Burrough's Poetry and Prose

William S. Burroughs’ work is unlike the prose/poetry of his contemporaries.  His work differs in structure, content, and style.  The structure of his poetry is chaotic.  He breaks his lines at moments that surprise the reader, and this constant interruption dictates the pace at which the reader is forced to read the piece.  The stanza lengths are inconsistent, which keeps the reader guessing.  The content, or subject matter, is highly scientific.  Both his prose and his poetry are extremely ripe for allegory: at every turn the reader gets the impression that he is not just, or necessarily, talking about surgeons and radiologists, viruses, and addiction.  I got the feeling Burroughs was attempting to comment on the world in which he lived, and not the fantastical, cut-up, perhaps exaggerated (?) world in which his work takes place.  His work is very transgressive.  It pushed the boundaries that, decades later, beat writers were still trying to do.  His work is still very extreme and surprising to today’s readers.  I can only imagine how controversial his work was 70 years ago.