William S. Burroughs
Paperback | Pages: 332 pages Rating: 3.77 | 4428 Users | 241 Reviews
Details Books Toward Cities of the Red Night (The Red Night Trilogy #1)
| Original Title: | Cities of the Red Night |
| ISBN: | 0312278462 (ISBN13: 9780312278465) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Red Night Trilogy #1 |
Interpretation In Pursuance Of Books Cities of the Red Night (The Red Night Trilogy #1)
Cities of the Red Night follows a dual narrative, slipping fluidly between the early 18th century exploits of a libertarian pirate crew, led by gunsmith Noah Blake, and the late 20th century “private asshole” (Clem Snide) hired to find the decapitated remains of one Jerry Green -- victim apparent of a bizarre hanging/sex cult. It is worth noting that hanging and the spontaneous erections/ejaculations induced by this mode of execution factor heavily into both tales, at times serving as the literal and symbolic connection between the two. Looking to the invocation, we find that the book itself is dedicated (amongst many others) to: "Ix Tab, Goddess of Ropes and Snares, patroness of those who hang themselves, to Schmuun, the Silent One, twin brother of Ix Tab, to Xolotl the Unformed, Lord of Rebirth, to Aguchi, Master of Ejaculations, to Osiris and Amen in phallic form, to Hex Chun Chan, the Dangerous One, to Ah Pook, the Destroyer, to the Great Old One and the Star Beast, to Pan, God of Panic, to the nameless gods of dispersal and emptiness, to Hassan i Sabbah, Master of Assassins, [and to] all the scribes and artists and practitioners of magic through whom these spirits have been manifested...." This intercultural pantheon of creative and destructive deities embodies the underlying mythos of the novel, which centers on transmutation of the soul through the simultaneous experience of orgasm and bodily death. Suggested is the notion of the spirit itself erupting from the inflamed, blistering body, its distinctive musky aroma being that of the “Red Fever” (a.k.a. Virus B-23), a disease originally endemic to the ancient mythical cities for which the book is named: Tamaghis, Ba’dan, Yass-Waddah, Waghdas, Naufana, and Ghadis. In one early episode, the enigmatic Dr. Peterson explains his theory on the virus: "Now let us consider the symptoms of Virus B-23: fever, rash, a characteristic odor, sexual frenzies, obsession with sex and death.... Is this so totally strange and alien? [...] We know that a consuming passion can produce physical symptoms ... fever ... loss of appetite ... even allergic reactions ... and few conditions are more obsessional and potentially self-destructive than love. Are not the symptoms of Virus B-23 simply the symptoms of what we are pleased to call ‘love’? Eve, we are told, was made from Adam’s rib ... so a hepatitis virus was once a healthy liver cell. If you will excuse me, ladies, nothing personal ... we are all tainted by viral origins." This equating of human biology and behavior with that of a viral organism is perhaps nothing new, but in Cities of the Red Night it is employed as a vital first premise to the thesis postulated by the Western Lands trilogy, which this book serves to open. In the world put forth by Burroughs, it is the soul itself which is the virus, bound to spread from one corporeal form to the next, at least until it finds a host hardy enough to transcend life as we know it. Up next, The Place of Dead Roads.Itemize About Books Cities of the Red Night (The Red Night Trilogy #1)
| Title | : | Cities of the Red Night (The Red Night Trilogy #1) |
| Author | : | William S. Burroughs |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 332 pages |
| Published | : | May 4th 2001 by Picador (first published 1981) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Science Fiction. Literature. Fantasy. Novels |
Rating About Books Cities of the Red Night (The Red Night Trilogy #1)
Ratings: 3.77 From 4428 Users | 241 ReviewsAppraise About Books Cities of the Red Night (The Red Night Trilogy #1)
A Warning of the Faustian Decline to Come........and it has already started. I'm not sure why but this was a really enjoyable book to read over the summer. (Read this during the summer of 2011)Many criticisms have been levelled at this book. However, I feel the reviewer of December 2, 2005 on amazon.com in particular has hit the nail on the head. It is not easy reading and is definitely not for the faint-hearted or prudish. As the above reviewer points out, this trilogy is for thinking peopleI was fascinated at first but then he mixed too many timelines and characters without any purpose and relied on sex too much so i totally lost interest. A weird book like an experiment but maybe one needs to be under drugs to appreciate it as the writer wrote it.
"Cities" affords a logical conclusion to the various literary techniques and experiments employed by Burroughs over three prolific if somewhat confused decades of work. The straight forward narrative style of his debut novel "Junky" is thankfully reinvented peppered with a Chandler type detective story which sets the early theme of the book. This overlaps a pirate story based on the apparently factual adventures of Captain Mission and his colony of Libertatians. The book develops to suggest an
Hm. Not aged well, Burroughs. Or maybe I have, as I was mad about this aged 17 but now it seems tiresome. Taking the repetitive gay porn out of this would reduce its mass to a pamphlet. It would be an excellent pamphlet. The AIDS/Spanish Flu/Love as a virus conceit feels a bit of a vague platform. The cut-ups in CotRN seems more arbitrary than in earlier stuff, a shame because there's occasionally very interesting Burroughs-gents into astral projection, Shakespeare, ancient races and the state
Cities of the Red Night follows a dual narrative, slipping fluidly between the early 18th century exploits of a libertarian pirate crew, led by gunsmith Noah Blake, and the late 20th century private asshole (Clem Snide) hired to find the decapitated remains of one Jerry Green -- victim apparent of a bizarre hanging/sex cult. It is worth noting that hanging and the spontaneous erections/ejaculations induced by this mode of execution factor heavily into both tales, at times serving as the literal
A bleak future, fascist government, servant boys, and balls of opium - It's Burroughs, need I say anything more?
Five stars for the first two hundred pages. After that, not so good.I really loved this book in high school. Not anymore. I cannot handle non-linear books right now.The first two hundred pages uses a dual narrative with the occasional chapter related to a virus. One story is about a pirate utopia while the other is about a private detective. I liked them both a lot. It was nice to read Burroughs using a hardboiled style with a detective. After about two hundred pages, the stories collapse.
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