A review by h_motionless
Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs

challenging medium-paced

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

1.75

William Burroughs is an author I am incredibly ambivalent about - Junky and Queer were two novels I found to be genuinely captivating, through the narration style and subject matter, while novels like The Soft Machine and The Wild Boys were gratuitous displays of depravity that seemed to be thrown together with little to no thought or artistic ability. Unfortunately, despite it being his most well-known novel, Naked Lunch fit into the latter category. I couldn’t follow along with a single plot point, and nothing about this novel is enjoyable to read. Naked Lunch may be an important novel in breaking down the barriers and limitations of literature at the time, but makes no sense to a modern reader, and genuinely reads as a drug-infested pornographic rambling. After now reading five of Burroughs’ works, I am eager to read more, as two of his novels appealed to me greatly and I am sure that there is more within his bibliography that I would enjoy - this novel though, I didn’t enjoy in the slightest.