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hakimbriki's review against another edition
4.0
Exterminator! was a very rewarding read. Stepping into the labyrinth that is William S. Burroughs' imagination, memories and mind is a truly unique experience. Rarely have I read stories so beautifully written, so original and thrilling (Wind die. You die. We die., Twilight's Last Gleamings, The Coming of the Purple Better One, Seeing Red, They Do Not Always Remember), so weird (The Lemon Kid, Short Trip Home, Davy Jones, The Perfect Servant, Reddies), so thought-provoking (Astronaut's return, Johnny 23, The Discipline of DE, Friends, The End) and so moving (The "Priest They Called Him). What fascinates me most is the way the author makes this experimental novel autobiographical. I would not recommend this book to anyone, only to the adventurous reader with a particular bent (no pun intended) for the weird and the experimental.
jimbus's review
4.0
Standard Burroughs craziness but a few really standout stories like "The Discipline of DE" and "The 'Priest' They Called Him"
adambwriter's review against another edition
3.0
Exterminator! by William S. Burroughs
Final Verdict: 3.25 out of 4.0
YTD: 37
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Plot/Story:
3 – Plot/Story is interesting & believable.
Exterminator! is a loosely-related collection of 30 short stories, all neurotically obsessed with the American human condition before & during the 1960s. Like many of his other works, these stories are threaded with themes of “Control” (the American government over-reaching its power and invading privacy, commanding blind obedience and assimilation to “normalcy”), Drugs, Violence, and Sexuality. In this collection, a boy named Audrey makes repeated appearances. Audrey is the writer or, perhaps more appropriately, the creator – and one can assume that he is ultimately the narrator who is ultimately Burroughs. There is a deep sadness to these stories, and also a great sense of strength. Though the stories are bleak – offering little hope for or admiration of humanity, particularly America- they also assert the hope, however bizarrely, that people will discover and maintain their own unique individualities. Burroughs (or the narrator) of course identifies with seedier elements which most would hardly call admirable – the pederast, the junky, the rioter, the terrorist; yet, the extreme personas are meant to be obvious, “in your face” examples of the variety of mankind. Burroughs always romantics the unromantic, sexualizes the unsexy, and glorifies the unholy – Exterminators! is no exception to this tradition.
Read the full review at: www.roofbeamreader.net
Final Verdict: 3.25 out of 4.0
YTD: 37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Plot/Story:
3 – Plot/Story is interesting & believable.
Exterminator! is a loosely-related collection of 30 short stories, all neurotically obsessed with the American human condition before & during the 1960s. Like many of his other works, these stories are threaded with themes of “Control” (the American government over-reaching its power and invading privacy, commanding blind obedience and assimilation to “normalcy”), Drugs, Violence, and Sexuality. In this collection, a boy named Audrey makes repeated appearances. Audrey is the writer or, perhaps more appropriately, the creator – and one can assume that he is ultimately the narrator who is ultimately Burroughs. There is a deep sadness to these stories, and also a great sense of strength. Though the stories are bleak – offering little hope for or admiration of humanity, particularly America- they also assert the hope, however bizarrely, that people will discover and maintain their own unique individualities. Burroughs (or the narrator) of course identifies with seedier elements which most would hardly call admirable – the pederast, the junky, the rioter, the terrorist; yet, the extreme personas are meant to be obvious, “in your face” examples of the variety of mankind. Burroughs always romantics the unromantic, sexualizes the unsexy, and glorifies the unholy – Exterminators! is no exception to this tradition.
Read the full review at: www.roofbeamreader.net
astrilde's review
2.0
Okay, this book was seriously confusing and I had to force myself through it.
Going from the blurb on the book (and knowing nothing of the writer) I was expecting a terrorist plot with some other under-stories. What I got.....was something else. Clearly I misunderstood the term "experimental novel" and it contained rather more sodomy than I was prepared for.
In my defence, I studied science and not a literature and I am sure that others find this book to be a work of literary genius, but I am not that person. However I think it isn't William S. Burroughs fault so much as mine, reading stuff way above my literary level.
I will grant there were a few lines here an there which did evoke a response, but mostly just "WTF"
Going from the blurb on the book (and knowing nothing of the writer) I was expecting a terrorist plot with some other under-stories. What I got.....was something else. Clearly I misunderstood the term "experimental novel" and it contained rather more sodomy than I was prepared for.
In my defence, I studied science and not a literature and I am sure that others find this book to be a work of literary genius, but I am not that person. However I think it isn't William S. Burroughs fault so much as mine, reading stuff way above my literary level.
I will grant there were a few lines here an there which did evoke a response, but mostly just "WTF"
thomasgoddard's review
4.0
Pretty standard fare for Burroughs, this one. If you enjoy his quick and staccato style, then this is a breeze of a read. If you're new to his work go Junky, Exterminator and then Naked Lunch.
But honestly, what to report? When I was a kid, I loved Burroughs. He was the Beat for me.
The older I got, the less it seemed like 'good' writing so much as just 'interesting concepts'.
I like the house of horrors-style ride of it all. Lots of sexual depravity.
I think I've read a few too many 'classics' recently, so I was mildly unsettled reading his work. A lot of how the characters were described seemed... Gratuitous. Need to explore some more challenging subjects. I'm a fan of the transgressive. The grotesque. But this one, particularly the descriptions of Jewish people made me a little... perturbed. I'm not an idiot, I know full well it isn't in any way anti-Semitic. It just stopped me in my tracks a little. Maybe I'm losing my edge.
At the risk of developing a weak constitution... Or evolving into a prude... I'm going to read some more dark stuff to redress the balance...
Otherwise, I'll wake up one morning wearing a tweed jacket and spend my time listening to Gardener's Question Time and being so divorced from reality that I start voting Lib Dem.
whogivesabook's review
4.0
Pretty standard fare for Burroughs, this one. If you enjoy his quick and staccato style, then this is a breeze of a read. If you're new to his work go Junky, Exterminator and then Naked Lunch.
But honestly, what to report? When I was a kid, I loved Burroughs. He was the Beat for me.
The older I got, the less it seemed like 'good' writing so much as just 'interesting concepts'.
I like the house of horrors-style ride of it all. Lots of sexual depravity.
I think I've read a few too many 'classics' recently, so I was mildly unsettled reading his work. A lot of how the characters were described seemed... Gratuitous. Need to explore some more challenging subjects. I'm a fan of the transgressive. The grotesque. But this one, particularly the descriptions of Jewish people made me a little... perturbed. I'm not an idiot, I know full well it isn't in any way anti-Semitic. It just stopped me in my tracks a little. Maybe I'm losing my edge.
At the risk of developing a weak constitution... Or evolving into a prude... I'm going to read some more dark stuff to redress the balance...
Otherwise, I'll wake up one morning wearing a tweed jacket and spend my time listening to Gardener's Question Time and being so divorced from reality that I start voting Lib Dem.
catastrophic_maybe's review against another edition
3.0
A pulpy swamp of a book that can envelope you if you aren’t careful.
shawnwhy's review against another edition
4.0
this is like a basquiat novel, created with the background noises in society and the media and jumbled together as a story, very very enjoyable walking through this swamp of words and sentences.