Book wars: journey to the end of night vs. Our Lady of the flowers

Naked lunch vs. Artaud's heliogabulus Catch 22 vs. Naked lunch,

Sartre's nausea vs. Burroughs' junky
Rimbaud's a season in hell vs. Baudelaire's flowers of evil
Miss lonely hearts vs. Nausea
Crash vs. Naked lunch
 
diseased said:
Naked lunch vs. Artaud's heliogabulus Catch 22 vs. Naked lunch,

Sartre's nausea vs. Burroughs' junky
Rimbaud's a season in hell vs. Baudelaire's flowers of evil
Miss lonely hearts vs. Nausea
Crash vs. Naked lunch
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I've read Naked Lunch, Catch 22, Nausea, Flowers of Evil, and Crash. My favorite of all of those is Catch 22.
 
I was thinking about pairing guyotat off against burroughs, but I haven't read enough guyoyat. Thinking of philosophy wars: beyond good and evil vs. The ego and his own.
 
diseased said:
I was thinking about pairing guyotat off against burroughs, but I haven't read enough guyoyat. Thinking of philosophy wars: beyond good and evil vs. The ego and his own.
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I read these in my early 20s. Easily Nietzsche for me. I read a decent book about the same time: The Nihilistic Egoist Max Stirner by R.W.K. Paterson.

Never read Guyotat.
 
Ferdydurke vs. Street of Crocodiles

And even thought they're different in tone and intent, Waiting for Godot vs. Ubu Roi.

Sorry about the typos.
 
diseased said:
Ferdydurke vs. Street of Crocodiles

And even thought they're different in tone and intent, Waiting for Godot vs. Ubu Roi.
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I have a copy of Ferdydurke on the shelf but I have yet to read it. It would have to be pretty darn good to better Bruno Schulz.

Not the biggest fan of Beckett, but I'll choose WFG.

You should start a movie wars thread.
 
diseased said:
120 days of sodom vs. Maldoror
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I read Maldoror but couldn't get into it. That was many years ago. I should try again.

I've read Justine, Philosophy in the Bedroom, and Other Writings. My favorite was "Conversation with a Priest and a Dying Man." (or a similar title). I read bits and pieces of 120 Days of Sodom. It just seemed to be more of the same but more debauched or gratuitous. I would never make the claim that someone couldn't be that perverse, but it didn't strike me as shocking, just tiresome. The Marquis de Sade is a fine writer and often very funny, but narrow in scope.
 
Thank for the creative question. Unfortunately, I have only read one of the book :o for each question. I would pick "Journey to the end of night" probably.

How about:
-Street of Crocodiles vs One Hundred Years of Solitude. I find their feverish, LSD like descriptions very similar.
-Journey to the End of Night vs Tropic of Cancer. Again, similar ranting, angry, passionate narrators. I might prefer Journey...because he keeps it shorter, less random.
-Notes from Underground vs Hunger. Dostoevsky is great but arguably his protagonist doesn't descend into the depth like the one in Knut Hamsun's novel.
 
If I had to compare the early Burroughs to the early Sartre. I'd go with Nausea. The imagery seems somwhat surrealism inspired, very horrific, at least in places. Very funny too. No perfect moments.

Between the Ballard and the Burroughs, again, I'd give it too Burroughs. The Burroughs prose snaps like a bullwhip. Never read anything like it. Maybe Celine. Ballard has the best quotes about Naked Lunch, "The Alice in Wonderland of the amphetamine age," "The Lenny Bruce routine rewritten by Dr. Goebbels."

Celine vs. Henry Miller. I would have to give it to Henry Miller. A liberating read.

Schulz is better than Gombrowicz, in my opinion. Ferdydurke: good ending, boring satire on the Polish intellingentsia on the the other hand.

As far as drug writings, I'd have to go with the Witkiewicz. His writings on peyote are wild. Rimbaud's writing about the derangement of the senses are up there, too.

Never read Knut Hamsun.

Maldoror over Roussel. Decoding Roussel is quite the task.
 
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