"Naw," I said. "Only interested in my own skin."
And I walk out thinking I would like to see skinned alive. So I cut into the Automat and put coins into the fish cake slot and then I really see it: Chinese partisans and well armed with vibrating static and image guns. So I throw down the fish cakes with tomato sauce and make it back to the office where The Kid is still glued to that screen. He looks up smiling dirty and says:
"Wanta molest a child and disembowel it right after?"
"Pry yourself loose and listen." And I tell him. "Those Tiddly Winks don't fuck around you know."
"So what?" he says: "I've still got The Board Books. I can split this whistle stop wide open tomorrow."
"The money seeping its way out . . . what stayed at home in Berkshire went into timberland whose diminishing green reaches were converted acres at a clip into paper — toilet paper, banknote stock, newsprint — a medium or ground for shit, money, and the Word. . . . Shit, money, and the Word, the three American truths, powering the American mobility, claimed the Slothrops, clasped them for good to the country’s fate."
The one thing I stuck at and finished through here was Paradise Lost, which was the best.
This year I actually got about a quarter into Ulysses then drifted off, even though I was loving it and becoming convinced it was the only book you'd need ever read.
Started The Waves last week and that got supplanted too fast to take hold, even though I found it fascinating.
He's brilliant at little phrases and stuff. Break through In grey room. All the stuff I've put in the tags. A bit like Mark e smith in that way. Little phrases that get stuck in your head.
I really liked that bit. When he does that kind of thing it's pure poetry. The words leap out from the page. One of the things I did with prediction tablet was to isolate that element of Burroughs.
He likes explaining things too though so you don't get all that much poetry. Often he wants to hold forth.
One of the other things I wanted to do, something I learned from Prynne, was point out the way capitalism colonises the language of nature. Bank, stream, branch, and here Burroughs is talking about a similar colonisation of colour.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.