Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

17 reviews

fireballme's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark reflective medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Rape, Vomit, Alcohol, Addiction, Death, Mental illness, Body horror, Cursing, Gun violence, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

resolvedpoem's review against another edition

It was for a book club, but everyone decided it wasn’t very fun and wouldn’t be a great time to talk about. A little too heavy for everyone. I was planning to finish it anyway but without the motivation from the club, I too moved onto more fun reads.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Mental illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Addiction, Chronic illness, and Drug abuse

Its hard to describe exactly what is upsetting about Naked Lunch, and why, because theres simply so much of it. A very challenging read, at its best, and downright unfun at it’s worst.

crazyrhythms's review against another edition

dark funny

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, and Drug use

numbat's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

It was a bit much. Very graphic, rambling and incoherent but hen again I guess that is the point.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Abortion, Gore, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Drug use, and Addiction

kaitoro_walker13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

3.75

I just didn't GET IT. They were good short stories, but I feel like if I got the book, it would have been so much better

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Child abuse, Death, and Murder

heidifuglevand's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use

crufts's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Disclaimer: I only read the first 30%. After that, I got the gist and didn't feel the need to read the rest. There's no plot, so it doesn't really matter if you miss some chapters or read it out of order.

After hearing the title mentioned several times over the years, I became curious about Naked Lunch and decided to read it.

In poetic, lyrical, psychedelic language, the author paints a picture of an America addled by junk - that is, opioid drugs in all their forms. Plagued by addicts of every substance under the sun, the society he depicts is in a state of complete moral and physical degradation.

Other words I would use to describe this book: deranged, delirious, fevered, stream of consciousness, extremely offensive, nonsensical, bizarre, and over the top. Don't go into this book expecting a plot, consistent characters, or any shred of common sense. It's not a story at all, it's more like a really long slam poem.

Overall, I found the book more historically interesting than anything else - i.e., what on earth did Burroughs write that caused such a stir at the time? It was interesting to see the author railing against capital punishment, and also how he considered addicts to be sick people suffering an illness rather than being morally bankrupt (which was the dominant opinion at the time).

I am unable to choose a star rating due to how obscenely obscene the book is. However, you may find it interesting to check the book if you're hunting for inspiration to write an insane or delirious character.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Biphobia, Body horror, Cannibalism, Homophobia, Addiction, Blood, Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual content

Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Self harm, and Vomit

Minor: Transphobia

Please seriously consider the content warnings in this and other reviews. The author wrote the book intending to bring light to the "naked" reality of drug addiction and moral decay that he observed and experienced.
However, I will note that there are hardly any named or recurring characters, and there's a certain fever-dream-like quality to the writing style. As a result, many of these scenes come off as more bizarre than distressing.

Again, please be warned, the book basically consists of one gross and deranged scene after another.

jblago's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A book to more absorbed than read. When I started I was understandably challenged just comprehending each sentence as I read it, sometimes rereading the same paragraph multiple times simply to understand the words themselves let alone any semblance of deeper meaning or overall plot. But as I read more I became more comfortable with the style of this book. A literal Diary of a Madman. Junk-sick and mostly disgusting, yet proud and satirical on a level I have yet to see in any other book, film, or other art piece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Classism, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Cursing, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Death

Moderate: Trafficking, Suicide, Abandonment, Abortion, Animal death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Violence, and Transphobia

Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Murder, Islamophobia, and Injury/Injury detail

The satirical nature of the book makes it HEAVY with content warnings, but within context everything has its purpose. Each word serves its raison d’etre perfectly, in spite of its outward appearance.

gleerest's review against another edition

challenging funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual violence, Racial slurs, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Racial slurs, Addiction, Violence, and Death

madisontoth's review against another edition

challenging funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i think this book changed my life. i’ve never read anything like this before in my life and it was so fucking fun!! i’m in love with burroughs’ writing style and every single other book i’ve read after this has just fallen flat. there’s literally nothing like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Medical content, Addiction, Medical trauma, Rape, and Body horror