Monthly Archives: July 2021

Notes on David S. Wills: Burroughs on Civilisation, Hallucination, and Telepathy

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Lee

For William Burroughs, the nuclear attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a dividing point in history, marking the moment that Western civilisation finally ended. Could you really call a people capable of such an atrocity “civilised”? And so without civilisation, … Continue reading →

Posted in Beat Generation, books, Literature | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The Pendulum

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Lee

In Chapter 5 of his book about the philosopher Leibniz, Gilles Deleuze ponders whether he should keep working this evening, or go to a nightclub. He’s not firmly in favour of either and he seems to prefer first the one … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Beats and Hippos

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Lee

And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks is an early work of the Beat Generation, written in the winter of 1944-45 by William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac together, or separately in that they take it in turns throughout the … Continue reading →

Posted in Beat Generation, books, Literature | Tagged , | 5 Comments