘You know, this really is a beat generation…” (Moran and Gannon). The Beat Generation or also known as, “Beats” is a name that was used to characterize the leaders of the movement in the 1950’s that sailed through the American culture post World War II as a balance to the suburban conformity and organization - man model that controlled that time period (Moran and Gannon). The Beat Generation was a different kind of group that went against the norms
children stirred a debate on the morality of his proposal. Two hundred and thirty years later in 1959, William S. Burroughs published a novel entitled Naked Lunch, which dealt with the desperate struggle of drug addiction and the governments role in rehabilitating addicts. Inspired by Swifts Modest Proposal, Burroughs satirical portrait of drug addiction was also controversial. Both Swift and Burroughs addressed serious issues of their respective times, with both drug addiction and homeless still being
concept is not new you may be wondering why I look like the end. The difference between me and say Allen Ginsberg, the Columbia educated poet and crucial member of the beat movement, is simple. I’m not ”down“. Both Ginsberg and his good friend, William S. Burroughs, another Ivy-educated, well-to-do writer, came to New York and slummed it. They saw the dirt and the grime and revelled in it. They had the guts to actually become a part of Saint Mark’s Place. They didn’t need to bring anything to be comfortable
America was built on rebellion. This was no different for the Beat Generation whom took Americans in the 20th century, into a new way of life. Middle class free spirited people who questioned the practices of everyday lifestyle and mainstream culture, the beats lived in disillusionment with society. The fifties being a time of conservative family morals encouraged the bohemian nature of the beats for their want to experience more. The nature of this rejection is expected but, why? And how does such
many writers in which were able to get the courage and be outspoken, earning the possibilities to live life in a different way than other. Carl Solomon had the privilege to know those that are more known to be the beat generation such as Allen or William. Solomon was able to something else which is being known as the heart of the beat
There's a Stranger in my Words As I sit here and stare at the Mac I wonder who sits at my back? If they knew what I write Would they curse me and bite Or start up some verbal attack? Well, as I walk through the swirling, smoke filled sky of the Hagg-Sauer doorway, squeezing my eyes shut against the reflected sunlight, I thought about how I would approach this project. How to say what I need to say, without saying it in a way that has been said a thousand times, in a million-million words
plain sordid William S. Boroughs... it's nice to read a few poems by a guy who can get excited about a little candy store under the El or a pretty woman letting a stocking drop to the floor (“Literary Kicks”). For casual reading, Lawrence Ferlinghetti's poetry is cheerful and humorous. At best it is a welcome break for the mainstream of the “beat generation.” Inside his poetry, deep rooted criticisms of the United States exist. Ferlinghetti has had an anti-government attitude since the 1950's. His beliefs
William Carlos Williams was not the first writer to explore the theme of scientific discovery and practise in literature, but he was one of the first American writers to do so in a positive manner. Works of European gothic literature had cemented the archetype of the mad scientist with figures such as Dr Frankenstein and Dr Moreau; while the birth and subsequent success of Science Fiction in the U.S with the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe show us that the American people also had anxieties regarding
Beat’s feelings toward America. They were put into two categories: “Wolfeans,” and “non-Wolfeans.” Kerouac and Hal Chase were heterosexual, all-American boys who believed in America, the perfect image of the American citizen. The non-Wolfeans (William Burroughs and Ginsberg) were also known as “Baudelaireans” or “Black Priests.” They wanted to destroy the Wolfeans and all that they believed in. The Beats felt that everybody fell into one of these two categories. One thing that all the Beats agreed
A Comparison of Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac Why. Excuse me. Why. Does. Excuse. Why me. I mean. Excuse me. Why. Does. It . Always end up this way. Like this. A performance. It's my best excuse. And. I'm on the wagon. Again. Why. Excuses. Sitting in the state of a daydream. No. Falling. A performance. Why what it comes down to. Poetry. And. My two main men. Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Both use their individual voice to perform the buddhistic beat they feel is part of their poetry/ their
forever changed the nature of American literature. They offered a method of escape from the unimaginative world we live in. There are many different writers who's work contributed to the literature of the beat movement; however; Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsburg were the most famous authors. During the peak of the beat generation, there were many events that affected the world. Fear was a common emotion due to the cold war and the ensuing red scare. The United States and the USSR
Through part of its history, the Harley brand has been a representation of what America is today. Their bikes were used during both World War I and II. The Harley Davidson brand was discovered by the Davidson family, and a childhood friend named William S. Harley. Together they worked on creating new prototypes that would help them and soon after present it