''Nova Express'' is a 1964 novel by American author

William S. Burroughs William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist. He is widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major Postmodern literature, postmodern author who influen ...

. It was written using the 'fold-in' method, a version of the cut-up method, developed by Burroughs with

Brion Gysin Brion Gysin (19 January 1916 – 13 July 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, writer, sound poet, performance artist and inventor of experimental devices. He is best known for his use of the cut-up technique, alongside his close friend, the ...

, of enfolding snippets of different texts into the novel. It is part of

The Nova Trilogy ''The Nova Trilogy'' or ''The Cut-up Trilogy'' is a name commonly given by critics to a series of three experimental novels by William S. Burroughs. Volumes * '' The Soft Machine'' * '' The Ticket That Exploded'' * '' Nova Express'' Trilogy Th ...

, or "Cut-Up Trilogy', together with '' The Soft Machine'' and '' The Ticket That Exploded''. Burroughs considered the trilogy a "sequel" or "mathematical" continuation of ''

Naked Lunch ''Naked Lunch'' (first published as ''The Naked Lunch'') is a 1959 novel by American author William S. Burroughs. The novel does not follow a clear linear plot, but is instead structured as a series of non-chronological "routines". Many of thes ...

''. ''Nova Express'' was nominated for the

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA), a nonprofit association of pr ...

for Best Novel in 1965. It is listed in

David Pringle David Pringle (born 1 March 1950) is a Scottish science fiction editor and critic. Pringle served as the editor of '' Foundation'', an academic journal, from 1980 to 1986, during which time he became one of the prime movers of the collective whi ...

's 1985 book '' Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels''. In 2014,

Grove Press Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1947. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, and Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United S ...

published a "Restored Text" edition, edited by Oliver Harris, which included a number of corrections and added an introduction and extensive notes. The introduction argued for the care with which Burroughs used his methods and established the text's complex manuscript histories.

Interpretation

''Nova Express'' is a social commentary on human and machine control of life. The Nova Mob—Sammy the Butcher, Green Tony, Iron Claws, The Brown Artist, Jacky Blue Note, Limestone John, Izzy the Push, Hamburger Mary, Paddy The Sting, The Subliminal Kid, Blue Dinosaur, Mr. and Mrs. D —are viruses, "defined as the three-dimensional coordinate point of a controller" ... "which invade the human body and in the process produce language." These Nova Criminals represent society, culture, and government, and have taken control by the use of word and image. Inspector Lee and the rest of the Nova Police are left fighting for the rest of humanity in the power struggle. "The Nova Police can be compared to apomorphine, a regulating instance that need not continue and has no intention of continuing after its work is done." The police are focused on "first-order addictions of junkies, homosexuals, dissidents, and criminals; if these criminals vanish, the police must create more in order to justify their own survival." The Nova Police depend upon the Nova Criminals for existence; if the criminals cease to exist, so do the police. "They act like apomorphine, the nonaddictive cure for morphine addiction that Burroughs used and then promoted for many years." Control is the main theme of the novel, and Burroughs attempts to use language to break down the walls of culture, the biggest control machine. He uses Inspector Lee to express his own thoughts about the world. "The purpose of my writing is to expose and arrest Nova Criminals. In ''Naked Lunch'', ''Soft Machine'' and ''Nova Express'' I show who they are and what they are doing and what they will do if they are not arrested. ..With your help we can occupy The Reality Studio and retake their universe of Fear Death and Monopoly." As Burroughs battles with the self, what is human, and what is "reality", he finds that language is the only way to maintain dominance over the "powerful instruments of control", which are the most prevalent enemies of human society.

Reception

While ''Naked Lunch'' was an initial shock to the literary community, ''Nova Express'' was considered the end of Burroughs's stylistic experiment and of the Nova Trilogy. The novel received more praise on its own, as it was often compared to the other books in the trilogy and ''Naked Lunch''.

Eric Mottram Eric Mottram (29 December 1924 – 16 January 1995) was a British teacher, critic, editor and poet who was one of the central figures in the British Poetry Revival. Early life and education Mottram was born in London and educated at Purley Gram ...

stated that although "Burroughs's repetitive narcotic and homoerotic fantasies become tedious in sections of his third novel ... it is from these obsessions that his most powerful work develops." Reviewing the novel for a genre audience, Judith Merril compared ''Nova Express'' to "the surreality of certain dreams, or the intense fascination of a confusion of new impressions in real life.""Books", '' F&SF'', May 1965, p.74

References

{{William S. Burroughs 1964 American novels 1960s LGBTQ novels American science fiction novels Grove Press books LGBTQ speculative fiction novels Novels by William S. Burroughs