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Tentatively, Convenience's Reviews > The Ticket That Exploded
The Ticket That Exploded
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Burroughs' 2nd cut-up novel (if I have the chronology right) & the beginining of what's, for me, his strongest period. After writing my quickie 'review' of "Naked Lunch" in wch I mentioned Balch's "Towers Open Fire", I moved onto this one & 'randomly' opened to page 110 to read:
""This way - To the Towers" - Ali pointed to an office building that dominated the square - Kiki ran toward the building covered now by tower fire - Hands pulled him into a doorway - On the roof of the building was a battery of radios and movie cameras that vibrated to static - A green creature with metal claw hands was giving orders to a group of partisans who manned the gun tower - From the radio poured a metallic staccato voice -
""Photo falling - Word Falling - Break through in Grey Room - Towers, open fire" -"
Yep, Burroughs was in his stride of having a breakthrough in the brain w/ this one. Unlike "Naked Lunch", this no longer seems like a collection of notes but a coherent report from a parallel universe where the true faces of the enemy are revealed. My having opened to this page where "Towers, open fire" is written isn't just an indication of Burroughs' repetitiveness of certain phrases - it's also an indication of how magikal it all seems, of how oddly one can link into the writing - a proclamation for the effectiveness of Burroughs' formal strategies for breaking thru into deep levels of the mind.
""This way - To the Towers" - Ali pointed to an office building that dominated the square - Kiki ran toward the building covered now by tower fire - Hands pulled him into a doorway - On the roof of the building was a battery of radios and movie cameras that vibrated to static - A green creature with metal claw hands was giving orders to a group of partisans who manned the gun tower - From the radio poured a metallic staccato voice -
""Photo falling - Word Falling - Break through in Grey Room - Towers, open fire" -"
Yep, Burroughs was in his stride of having a breakthrough in the brain w/ this one. Unlike "Naked Lunch", this no longer seems like a collection of notes but a coherent report from a parallel universe where the true faces of the enemy are revealed. My having opened to this page where "Towers, open fire" is written isn't just an indication of Burroughs' repetitiveness of certain phrases - it's also an indication of how magikal it all seems, of how oddly one can link into the writing - a proclamation for the effectiveness of Burroughs' formal strategies for breaking thru into deep levels of the mind.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
January 1, 1974
–
Finished Reading
March 4, 2008
– Shelved
March 4, 2008
– Shelved as:
literature
March 4, 2008
– Shelved as:
sf
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Scratchmaster
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Aug 28, 2009 07:05PM
This is his 3rd "cut up" novel, The Soft Machine being his 1st and Nova Express being his 2nd.
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So you don't consider "Naked Lunch" a cut-up? Are you talking about date of publication? "The Soft Machine" came out in 1961, "The Ticket That Exploded" in '62, & "Nova Express" in '64. Therefore, if "Naked Lunch" (1959) isn't a cut-up,"The Ticket That Exploded" is the 2nd published cut-up novel.
No, I don't consider "Naked Lunch" a cut up although some parts of it contain the cut-up method. Not trying to argue with you cause whats the point?
Yep, it's how you do it. Good review. "Photo caption - Thumbs Up" - A Good Way To Go - Recommend To All
