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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Burrough's Best?,
By Glenn O. Parker Jr. (Lattimore,NC (USA)) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead (Burroughs, William S.) (Paperback)
At fourteen I read The Wild Boys and was completely in awe of William S. Burroughsgenius without knowing that others in the world were aware of his genius. Though disturbed and horrified by his imagery of a violent world of homosexual renegade boys, it did not tempt me to judge his work as merely pornographic or solely for those of prurient interests. As soon as I could find a source for procuring "The Naked Lunch"(a local Baptist college!), I tried to read it with the same expectations. Although certainly The Naked Lunch was an excellent work, I was disappointed, for I felt it never even came close in scope or power. Even years later, after having read quite a few of Burroughs books, I feel The Wild Boys to be unsurpassed in the Burroughsian Ouvre! When one of his works proves me wrong, I will write another review. Until then, reader beware, this book will change you, and maybe not for the better. But you will not remain neutral,for certain!
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty standard for a post-Naked Lunch Burroughs novel,
By panjin79 "Average Guy" (Everett, WA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead (Burroughs, William S.) (Paperback)
Burroughs is basically a love-him-or-leave-him writer. Using a slightly more lucid version of his "cut-up" style, The Wild Boys is a book about a group of, well, wild boys rising up in the face of a very oppressive society. Yes, there is lots of sex, most of it homosexual, but once past that Burroughs shows some interesting sociological insight. Burroughs is a satirist at heart, and in this case he is clearly on the Boys' side as he tries to "expose" the bedroom lives of the Moral Majority. However, Wild Boys brings more with a clear message to rebel against these oppressive forces and enjoy life.
We begin the book with glimpses of the corruption of the oppressing classes in a fantastical estate resembling a strange Neverland ranch. Rich people are invited to a long stay by the host where they eat, hangglide, and have sex. The starving masses are locked outside and taunted by the estate staff. Then, we move on to the Boys' who also have their own bizzare society, but Burroughs tries hard to write it in a much more positive light. Ritualistic and spiritual, the Boys band together and fight back for their freedom. Burroughs adds some interesting styles to the mix. Color plays a huge role and are often used to describe characters and places. Many times whole pages are nothing more than the same passage in slightly different variations written repeatedly. Sometimes these experimentations are interesting, other times they are tiresome. The plot, such as it is, starts and stops throughout the book. Some of the chapters are quite lucid and describe the war between the millitary and the Wild Boy tribes; other chapters, and the basic theme in these repeats, deal only with a few characters as they throw caution to the wind and succumb to their homosexual desires. While this may not be the best Burroughs novel I've read, it's certainly memorable. There is a lot to discover here, but some may not be willing to wade through the uneven style or sex to find it.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Time to move into first place...",
By Akethan (Arlington, VA United States) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead (Burroughs, William S.) (Paperback)
A square - a story inside other stories - the interaction of ghosts with the living - and the living with being reborn.This was the first Burroughs I'd read. It read like a series of short stories connected like a poem. Burroughs language flows then stutters and then squares back on itself. The way he experiments with the sound and repetition of words - was exciting and something I find I do in my own writing. I found myself keeping track of themes - St. Louis, and green (Greenbaum, Green Inn, Green Nun, Greenfield, Green Hat), and a constant reference to 1920. I haven't read much biography on Burroughs; that should come next. Burroughs exploration of a future that becomes more primitive even as it advances, his unabashed and open erotic descriptions as a consequence of his future rather than as an expected sidetrip, and his clean and no holds barred language require that I read more of his work.
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