Customer Reviews

Ghost of Chance

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first book by Burroughs I've read, and one I found quite disturbing. If this is one of his minor efforts, I just wonder what effect the most respected thomes in the Burroughs canon would have on me.

"Ghost of Chance" deals with extinction, both of animal species due to human stupidity and of man by exotic plagues. And that's just a simplified description. Burroughs adds commentary on Christianity, language as an evolutionary evil and man's stuborness in trying to capture time.

This was a quick read, taking me under an hour to finish. Yet, it resisted being easily grasped: Starting with the story of Captain Mission, a pirate settled in Madagascar and obsessed with preserving the native lemurs, moving then to the hipocrisy of Jesus Christ as Savior, and ending with plagues scarier (and more surreal) than ebola, the book packs into a small bottle a big punch. So big, in fact, that I wasn't able to describe my reaction to it clearly enough to write this review. (I hope I didn't babble too much here!)

Burroughs shows a wicked sense of humor, specially in the Notes at the end. And with imagery as wild and scary as a bad trip, this is a good introduction to one of the most discussed authors of the last half of our century.

There is nothing more exhilirating than discovering an author who disgusts the established academic community and thrills them at the same time. Not to mention the rest of us. Granted, this is one of Burroughs' minor efforts, but that may only be said due to its length. I found the 50-odd page a book to be read in one hour, or ten years, depending on what you were looking for. With his usual genius, Burroughs lets you get out of his prose EXACTLY what you are willing to put into it. Read this one slow... it pays.

This is not a typical Burroughs novel (boiled down to a series of disconnected events) but a fairly straightforward ecological essay/allegory/adventure. Burroughs searingly denounces Christianity, language, civilization, then proceeds to destroy humanity by bringing back the extinct diseases which make Ebola look like a headache or a blister on your toe. Looks like he got his ideas by making cut-ups of "The Hot Zone." And, of course, there's lemurs. If you are already a Burroughs fan, this is a great little book, but nothing more than one of his minor efforts. Sort of like the inflamed and pus-oozing appendix to Cities of the Red Night.

Great book. Weirdly wonderful and a taste of why Kurt Cobain was so enthralled with him. Two thumbs up.

I read this through a couple of shifts at work at the book store. This particularly slim volume is as radiant as it is intoxicating. Burroughs blends his comedic theatrics with researched biology, drug use, and Central/South American culture to form a story that's actually a direct statement on humanity's relentless meddling with nature. The use of the lemur is particularly powerful, where Burroughs consistently drives the point home by describing how friendly, intelligent, and pet-like the lemurs can be, yet how we humans, who kill for pleasure, will never have a positive relationship with the lemurs.

In addition, there are some horrific descriptions of disease, and the analogy that humans take on to viruses is quite awesome in its success.

The problems with this book lie in that it almost feels incomplete-it is far too schizophrenic for any coherent plot to be formed (there are three major sections and an afterward, and each has its own plot-sometimes characters pass between one section, sometimes they are confined), and at times it almost seems far too pretentious. Being one of Burroughs's later books, I wonder if he took his prolific status and abused it to put forward something that didn't meet previous work's standards.

Despite its failings, this book is short enough to read and not consider a waste of time, and the facts on South America and animal extinction are so eccentric and hard to find in other literature that the book will seem more worth your time than it actually may be.

Burroughs was a great writer; in many ways he was even revolutionary. However, by the time he got around to writing this VERY short novel, there was nothing new in his bag of tricks. Every sentence and situation feels like it's been pulled from the pages of one of his other books. He's said the same things before, and said them far more effectively. I finished this book because it's Burroughs and only 58 pages long, not because it was particularly compelling.

This book is excellent. It explores the nature of mankind and how it will one day wipe itsself out along with all of its fellow species. Definitly a recommended read

I read this book and found nothing in it that Burroughs didn't already write in previous novels. The only difference is that this one advocates a charity cause: the lemur. Burroughs really has written better. If you're a hard core Burroughs fan, go ahead and get it, but otherwise, there is plenty of other (much better) Burroughs to choose from.