From: owner-the-edge-digest@ (The Edge Digested) To: the-edge-digest@robin-nvh.bvsd.k12.co.us Subject: The Edge Digested V1 #40 Reply-To: the-edge@robin-nvh.bvsd.k12.co.us Sender: owner-the-edge-digest@ Errors-To: owner-the-edge-digest@ Precedence: bulk The Edge Digested Monday, April 6 1998 Volume 01 : Number 040 Today's subjects from The Edge: [The Edge] Re: William S. Burroughs Re: [The Edge] William S. Burroughs Re: [The Edge] Re: William S. Burroughs Re: [The Edge] William S. Burroughs Re: [The Edge] Cut-Ups and Throckmorton [The Edge] [OnTE] trade ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 03 Apr 1998 16:59:27 -0800 From: "Rev. Boblight" Subject: [The Edge] Re: William S. Burroughs > Date: Fri, 3 Apr 1998 16:44:51 -0800 (PST) > From: "Adam T. Ness" > Subject: [The Edge] William S. Burroughs > > Wow. I finaly got around to reading one of these, and they are > very... Visceral. I'm reading "The Soft Machine", and it really doesn't > fit my taste at all. After the first three pages I'm tired of reading > about kids dripping cum and shit. I mean, surreal writing and > impressionist writing is cool, but this stuff is just plain disgusting... > I don't see how any of it can be taken as serious writing. WHOA there, big guy! You just jumped into the DEEP end! What you're reading is Burroughs at perhaps his MOST experimental and LEAST accessible. Try _Naked Lunch_, or, better still if you like your writing linear, _Junky_. Also, his trilogy _Cities of the Red Night_, _The Place of Dead Roads_, and _The Western Lands_ are more accessible. In fact, practically ANYTHING he wrote EXCEPT what you're reading will probably be more to your liking. - - Rev. Boblight Descended Angel of Wotan [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 Apr 1998 22:20:22 -0600 From: "Carl L. Congdon" Subject: Re: [The Edge] William S. Burroughs Adam T. Ness wrote: > > Wow. I finaly got around to reading one of these, and they are > very... Visceral. I'm reading "The Soft Machine", and it really doesn't > fit my taste at all. After the first three pages I'm tired of reading > about kids dripping cum and shit. I mean, surreal writing and > impressionist writing is cool, but this stuff is just plain disgusting... > I don't see how any of it can be taken as serious writing. Keep in mind that W.S. Burroughs was big in France...the same people who drolled over Jerry Lewis' comic stylings. Also, keep in mind that this was Bill's "cut-up" period of writing. He'd cut up words from books and newspapers, read them into a tape recorder, listen to them later, and construct a paragraph. The book you're attempting to read came from that technique. Anyway, speaking of Cut-Ups, I have a theory that the Cut-Up Machine and the Throckmorton Device are either rivals, brothers, lovers, or any or all of the above, and Al Amarja is as whacked as it it is due to the two machines sparring with one another. Or, following the lovers tangent, they are each doing things to make sure the other one is used and therefore maintained properly. Any thoughts? [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 03 Apr 1998 22:24:44 -0600 From: "Carl L. Congdon" Subject: Re: [The Edge] Re: William S. Burroughs Rev. Boblight wrote: > WHOA there, big guy! You just jumped into the DEEP end! > > What you're reading is Burroughs at perhaps his MOST experimental and > LEAST accessible. > > Try _Naked Lunch_, or, better still if you like your writing linear, > _Junky_. Also, his trilogy _Cities of the Red Night_, _The Place of > Dead Roads_, and _The Western Lands_ are more accessible. In fact, > practically ANYTHING he wrote EXCEPT what you're reading will probably > be more to your liking. I have to agree with that. At least in Naked Lunch, you can pick out a thin direction that it's going in, and an illusion of a plot. Junky is his most digestible work, as he is seriously discussing heroin and it's effects on his life. Pretty profound stuff, so you know that he *could* write conventionally and well when the mood took him. [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 03:29:23 GMT From: robin@execulink.com (robin) Subject: Re: [The Edge] William S. Burroughs > Wow. I finaly got around to reading one of these, and they are >very... Visceral. I'm reading "The Soft Machine", and it really doesn't >fit my taste at all. After the first three pages I'm tired of reading >about kids dripping cum and shit. I mean, surreal writing and >impressionist writing is cool, but this stuff is just plain disgusting... >I don't see how any of it can be taken as serious writing. Burroughs is one of those truly experimental writers who has been latched onto by the mainstream media. You can see him in movies, videos, magazines; hear him on records; and so on. But just because he's a popular media icon does not mean that his work is meant to appeal to the majority of people. I imagine that most of the people who hype his name have never even read his books -- they just think he's this cool druggie kind of guy. His works deal obsessively with sex, drugs, language, and the abuses of hierarchical power structures. He expresses his manifold ideas through writing that is dissonant, anarchic, and very powerful. Only by breaking free of convention -- truly stepping outside the norms and not just talking about it -- can he critique free of patriarchal control. That said, The Soft Machine is one of Burroughs' most difficult works. My favourite cut-up is The Ticket that Exploded, which has more in the way of SF imagery. Or for more of a straightforward narrative you may wish to try one of the later novels. Q: Is control controlled by its need to control? A: Yes. +--------------------------+--------------------------------------+ | robin, co-ordinator | : W.S. Burroughs | +--------------------------+--------------------------------------+ | jupiter.execulink.com/~robin/ | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: Sat, 04 Apr 1998 12:57:32 -0700 From: Trevor Stone Subject: Re: [The Edge] Cut-Ups and Throckmorton Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far away, "Carl L. Congdon" said: > Anyway, speaking of Cut-Ups, I have a theory that the Cut-Up Machine >and the Throckmorton Device are either rivals, brothers, lovers, or any >or all of the above, and Al Amarja is as whacked as it it is due to the >two machines sparring with one another. Or, following the lovers >tangent, they are each doing things to make sure the other one is used >and therefore maintained properly. > Al Amarja is a microcosm of the universe. Yin and Yang are constantly at work trying to change the amount of chaos and control. Sometimes there is more chaos, sometimes more control. Too much of either is bad, the universe cannot exist as merely chaos or control, and so, though the Cut-Ups Machine and the Throckmorton device are natuarl enemies, they complement themselves, each cannot live without the other. They are both rivals and lovers, both brothers and strangers. They set the course that the Tao will follow, but neither has control over the Tao. Trevor Stone; Eclectic Taoist; Human, Trident, Academic =-=-=-= Trevor Stone =-=-= aka Flwyd =-=-= tstone @ robin . ml . org =-=-=-= Eclectic philosopher, New Vista computer admin, gamer, witster, esotericist http://robin.ml.org/~tstone/ Thou wayward beef-witted pantaloon! Cross James Dean with Ronald Reagan: Rebel without a clue. [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ Date: 06 Apr 1998 10:52:00 +0100 From: st001183@hrzpub.tu-darmstadt.de (Oliver Hertel) Subject: [The Edge] [OnTE] trade Hoi! Cards I still need: 141 Ley Line Nexus 244 Throckmorton Device Cut-Ups C7 Blatant Scam C34 Funkasite C37 Horrors Count C44 Koanhead C55 Kofi Ogunlala C59 Paralytic Banana C74 Rex Shadows D41 Julie Grouse Arcana A9 The Truth about Necromancy A20 Bad Vibes A100 Farah Nekbeth Cards I can offer: Limited edition - rares 63 Coral Entity 106 Gremlins 121 Human Ch'i Gun (2) 136 Latent Hero 188 Radio Laser Satellite 194 Asha Rayhar Limited Edition - uncommons 16 Ghadir Allemi 19 Anti-Matter Grenade (3) 20 Aries Ambush 21 Armada 23 Astral Doorway 35 Bellow 41 Bloodlust 48 Bull-Beater (2) 49 Bystander Effect 56 Mihaly Cieznick 57 Cloak Ambush (2) 58 Cloak Hit 86 Adelina Escobar 88 Abanobi Famani (2) 91 Ben Feather-on-Wind 101 Fury (2) 126 Intelligence Contacts 134 Joey Ko (2) 135 Rigor Kwasek 150 Fabrissa Melors 153 Mole (2) 160 Mutant Ambush 161 Mutant Sympathies 163 Mutation 171 Marla Oceana 173 Martin Oumage 187 Jack Rack 197 Angela Reyes 202 Dr. Fernando Rodriguez 209 Sabotage 214 Self-Actualizer (2) 221 Guiseppe Sizo 223 Burford J. Slystick 234 Stun Gas 247 Trade Contacts in the Edge (2) 248 Trident Morale 254 Unanticipated Influence 261 Guglielmo Vigneto (2) 262 Ward agains Enemies 266 Holly Winter Cut-Ups Expansion Set C9 Jacob Brinker (2) C21 Coatless Code (2) C26 Deep Pockets C32 Fall of the Wall (2) C35 Giblets Granberry (2) C42 Emmanuelle Karmitz C50 Apocalypse Moorhouse (3) C52 Mrs. Brinker (2) C57 Mary Olekobaai (3) C65 Excel Quitlong C82 Malak Suzier C83 Anatoly Taghel C86 Undeserved Power C88 Olimpia Urgeghe C89 Anoop Varna (3) Shadows Expansion Set D5 Monty Albion D13 Tommy Bakka (2) D24 De-Individuator D26 T. Joe Dreck (2) D31 Roz Fernseh D32 Otto Finkelstein D34 Flux D42 Thunder Gruen D43 Jill Grunder D45 Roman Gundle D52 Consuela Herrera D56 Azza Jami (2) D62 Freddie Manger D64 Kalev Maran D67 Moonsilk D74 Otz D79 Alonzo Rubio D84 Slaughter (2) D88 Squeaks D107 Walter Was (3) D115 Oma Zero Arcana Expansion Set A26 Big Mitts A50 Execration A76 Andreij Kawierna (2) A152 Isis Zaman A153 Qubilah Zeroual and X-Files, Mythos and Rage cards. Ciao, Oliver [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge ------------------------------ End of The Edge Digested V1 #40 ******************************* [O] You received this message because you are subscribed to the-edge-digest [0] To (un)subscribe, send a message to majordomo@robin.ml.org with body of [O] (un)subscribe the-edge-digest To get off digest, subscribe the-edge [O] To post a message, send it to the-edge@robin.ml.org