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The Hidden Depths of Junky by William Burroughs
Junky is William S. Burroughs’ first novel, and by all accounts it is his most conventional one. Most of his work has bordered towards the lines of obscurity. They fail in producing a straight narrative more pleasing to the aesthetics of popular fiction. His style of writing came to be known as the “cut-up technique”. His reluctance to write a more composed prose was based on the desire to experiment with many forms of writing.
Before this surge of creativity took place in Burroughs’ mind, he managed to write a clear narrative with a beginning, a middle and an end, as his first novel. Some of the elements and characters found in the book later came to serve as the basis for his subsequent debouching masterpiece, Naked Lunch.
Junky follows the life of William Lee and his exploits in the world of junk. He is addicted to heroin, and sometimes acts as a pusher in order to maintain his habit. Lee spends most of the novel explaining the many effects that junk has on his body, going into specific details on the sensations and changes it causes.
The novel is an autobiographical one, with many of the events and characters being taken from Burroughs’ actual life. It is written in the first person perspective. This narrative style is what gives the novel its gritty and honest outlook into the conditions of an individual…
