Reviews tagging 'Schizophrenia/Psychosis '

Naked Lunch: The Restored Text by William S. Burroughs Jr

6 reviews

catsarecool43's review against another edition

challenging dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

mosaic of terror

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Grief, Cannibalism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

resolvedpoem's review against another edition

It was for a book club, but everyone decided it wasn’t very fun and wouldn’t be a great time to talk about. A little too heavy for everyone. I was planning to finish it anyway but without the motivation from the club, I too moved onto more fun reads.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Its hard to describe exactly what is upsetting about Naked Lunch, and why, because theres simply so much of it. A very challenging read, at its best, and downright unfun at it’s worst.

joshgroven's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Excrement, Medical trauma, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

tazch1701's review against another edition

This book leads me to leave the Beatnik culture was selfish. I know there is debauchery and filth in this world and to pretend it doesn't exist is naive and unhelpful. But, if I'm going to read or learn about the dark underside of society, I want to come away with some sense of having learned how to recognise or help people in those situations or how to avoid those situations or I want have expanded my empathy to a wider group of people. This book did none of that, while I understand that it was pivotal in pushback on literary censorship in the US, I find it insane that this work in particular is the one chosen to immemorial Burroughs. I also find it hard to stomach the fact that Burroughs was a trust fund baby who never had to work a day in his life, had he existed in the modern day I would say he's a spoilt champagne socialist who doesn't participate in any helpful activism and instead is part of the counter culture to fuel his perceived intelligence and as a means to indulge in his own selfish behaviour. If a person of colour had written this book it would not have achieved anywhere near this amount of praise or longevity, but for some reason a white man's drugg addled ramblings are worthy of being immortalised. In my opinion to be part of a true counter culture is to be part of a feasible alternative to the individualistic, capitalistic society of today that encompasses community, equity and kindness (which I think is the biggest thing we lack in the mainstream). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

jblago's review

challenging dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A book to more absorbed than read. When I started I was understandably challenged just comprehending each sentence as I read it, sometimes rereading the same paragraph multiple times simply to understand the words themselves let alone any semblance of deeper meaning or overall plot. But as I read more I became more comfortable with the style of this book. A literal Diary of a Madman. Junk-sick and mostly disgusting, yet proud and satirical on a level I have yet to see in any other book, film, or other art piece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Abandonment

Minor: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Islamophobia, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

The satirical nature of the book makes it HEAVY with content warnings, but within context everything has its purpose. Each word serves its raison d’etre perfectly, in spite of its outward appearance.

lain_darko's review against another edition

challenging dark funny slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Excrement, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis