look, at a certain point very early on, i realised i was reading this not for enjoyment but as an anthropological exercise, satisfying my curiosity about midcentury america, my personal favourite era of history to study. and in that sense this was quite an edifying read. but on the other hand i found it pretty much skin-crawlingly horrible at all points, not so much the sex, the sex i could easily handle, even some of the more comical violence, but my god, the RACISM. oy vey. reading this on the subway felt like i was committing an act of antisocial behaviour. i covered the recto/verso with my hand when i had people near me. mortifying! a hard one to tackle with my 21st Century Sensibilities and like i AM glad i read it - there are actually some moments of really thrilling prose and insight - but now i need a palate cleanser asap. ( )

I suspect this is a book one either loves or hates. While I didn't hate it, and while the book certainly contains some nuggets of insight that are worth reading, I found it trying to have to read so much ridiculous trash in order to find those insights. Other than its historical relevance, perhaps the main reason to read this book is to see just how messed up heroin and other opiates will make someone, such that you decide to avoid them all. So five stars for its historical relevance, its warning against opiates, and a handful of insights, but zero stars for 98% of the book's contents, which leads to my 2.5 star review. ( )

I'm rating this classic with 3 stars, which is supposed to mean that I liked it. Let's be honest, though. I really didn't. The hallucinatory element of the narrative honestly had me lost, so I literally didn't know WTF was going on half the time.

But I suppose that's the point.

The book does not glorify addiction. Burroughs' use of hallucinatory imagery is highly effective in this regard, hence the higher rating than I would have given it based on my enjoyment of the material. But there is no single sympathetic character to latch onto to carry the reader through the nightmare. If you're looking to find a new main character to identify with, to sympathize with or to have pull at your heart in hope of him or her rising above their circumstance, this book isn't it. But as far as it being an important work in the history of literature? Yes, I understand why.

The edition I read has an appendix on known addictive drugs and their effects, as well as drugs used during withdrawal techniques that I found highly interesting though. Maybe that's because I could make better sense of it. I don't know if the appendix is standard in the original text, though.
( )

El almuerzo desnudo, una de las novelas más míticas de la literatura norteamericana, es un descenso a los infiernos de la droga y una denuncia horrorizada y sardónica, onírica y alucinatoria de la sociedad actual, un mundo sin esperanza ni futuro. Burroughs dispara sus flechas contra las religiones, el ejército, la universidad, la sexualidad, la justicia corrupta, los traficantes tramposos, el colonialismo, la burocracia y la psiquiatría representada por el siniestro Dr. Benway, el gran manipulador de conciencias, el experto en Control total. (Generación Beat)

Brilliant writing, dynamic characters, confusing AF, almost annoying but just interesting enough to keep listening, and certain words repeated too often for comfort. I love vulgarity, but specific racial and sexual slurs just aren't my thing these days - once or twice is effective, over and over again is distracting. So for about 7 hours, this audiobook is an entertaining WTF of things happening and amazing phrases with no plot or conclusion to speak of. Then there are about 2 hours of notes, outtakes, and holy shit does it explain a lot! Next time I read this book, it's going to be ten times more meaningful. This has actually revolutionized the way I will approach my writing in the future. Why separate poetry and prose when you can have both in the same work? Not sure I can ever read a "normal" story again. ( )