793 reviews for:

La scimmia sulla schiena

William S. Burroughs, Fernanda Pivano

3.64 AVERAGE

katharine421's review against another edition

3.0

dark tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

luckeepenni's review against another edition

3.0

dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

ktjenkinson's review against another edition

3.5

dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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this was impossibly hard for me to get through because i do not enjoy heroin literature but by the time i finished it i was glad i did and felt like i learned a great deal about addiction 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Blood

nickg2601's review against another edition

4.25

dark fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

sarahconnorjr's review against another edition

4.0

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The best part was the Glossary. Did it need one? Am I lame to know jive talk?

noahda's review against another edition

4.0

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Burroughs puts the process of junk to language in such an easy and understandable way. A perfect companion to his later work Queer, though I *think* I did the right thing in reading the latter first. Gave me a little insight into the philosophy of weed too. Pleasant little bonus.

librar_v's review against another edition

3.75

challenging dark informative medium-paced

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A laugh a minute! But seriously, this is a topic and perspective I haven't engaged with much before, and I learned a lot. This book lays bare addiction without moralising, which I think allowed me to come away with a deeper understanding of and more nuanced feelings around addiction and addicts. To me, this is what literature is for.

bookyanna's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Sometimes, I finish a book and feel like I haven't actually read it properly. A glance at the Wikipedia article for Junky suggests that I missed several key plot points - surprising in that I didn't feel that there was a plot at all. I liked it. I didn't like it. I'm amazed it was published in the 1950s. 

bocasbri's review against another edition

3.5

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i had no clue when this book was written (i honestly thought that it was a memoir so that goes to show). that being said, this book was an interesting insight into what it was like to have an addiction during this time. it was a bit confusing to follow at times, but i think that is the reality of going through ups and downs during addiction. 

this is a good book, and i wish i would have read it in school. i definitely would have gotten way more out of it!

firecrotch54's review against another edition

3.5

dark funny medium-paced

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes