William S Burroughs

• Primary figure of the "Beat Generation and a major post modernist author
• Postmodern literature is characterized by reliance on narrative techniques such as fragmentation, paradox and unreliable narrators. Postmodernist works could also be described as "metafiction", meaning it forces readers to be aware that they are reading a fictional piece of work.
• Much of his work is semi-autobiographical, drawing from his experiences as a heroin addict and someone who traveled a lot.
• Burroughs popularized the "literary cut-up" technique, which involved taking a finished, linear text and cutting it in pieces with a few or single words on each piece and then re-arranging them into a new text.
• Mental health became concerning in 1939: Deliberately severed his left little finger at the knuckle to impress a man with whom he was infatuated with.
• Him and his wife were drug addicts - he addicted to morphine, his wife benzedrine. Burroughs accidentally shot his wife during a drunken game of "William Tell"

An adaption I watched of Burrough's novel of the same name, while incorporating other autobiographical accounts of his life.

I found the film hard to take in and follow at times (I should've watched it under more concentrated circumstances) but was pretty fascinated by what went on at the most surreal moments of the film:

The imagery of the film was really disturbing yet interesting. I love this sort of surrealism and symbolism and if the rest of Burrough's work is anything like this I would love to give it a read after re-watching Naked Lunch a second time,

Aldous Huxley

• A humanist, pacifist and satirist
• Huxley and his worked was concerned about the potential subjugation of humans through the use of mass media and mood-altering drugs, or the impact of misapplication or misunderstanding of increasingly sophisticated technology. Used a lot of psychedelic drugs himself.
• "Brave New World" was written as a response to the Utopian visions of H G Wells' works. The satirist in Huxley first began work on "Brave New World" as a parody of these works. It was also a first hand look at the industrialization and mass-production of the early 20th century that inspired him. There was almost a "fear" of new technology and potentiality of losing our identities in his work.
• Became interested in spiritual subjects such as parapsychology, philosophical mysticism and universalism:

-Mysticism: A claim to some non-sensory, non-rational, non-definable, non-identifiable means of knowledge, such as "instinct", "intuition", "revelation", or even "just knowing"

-Parapsychology: Investigation of paranormal and psychic phenomena - study of telepathy, precognition, clairvoyance, psychokinesis, near-death experiences, reincarnation, apparitional experiences. It is considered a pseudoscience and criticized for having never provided evidence for the existence of psychic phenomena after 100+ years of research.

-Univeralism: Religious, theological and philosophical concepts with universal application or ability - used to identify particular doctrines considering all people in their formation

Haruki Murakami

I came into contact with this book a few days after finding it at my friend's house after receiving the brief. 

I read it and found it rather interesting in many ways - it was eventful and uneventful at the same time, it juxtaposed reality with surrealism, it was written with very immediate language (which I love in books) and it had a rather abrupt ending.

On the whole, I found the plot very unsatisfying - nothing is really resolved and the undermining of realism by the surreal chapters never feels focused enough. Despite this, I wouldn't say I disliked it. The writing style was engaging and the premise of the novel - a real-time story about the goings on during one night in Tokyo - reminded me of 24, which happens to be my favourite TV Show.

Apparently a lot of his books occur similarly - characters often engage in mundane, everyday activities, but jarring elements are introduced which alter his characters' lives. This is all told in similarly immediate language.

Most articles on the internet seem to re-affirm that Murakami is very introverted:

• Never part of a community of writers - was a loner who wasn't fond of groups, schools and literary circles
• His early books originated in an"individual darkness", later works "tap into darkness found in society and history". He had a hard time in his 20s, which gave him material to draw from.
• Leads a disciplined life style - in bed by 9pm, up at 4am. He then writes till noon. His writing process involved "stepping into the darkness"
• He finds it to be difficult being as different as he is in Japan, and has been criticized for producing work that is very "un-Japanese"

"I like to read books. I like to listen to music. I collect records. And cats. I don't have any cats right now. But if I'm taking a walk and I see a cat, I'm happy."