Another book read that fulfuils a few Challenge slots (well done me ;-) ).
Junky is a classic cult novel that I have been meaning to read for ages. Apparently it is semi-autobiographical, it tells the story of a man who starts selling Heroin, never having taken it before. He quickly falls into the slippery slope of addiction. He struggles to pay for his next fix so he has to deal as a means of satisfying his need, as we all know dealing drugs is always going to be full of dodgy characters and situations. The character copes with withdrawals, both voluntary and forced as well as betrayal by those around him.
The book is fully submerged in the drug world, the language - with a helpfull glossary provided by Penguin - uses a range of terms for vaious drugs and drug users, most of which are fairly recognisable. The language is fairly sparse, matter of fact and focuses on action rather than description so the events in the characters life seem to rush through, one major event after another.
I have a few other books by Burroughs on my wish list and I look forward to reading them in the future.
Challenges:
The Classics Challenge 1/5 See other peoples reads in July for the Challenge here.
20th Century Challenge (1953)
If you have read Junky please feel free to leave a link to your review and I'll tag it into the post, and feel free to do the same for mine.
2 comments:
Sounds like an interesting book. Yet another book I'm not even familiar with. Thanks for the review.
I want to say I've read snippets of Burroughs, but I'm not sure. Is he the one who wrote Naked Lunch? I read A Million Little Pieces earlier this year, which references this book, but I greatly disliked that one. :)
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