I've recently listened to some of William S. Burroughs'

I've read a lot of his books but I don't actually think I've come across the term - care to link to lecture where he talks about it or just give me a quick definition? I'll give you a few titles based on that, if you like

>>8589075
Sure. He covers it briefly in this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-2a0Rti6-Y

He goes a bit more in-depth in his 'Class on Creative Reading' but it's spread out a bit over 3 lectures of 1½ hours each.

Synchronicity is basically his way of explaining away coincidences. He says that he doesn't believe in them, it's just a matter of you and whatever you're observing simply being synchronized in time and place. If you open your mind and start noticing the world around you you'll realize that things repeat themselves in the way that people have routines and such. So coincidence is basically a meaningless word.

It'd be pretty sick if you could, but to be honest I'm not even sure he wrote about it.

>>8589083
Now I get it - you're in luck, it's a big underlying theme of his writing so you can find the concept used more or less in every one of his books. I actually thought about it while reading him, didn't know he had a formal definition for himself but it makes sense.

I'll preface my recommendations by saying that, since you're looking for it, you're more likely to see it in what you read. A bit meta, maybe, but you can probably argue for the emergence of synchronicity in his writings with your knowledge of synchronocity itself.

That said, read the Naked Lunch. You'll find the concept in its more primordial state, not really developed but like a big shadow under the water. Afterwards, read Cities of the Red Night and the Place of Dead Roads. They're much more overt in their use of time/reality cycles, the intertwining of narratives, etc. It may be a bit hard to get into the flow, especially in the second half of the first book, but don't worry - re-read it, maybe.

i'd also like to advise you to check out Spinoza's Ethics, not going to shorthand it but you may find it interesting if you're into this line of thought.

>>8589092
Oh and, memes aside, DFW handles the same subject with a similar line of thought in Infinite Jest and I think he did a good job of it

>>8589092
>>8589104
Thanks a bunch man.

>>8589062

read Junkie to start. imo its better than Naked Lunch but opinions aside it gets you equated with the slang of that scene and time that also runs through the rest of his work. Without it people mistake common slang of the era for an extra layer of absurdist prose and look really stupid.

That or just read Paul Bowles, the guy's idol.

File: 1.jpg (141KB, 580x388px) Image search: [Google]

141KB, 580x388px

>>8589062
>concept of 'synchronicity'

pure bait
Carl Jung is the guy who coined this
read anything by Burroughs to get started

File: lol_burroughs.jpg (78KB, 465x383px) Image search: [Google]

78KB, 465x383px

Junkie and Queer are entry level Burroughs. he was actually trying to stick to a relatively straightforward narrative.

Naked Lunch goes off the rails and into the ocean, but there is some hilarious shit in there if you're willing to treat it as a series of routines rather than a book with a start, middle and end (County Clerk, anyone?)

The Soft Machine, Nova Express and the Ticket that Exploded are .. rough going, even for an insane person like me. hundreds of pages of his cut-ups with occasional flashes of interesting stuff inbetween.

the Red Night Trilogy is more accessible than the Nova books, but fucked up nonetheless. Cities of the Red Night was the first thing of his i read.

File: burroughs3.jpg (28KB, 365x377px) Image search: [Google]

28KB, 365x377px

>>8589145
>Without it people mistake common slang of the era for an extra layer of absurdist prose and look really stupid.


this.

it took me almost fifteen years to work out what "the outraged squawk of the displaced bullhead" was.

it's a fucking *fish*.