What I am reading
this is the highly subjective way I read and interpret literature
(I mostly read classic belles-lettres, but you’ll find some examples of trashy readings here and there as well)
terrible title - nice book
And the hippos were boiled in their tanks is a brilliant collaboration between Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs.
Written in alternating perspectives they tell the story of a murder. The plot is basically a description of the journey of a group of young bohemian artists through New York - in three words: eat, drink, fuck.
It probably sounds crazy, but reading this book somehow reminded me of Ulysses - I mean, you could actually use it as a guide for Greenwich Village in New York and revisit all the bars, restaurants or whorehouses..
And the hippos were boiled in their tanks is a very realistic depiction of the lifestyle of the Beat Generation, showing not only their freedom and spontaneity, but at the same time all their aimlessness, their purposelessness, their longing for art and love, their notorious shortage of money and the endless monotony, because every day is the same as the one before and the next one to come.
Amazing writing styles (both - Burroughs and Kerouac) and super interesting - I could hardly put it down!
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