Junky, William Seward Burroughs, drug addiction, William Lee, autobiographical novel, social criticism, personal experience, American society, Louisiana, corruption, homosexuality
Junky, the first novel of W. BURROUGHS, was published for the first time in 1953. It deals with the story of drug addiction, through one example: William LEE, the narrator. It is a major work relating the lifestyle of drug addicts during the 1950s. He employs a laconic tone, but he always seems honest in his story. On one hand, this story is similar to the personal life of BURROUGHS. Some people consider it to be an autobiographical novel (or semi-autobiographical, it depends on the definition and the point of view of each). So this novel has other levels of meaning, and one of them can be the autobiography or semi autobiography.
[...] Similarities between the real life of Burroughs and his character Lee are numerous in the text. Burroughs studied medicine in Vienna, and the character of Lee evokes this kind of interest in Junky. In the same way, Burroughs was a student at Harvard University, but does not like that. He got his degree in English literature in 1936. An event that we find just at the beginning of Junky: « I went to one of the Big Three universities, where I majored in English literature for lack of interest in any other subject. [...]
[...] Burroughs, Junky, ed. modern classics - Pod cast France culture - Beat generation ou la fureur de vivre - épisode 2 William Burroughs, junky céleste - 21 juin 2016 - Sam Jordison - Junky and William Burrough's oblique moral vision - The guardian - 11 février 2014 Philippe Lejeune, Le Pacte autobiographique, Seuil “The same people are in both narcotics and Communism. Right now they control most of America. “p “When I jumped bail and left the States, the heat on junk already looked like something new and special. [...]
[...] So, we will try to show these two levels of reading that we can have about Junky. We will first focus on the partly autobiographical story of the narrator's drug addiction. Then we will comment upon the social criticism. I. A partly autobiographical story First of all, in a first reading, this novel recount the story of drug addiction of its narrator: William Lee. Many details about drugs and methods are given; it makes the story credible. But the novel by Burroughs clearly appears such as an autobiographical (or semi) work. [...]
[...] Junky - William Seward Burroughs (1953) - Is Junky merely the story of the narrator's drug addiction? Subject: Is Junky merely the story of the narrator's drug addiction? Or does Burroughs suggest other levels of meaning? Discuss, giving concrete examples and quoting from the novel. Junky, the first novel of W. Burroughs, was published for the first time in 1953. It deals with the story of drug addiction, through one example: William Lee, the narrator. It is a major work relating the lifestyle of drug addicts during the 1950s. [...]
[...] Next, Burroughs and Lee traveled in the same countries or cities: Texas, Kentucky, South Africa, Mexico, New Orleans, New York tested and used same drugs Both tried many times to stop drugs, and were arrested for “forging a narcotic prescription,” or resale of marijuana. In addition, both ran away from Louisiana to Mexico to avoid a possible detention. But it is a semi-autobiographical novel, consequently there are differences between Burroughs and Lee; for instance, concerning their wives. Burroughs killed accidentally Joan Vollmer at Mexico. He was drunk and wanted to reconstitute the whole scene of Guillaume Tell and the famous apple. [...]
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