[Gray House]

I've been reading some Burroughs and have a few rambling thoughts to share. Just read Ghost of Chance. Very well written. Shows very little admiration for "Homo Sap", but shows concern for the natural world. Pessimism different from Ligotti's, at least in some ways. Here's a nice image:

Quote

Brion Gysin had the all-purpose nuclear bedtime story: Some trillions of years ago, a sloppy, dirty giant flicked grease from his fingers. One of those globs of grease is our universe, on its way to the floor. Splat.

A view of Christianity that I think is fairly unusual, and interesting:

Quote

As magic men in Morocco eat their excrement to distinguish themselves from other humans, Christ held power through the ancient corruption of a different blood. The question arises: Did Christ actually perpetrate the miracles attributed to him? My guess is that he did certainly commit some of these scandals. Buddhists consider miracles dubious if not downright reprehensible.

Then there's this, which might be very funny or very offensive, depending on who you are:

Quote

Now Christ says if some son of a bitch takes half your cloths, give him the other half. Accordingly, Lits stalk the streets looking for muggers and strip themselves mother naked at the sight of one. Many unfortunate muggers were crushed under scrimmage pileups of half-naked Lits. The Implacable Forgivers, a subset of the Lits, will go to any lengths to seek out an enemy and forgive him. The Mafia don has barricaded himself in his Long Island retreat lest a rival don sneak in and collapse into his arms and forgive him all over for everything.

I am now reading Interzone, which is a collection of early works. Liking it very much. Next I think I will try one of Burroughs' two last books, The Western Lands or My Education. A lesser known book of interest is the W. S. Burroughs/B. Gysin/Throbbing Gristle Re-Search book, which includes a very entertaining transcription of a Burroughs novel on cassette. Other highlights are the Burroughs interview and the three Throbbing Gristle interviews.

Ligotti said in an interview, "Even more than Poe or Lovecraft, Burroughs is the one whose writing provides that measure of fever, nightmare, and the grotesque by which all other American writers who aspire to representing these qualities in their work should be judged." Are there Ligotti stories that seem particularly Burroughs influenced? Maybe this bit, from "The Master's Eyes Shining with Secrets":

Quote

It seems that a few years ago the Master of the Temple began to exhibit some odd and very unpleasant forms of behavior. He apparently lost all sense of earthly decorum, even losing control over his own body. At one point an extra head sprouted from the side of the Master's neck, and this ugly little thing started to issue all sorts of commands and instructions to the monks which only their lofty sense of decency and order prevented them from carrying out.

I am also interested in Burroughs influenced writing by other authors. Burroughs and his book, The Yage Letters are a part of Poppy Z Brite's story, "Vine of the Soul", which is about some people taking the drug, yage. Brite's story doesn't have any of the grotesque imagery or experimental form of Burroughs. Having read The Yage Letters, Brite's fictional account seemed unrealistic. It is my understanding that yage is overwhelming and ego-destroying, not a stimulant and an aphrodisiac, which is what it seems to be in Brite's story. I have not read much of Brite but I was impressed by "The Crystal Empire", in the Brite/Kiernan collection, Wrong Things. I don't think "Vine of the Soul" comes anywhere near the excellence of that story.

Soon I intend to read J G Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition, which I expect is a very good Burroughs influenced story or stories (according to Wikipedia, it is unclear if it is one or many stories, which makes me think it's very Burroughs-like indeed). Burroughs himself wrote the introduction.