Or did the Beats actually have a motive that the modern writer-soul lacks? I wonder. It has been precisely 50 years since Burroughs published the overdebated and starkly overrated, “Naked Lunch”. It has an interesting framework and is undisputedly unique in its structure. But just how much attention should we attach to a man who shot his own wife by careless mistake, regularly shot heroin (without mistake) and didn’t have the guts to face up to the critique of his work by claiming he had “forgotten” about having written it (a lie, proved many times over. Heroin addicts are seldom conistent in their claims). Not to mention the fact that the cut-up variations of Naked Lunch most likely were an effect of Burroughs just dropping the manuscript all over the floor after finishing each page, not caring what page lead to what. And not as a form a creative exercise, either. After all, junkies do not have the luxury of coherence. Still, for what it is, the work is indeed interesting. In a freakshow, bearded-lady, kind of way.

Paul Bowles, the famous exile writer also living in Morocco at the time – claimed that Burroughs, whom he knew, and knew well – was really a humorist. And politely suggested that particular course for his friend. To little avail, obviously.

Bowles, incidentally, was everything Burroughs was not – even if they shared a love of exile. Bowles by choice, Burroughs out of necessity. Leave it to the Morrocans to provide a guilt-free environment for freebasing, bisexual gun-toting junkies.

Anyhow. Whatever may be said of Burroughs and Naked Lunch is that those ramblings of an irrate mind still supercede most of the newly pushlished work of today. And certainly those of any Swedish authors. And what a strange coincidence that is. The Swedish language is so very adapted to provide a razor-sharp, witty script. Pity.

What do you need to write a decent novel? Well. Turning to Bowles again, he put it like this:
“An idea. And one needs solitude and privacy and more or less unlimited time”.

What an impossible equation.

In all honesty, there are but a few works of art that modern people interested in understanding their own lives should at least have a perpetual glance at. And no – I’m not talking about any self-help books or DYI-checklists. That stuff is for chumps (chimps?). You will not be able to understand vital concepts via any charlatan shortcuts. There are no answers to be found in crystals or chanting. No answers to this question worth hearing in group therapy and no quick fixes for your impaired being of self in glossy magazines. In short: there are no simple answers to the question of: “You”?

Instead: Have a look at Paul Bowles book, The Sheltering Sky. I’ve written about this before. But it really is important. Why? Modern life and literature (and media) has for the last fifty odd years been preaching that the road, any road, of discovery – regardless of where it leads – is a good road. The journey is the goal. While that may be the partial truth, it is fundamentally useless advice if you have no idea how the traveller (you) really is.You need to know this before setting out on any journey.

See, the elements of this earth care nothing for your bravado, the rain cares little about your cynicism; the weather or the process of aging disregard your modern conviction that all answers can be googled, researched and put in logical boxes. Paul Bowles subtly reverses the idea that the journey is worth a damn if it is done in a spirit of escapism, as most modern journeys are. You may imagine yourself sophisticated, but faced with the force of the elements, nature or a situation where you are cut off from your regular lifelines – you’re likely to become just another fool, lost on a journey to nowhere.

A journey will not create life on its own. All life stems from the individual, nothing more, nothing less. This is why all escapism is just a matter of how fast you can run before the obvious facts will drag you by your heels, kicking and screaming, back to the place you started. You need to be something, someone – beforehand.

Be clear about yourself before you start out on the journey and it will not become a battle, but a journey of discovery in truth. Accept the outcome and consequence of yourself and you will be as immune to the elements as they are to you. In fact, you might enjoy them better this way.

All I’m saying: Do not leave the discovery of yourself to chance.

(The Sheltering Sky)