Tag - Joan Vollmer

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New Twitter Species Discovered
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Controversial Authors

New Twitter Species Discovered

May 16 2014
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Followers of my blog will be only too aware of my Twitter obsession. I have devoted posts to how my fellow authors use Twitter to market their books, Twitter annoyances, in addition to several posts about the various species that inhabit the Twittersphere.

Several weeks ago a Twitter friend mentioned to me that random Tweets she was sending, which were utterly irrelevant to anyone but the intended recipient, were being RTd by others.

Without further ado I collected my specimen net, donned my Victorian explorer’s hat, and headed off into the darkest depths of the Twittersphere, to observe one of these peculiar Twitter specimens in their natural habitat. I had travelled but a short distance when I heard Emma reply to a Tweet from Chris with, ‘See you Monday Chris’.

TwitterBird

No sooner had the Tweet been sent than it was seized and randomly RTd to twenty thousand Followers by another Twitter account, not named Chris. Since that occurrence I have been observing similar Tweeting antics on a nearly daily basis. The Tweets are of the:

‘Thank you for the RT Patricia’ – ‘How was your weekend Emilio.’ – ‘Okay see you then.’ And ‘She’s fine thanks for asking’ variety.

This new locust like Twitter species could soon reach plague proportions, devouring Tweets as they go, leaving a barren Twittersphere in their wake. I took to ruminating as to the logic behind this peculiar Tweeting habit, but was unable to comprehend a rational reason for it. It was at this juncture that I remembered a quote by author and cultural icon, William S. Burroughs.

‘Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative.’

Burroughs possessed remarkable rationality and intuitiveness when it came to analysing situations, other than on the occasion when he accidentally shot his wife Joan Vollmer dead, whilst trying to shoot a water tumbler balanced on her head.  But everyone is allowed the occassional off day.

WilliamBurroughs

Then I remembered another Burroughs quote, which also seemed appropriate in my perplexed state. Burroughs once famously said:

‘Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.’

Well I have been relaxing, but my mind is no closer to answering the perplexing question regarding the habits of this newly discovered Twitter species. And so I am left with no alternative but to return full circle to his first quote. Anyway I have named the new species temere sequitor, Random Repeater in English.

This is my review of Queer by William S. Burroughs.

Click here to read Adam’s review of The Soft Machine by the same author.

 

Controversial Authors

May 31 2013
Browse archives for May 31, 2013
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Many authors have been branded as being controversial over the course of history.  What actually constitutes controversy is of course a highly subjective matter and an author whose work was viewed as being controversial in one era may not be in a later one.  Then there are those authors whose controversy may not be limited only to their work but also to their actions.   The following blog post is dedicated to two authors, widely regarded as being controversial, who will always be remembered as being pioneers by the literary establishment.

Voltaire

Voltaire

 (November 21st 1694 – May 30th 1778)

Notable works: Candide, Letters on England and Zadig.

Living to the ripe old age of eighty-three in an era with a life expectancy of about fifty, Voltaire is remembered to this day as being a central figure in the 1700’s intellectual movement, The Enlightenment.  A prolific and witty writer, Voltaire embraced a variety of writing forms including poems, plays, essays, novels, scientific and historical works.  Unrelenting in his criticism of the establishment, church and the order of the day, Voltaire can in many ways be viewed as a modern person, due to his opinions about social reform, his criticism of elements within The Bible and his preaching of religious tolerance.  Voltaire’s beliefs and determination to voice them certainly didn’t endear him to many and he had to endure beatings, two stints in The Bastille and a period of exile in London.  His most famous work is undoubtedly the novella, Candide, a satirical work that was widely banned at the time due to it being viewed as blasphemous and revolutionary.

William S. Burroughs

WilliamBurroughs

(February 5th 1914 – August 2nd 1997)

Notable works: Junkie, Queer, The Soft Machine & The Naked Lunch.

William S. Burroughs will always be remembered as being at forefront of the Beat generation, influencing the likes of Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.  His works include eighteen novels, in addition to a number of novellas and short stories, many of which are semi-autobiographical in nature.  Burroughs’s writing is characterised as being sardonic, dark and often humorous.  Arguably his most famous book, the non-linear Naked Lunch was so scandalous at the time of its publication that it underwent a court case under U.S. obscenity laws.  A controversial character with a penchant for rent boys and heroin use, Burroughs ended up killing his second wife Joan Vollmer in Mexico after attempting to shoot a water-tumbler, which she had balanced on her head.  Even in death controversy continues to follow Burroughs.  Only last year a Turkish publisher faced obscenity charges after releasing a Turkish translation of The Soft Machine.

Click here to read a review of The Soft Machine.

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