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scruffbucketragamuffin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
sunhat_cloudbelt's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
shadybanana's review against another edition
2.0
deserves a 1 star but giving it a 2 because publishing it in this writing style shows how you give no fuck about your reader
mfromm's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
adambwriter's review against another edition
3.0
http://classiclit.about.com/od/unitedstates/fl/The-Soft-Machine-1961-by-William-S-Burroughs.htm
lrnz249's review against another edition
The book, frankly, was incomprehensible to me. It was a nightmare to read beyond the first 10 pages as there wasn't exactly a story to follow. Maybe I completely missed the mark (?) but either way, I will not be continuing with this book.
ladyjedi's review
1.0
This is one unreadable book. And I browsed through the other two of the trilogy, and they all are similar, albeit not as much as this one. I am not going to lose any more time with this absolute shite. I do not understand why this cut-up trilogy has been so much eulogized.
This is a jumble of words, a word salad at best; bad pornography at worst.
I expected more from this book and from a writer of Burroughs' calber. Needless to say, I gave up after the first 78 pages of the book. Time to read something which is understandable, and enjoyable. This is nothing of the sort. Neither understandable, nor enjoyable.
And it has put me off Burroughs for good.
This is a jumble of words, a word salad at best; bad pornography at worst.
I expected more from this book and from a writer of Burroughs' calber. Needless to say, I gave up after the first 78 pages of the book. Time to read something which is understandable, and enjoyable. This is nothing of the sort. Neither understandable, nor enjoyable.
And it has put me off Burroughs for good.
vexatiousbird's review against another edition
2.0
This book left me perplexed. I’m not sure if I enjoyed it or feel like I wasted my time by reading it. There are flashes of genius, true. Some juxtapositions of words and images were incredibly striking, a few dream-like sequences had to be admired for their sheer creativity, and there were thought-provoking moments throughout. Sometimes the bleakness of the imagery was captivating, sometimes the relentlessness of the prose felt truly exciting, sometimes a bit of satire stuck out of the mix and made me smile. Maybe the entire experience was worthwhile for those good moments. But at times, it was an utter trainwreck, and I found it a bit hard to get through. Which is a shame, because I really wanted to like it.
Don’t get me wrong, I often enjoy disjointed, surreal prose. I don’t generally have a problem with “disturbing” material. And I definitely like books that are described as “strange.” However, there is something to be said for chaos that is carefully pieced together (or at least well-edited), some semblance of a central plot, and content kept at a tasteful level rather than descending into brazenly adolescent ramblings and shock tactics. That wasn’t the case here. To give some context as to what I consider "tasteful" - this is coming from someone who didn’t find American Psycho utterly disgusting and pointless (though I'm not sure I'd call it tasteful, exactly).
That’s why I was surprised when I found parts of A Soft Machine hard to swallow. I do wonder if perhaps Burroughs intended it this way. If so, job well done. The level of sexual explicitness, particularly when dropped in between such subjects as giant centipedes and human excrement, rose to the point where it all became not just wholly un-erotic, but downright repulsive. Which is interesting. But also, uh, repulsive. Especially because it was so incredibly repetitive. Like other reviewers have mentioned, I’ve heard enough about jissom and rectal mucous to last a lifetime.
There might well be lots of meaning behind the apparent insanity. But it is very effectively disguised, enough so that I didn’t even feel like putting the effort into it, because significant portions of the book could just as well have been written by someone with the IQ of a doorknob, vocabulary aside.
This was my first experience with Burroughs, and I realise now this was a bad choice. I’ll certainly give Junkie a try, because stylistically, I found his style quite interesting. It's just content that was... questionable. I also have to admire that he created a novel that actually made me uncomfortable. Rare accomplishment.
Don’t get me wrong, I often enjoy disjointed, surreal prose. I don’t generally have a problem with “disturbing” material. And I definitely like books that are described as “strange.” However, there is something to be said for chaos that is carefully pieced together (or at least well-edited), some semblance of a central plot, and content kept at a tasteful level rather than descending into brazenly adolescent ramblings and shock tactics. That wasn’t the case here. To give some context as to what I consider "tasteful" - this is coming from someone who didn’t find American Psycho utterly disgusting and pointless (though I'm not sure I'd call it tasteful, exactly).
That’s why I was surprised when I found parts of A Soft Machine hard to swallow. I do wonder if perhaps Burroughs intended it this way. If so, job well done. The level of sexual explicitness, particularly when dropped in between such subjects as giant centipedes and human excrement, rose to the point where it all became not just wholly un-erotic, but downright repulsive. Which is interesting. But also, uh, repulsive. Especially because it was so incredibly repetitive. Like other reviewers have mentioned, I’ve heard enough about jissom and rectal mucous to last a lifetime.
There might well be lots of meaning behind the apparent insanity. But it is very effectively disguised, enough so that I didn’t even feel like putting the effort into it, because significant portions of the book could just as well have been written by someone with the IQ of a doorknob, vocabulary aside.
This was my first experience with Burroughs, and I realise now this was a bad choice. I’ll certainly give Junkie a try, because stylistically, I found his style quite interesting. It's just content that was... questionable. I also have to admire that he created a novel that actually made me uncomfortable. Rare accomplishment.