The Nova Trilogy

1961 - 1964

Excerpt from William S. Burroughs' Nova Express

The basic nova mechanism is very simple: Always create as many insoluble conflicts as possible and always aggravate existing conflicts--This is done by dumping life forms with incompatible conditions of existence on the same planet--There is of course nothing "wrong" about any given life form since "wrong" only has reference to conflicts with other life forms--The point is these forms should not be on the same planet--Their conditions of life are basically incompatible in present time form and it is precisely the work of the Nova Mob to see that they remain in present time form, to create and aggravate the conflicts that lead to the explosion of a planet that is to nova--At any given time recording devices fix the nature of absolute need and dictate the use of total weapons--Like this: Take two opposed pressure groups--Record the most violent and threatening statements of group one with regard to group two and play back to group two--Record the answer and take to back to group one--Back and forth between opposed pressure groups--This process is known as "feed back"--You can see it operating in any bar room quarrel--In any quarrel for that matter--Manipulated on a global scale feeds back nuclear war and nova--These conflicts are deliberately created and aggravated by nova criminals--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," "The Blue Dinosaur," and "Mr. & Mrs. D," also known as "Mr. Bradly Mr. Martin" also known as "The Ugly Spirit" thought to be the leader of the mob--The Nova Mob--In all my experience as a police officer I have never seen such total fear and degradation on any planet--We intend to arrest these criminals and turn them over to the biological department for the indicated alterations--

That is one of the most coherent pieces from the Nova trilogy- Burrough's famous cut and paste series of books written during the Tangiers years. It actually makes the books sound like they have a plot. Of course, I guess they do, but it only makes sense if you're in Bill Burrough's drug-addled head.

Here are my thumbnail reviews of each book:

The Soft Machine
Rude, disgusting, incoherent, nasty... but genius nonetheless. Bill Burroughs was not ahead of his time- I think he may have actually come from our future to warn us. No, Soft Machine and any Burroughs is not light reading, and I don't recommend it really at all to anyone, but hidden amongst the anal depravation, catapillar jism and symbiotic cannabilism is jolting shocks of pure poetry and sci-fi imagery that will be inspiring writers, movie makers and Xolotl centipede priests from Uranus for years to come.

The Ticket That Exploded


This is the first book in the Nova series that makes even any sense at all, or at least has portions I found I could explain to others. This book is notable for a much heavier and intentional inclusion of actual science fiction (as opposed to things that were most likely simply drug-fueled delusions). Burroughs fascination with film splicing and the use of tape recorders also marks the era of his writing but opens a door on more of his prophetic visions of how technology would be used in the future. The last chapter is perhaps the simplest and most straightforward bit of writing Burroughs does, but is fascinating in terms of his perspective on how audio-video tech can influence the world around us.
Ultimately I can still only recommend this to the most loyal Burroughs fans.

Nova Express
Saying that this is the most comprehensible of the Nova books isn't saying much. Like all of Burrough's cut and paste drug poetry prose, any reader will find themselves scratching their head and wondering at times why they bother. But Nova Express is the first book in the trilogy to really embrace science fiction as the Nova Police finally emerge from the shadows and their operations are exposed. Several chapters are completely legible, as Burrough's fascination with tape recordings and even some straightforward takes on scientology get snuck in.
I hate to say it, being such a purist, but I really do feel casual readers would be best off skipping the first two novels and getting a satisfactory shot in the veins from 'Nova Express' alone

Final Thoughts
When I think of these books (a year and a half after reading them) my intial response isn't that favorable. I have no problem with homosexuality or graphic scenes, but the depravity of Burrough's fantasies can make anyone feel better about censorship. The writing, as novel or poetic as it may be, is just too hard to sit and read for any period of time.

The Nova Gang do exist in my timeline world, but more subliminally than in any outright crossover sense. I guess I do enjoy the idea of these existential creatures floating in the shadows of the subconscious of the fictional universe, smoking cigarettes and closing deals while splicing tape to create new realities.

But at the end of the day these books still made a huge impact on me. I remember talking about them to anyone who would listen. The cut and paste methods that Bill talks so much about really really did affect the world in ways that no one could have predicted in the sixties (I'm thinking of both political sound bites as well as industrial music) and I think the conflicts of the Nova Police were a very loud warning to the counterculture of what was coming over the next ten years.