The holy man and other stories by alexander trocchi fictiondb. This time is chronicled in the novel cains book, which at the time became something of a sensation, being an honest study of heroin addiction with. But trocchi was an independent writer of immense gifts and cain s book, rather than being a downbeat, depressing look at a sordid subject, is quite the reverse. Alexander trocchi was born in glasgow in 1925 and died in london in 1984. So begins cain s book, alexander trocchi s incredible novel of existential dread. Martyn wade, chief executive and national librarian introduces cains book by scottish beat generation writer alexander trocchis and looks at some of the reasons why it was banned on. Alexander trocchi goes on the lam world of books, alexander. Bookmark file pdf cains book alexander trocchi once. Spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young adam. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over.
If the experience of heroin, of the fix, is central to cains book, both its destructive force and the possibilities it holds for creativity are recognized and accepted without apology. It is a tragic shame how overlooked trocchi s work has become over the years, although he seems to be getting some attention again now. I remember reading cains book in my early twenties and be. Cains book by alexander trocchi nook book ebook barnes.
Written in america while trocchi was working on a scow on the hudson river, cain s book is an extraordinary autobiographical account about a junky s life, and. Cains film 1969 documentary on alexander trocchi 1925 84, scottish born writer, poet, translator and author of young adam and cains. Trocchi began writing poetry and prose in the late 1940s, and by the early 1950s was an established member of the artistic avantgarde. His wife lyn prostituted herself on the streets of the lower east side.
Trocchis final and most feted work apart from the oddsandends poetry shambles, man at leisure, also republished by alma classics, is a fragmented and not entirely unpretentious novelofsorts that seems to be more of a deeply psychological exploration of the authors uncompromising outsiders worldview than any sort of seminal drug novel as. Written in america while trocchi was working on a scow on the hudson river, cains book is an extraordinary autobiographical account about a junkys life. Cains book is a 1960 novel by scottish beat writer alexander trocchi. This condition is the upon that will make you vibes that you must read. Cains book by trocchi, alexander and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Young adam, its predecessor, is better known, but the latter is the scottish beat s classic. The introductions for my copy, by greil marcus and richard seaver, are two of the most dismissive, pessimistic book intros ive read. But trocchi was an independent writer of immense gifts and cains book, rather than being a downbeat, depressing look at a sordid subject, is quite the reverse. This is the journal of joe necchi, a junkie living on a barge that plies the rivers and bays of new york. Spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young adam and cains book.
Cains alexander trocchi cains alexander trocchi cains alexander trocchi cains book is a 1960 novel by scottish beat writer alexander trocchi. Young adam, its predecessor, is better known, but the latter is the scottish beats classic. The uncanny nature of the heterotopia, their contradictory spatiality, and their implicitly subversive disruption of social norms, makes them particularly relevant to alexander trocchi s texts and, as i will argue, to the concept of the edge. Alexander trocchi download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi. Cain s book gets 4 stars from me now these days the philosophical rants and wraiths are too neither here nor there for me these days. Article spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young. The prose seemed to affirm at every turn the presence of someone who, besides knowing how to write, fundamentally understood and articulated what literature is. Buy cains book by alexander trocchi from waterstones today. Subversion in alexander trocchis young adam and cains book. Trocchi s final and most feted work apart from the oddsandends poetry shambles, man at leisure, a.
Cains book gets 4 stars from me now these days the philosophical rants and wraiths are too neither here nor there for me these days. Publishing history cains book was released to acclaim in the usa, but when it was published in the alexanrer by john calder it provoked an outcry and was the. Joes world is the halfworld of drugs and addictsthe world of furtive fixes in sordid harlem apartments, of police pursuits down deserted subway stations. The introduction s for my copy, by greil marcus and richard seaver, are two of the most dismissive, pessimistic book intros ive read. Dec, 2011 martyn wade, chief executive and national librarian introduces cain s book by scottish beat generation writer alexander trocchi s and looks at some of the reasons why it was banned on. Alexander trocchi 19251984 was a scottish author, publisher and activist. To help keep our communities safe, all our retail locations are temporarily closed until further notice. In paris, he founded merlin the outstanding literary magazine wrote novels for olympia press, experimented with heroin and became hooked. Cains book spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young adam and cains book 83 that the ship speci. I picked up helen and desire after being impressed with trocchi s cain s book and young adam. The spectacle of disintegration takes the reader through the critique of political aesthetics of former situationist t.
Aug 28, 2019 so begins cains book, alexander trocchis incredible novel of existential dread. His life, as much as his writing, is the stuff of legend. Glasgowborn alexander trocchi was a fiery figure in the british literary world an editor in paris, an avantgarde novelist with an internationalist mindset before he parked himself in a desolate london siding labelled obscure heroinaddicted exwriter. May 18, 2019 an amoral drifter working on a coal scow in scotlands waterways takes what he needs, though not happily, turns lives upside down, even en another trocchi book i read not so long ago, cains book, has haunted me to greater and greater degrees since. This is the journal of joe necchi, a junkie living on a barge that plie. Trocchi writes perceptively about addiction, but it is not a core of the novel, being no more than a single factor in the narrators guiding conditions. John tytells foundational study naked angels analyzes the beats primarily in terms of the american tradition. Alexander trocchi a life in pieces part 12 youtube. Alexander trocchi was the leading british beat writer of the 1950s and 60s. Banned books part 2 cains book by alexander trocchi youtube.
Considered by many to be the most dissolute of the beats, for a time it looked like he was more likely to be remembered as the lord of junk than as a writer. Here is the tortured halfworld of drugs and addicts, of furtive fixes in harlem pads, of swift, casual love described with a ruthless honesty and a verbal magic that propelled alexander trocchi in the front ranks of todays young novelists. A roman a clef, it details the life of joe necchi, a heroin addict and writer, who is living and working on a scow on the hudson river in new york. Aug 23, 2007 so begins cain s book, alexander trocchi s incredible novel of existential dread. Martyn wade, chief executive and national librarian introduces cains book by scottish beat generation writer alexander trocchi s and looks at some of the reasons why it was banned on. Alexander trocchi has 22 books on goodreads with 5594 ratings.
I picked up helen and desire after being impressed with trocchis cains book and young adam. The junky genius of alexander trocchi books the guardian. The jury is still out on whether young adam or cains book is trocchis greatest work, but regardless the former remains the best introduction to his writing because it is so much more typical of his protopostmodernist approach. Young adam, its predecessor, is better known, but the latter is. Trocch i was then deep in th e throes of hero in addiction. Written when the author of cain s book was at the height of his creative powers and enjoying an increasing reputation in avantgarde literary circles, the holy man is here presented with a being of distances, peter pierce and a meeting, stories which similarly tackle themes of loneliness and disenfranchisement. Written in america while trocchi was working on a scow on the hudson river, cains book is an extraordinary autobiographical account about a.
This is his poetic project and its also the way his whole perception system works at its most basic level the two are the same. This new edition of the criticallyacclaimed biography of alexander trocchi has been revised, extended and updated since its first publication in 1991 when it helped to create new interest in the celebrated and notorious author of young adam and cain s book. Alexander trocchis most popular book is young adam. It is clear that the faults of these novels are caused in part by this attempt to record the achievements of the abnormal and to read into these. Cain s book is trocchi s selfreflexive look at his life as a junky. Like christopher marlowe in doctor faustus or herman melville in moby dick, hes mapping a whole cosmogony, intuiting his way towards an understanding of a social, po. Alexander trocchi, the author of cains book and young adam, was born in glasgow, scotland, in during the s and s he lived mainly in paris. It is a tragic shame how overlooked trocchis work has become over the years, although he seems to be getting some attention again now. Shop amongst our popular books, including, cains book, young adam and more from alexander trocchi.
An early sequence in cains book takes us through a kind of proust moment of perception and recall in which trocchi, watching a man urinating in an alley, becomes like a piece of sensitive photographic paper, waiting passively. Cains book 1960 by alexander trocchi is a text about heroin addiction, but its underlying concern is with the representation of liminal. Mar 28, 2020 so begins cains book, alexander trocchis incredible novel of existential dread. Heroin, alterity and text in alex trocchis cains book taylor. He attended the university of glasgow from 19421943 and from 19461950, and served in the royal navy from 19431946. In cains book, the writing is incidental and one could imagine the book without that aspect not being thematically different from the book trocchi wrote. He injected himself on camera during a live television debate on drug abuse, despite being on bail at the time. This new edition of the criticallyacclaimed biography of alexander trocchi has been revised, extended and updated since its first publication in 1991 when it helped to create new interest in the celebrated and notorious author of young adam and cains book.
Kindle ebooks can be read on any device with the free kindle app. Scott, published a biography of alexander trocchi entitled. A roman a clef, it details the life of joe necchi, a heroin addict and writer, who is living and. The back of my copy has a blurb that says all the egomaniac vitality of the early henry miller, but miller was far more joyous and trocchi a straight and narrow nihilist. Cains book is about a scowman working the waters of new york. Author alexander trocchi s muse was drugsbut in this novel, he does not romanticize the source of his inspiration. Written when the author of cains book was at the height of his creative powers and enjoying an increasing reputation in avantgarde literary circles. A trocchi reader, 1991 seaver, richard, terry southern and alexander trocchi eds.
Trocchi is a writer with an unique skill recognisable within his every sentance. Oct 09, 2017 but trocchi was an independent writer of immense gifts and cain s book, rather than being a downbeat, depressing look at a sordid subject, is quite the reverse. Its negative in the strict chemical or photographic sense of the word. New books good books book 1 pdf book the kingdom of god bestselling author audio books novels italia. Alexander whitelaw robertson trocchi was a scottish novelist.
If you know are looking for the book pdf as the substitute of reading, you can find here. They both read as lamentations of what could have been, what trocchi could have written. Author alexander trocchis muse was drugsbut in this novel, he does not romanticize the source of his inspiration. He was seen as a man of towering literary genius, fated to cut a swath through the world. When glaswegian writer alexander trocchi appeared at the edinburgh. Alexander trocchi pdf biography of the novelist, alexander trocchi on undiscovered scotland. Cains book is trocchis selfreflexive look at his life as a junky. Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. Mean streets alexander trocchi was the smackaddled icon of beat literature, whose writings have been eclipsed by a lurid life of porn, pimping. So begins cains book, alexander trocchis incredible novel of existential dread. John tytells foundational study naked angels analyzes the beats primarily in terms of the american tradition the beat movement was a crystallization of a sweeping discontent with american virtues of progress and power. Written in america while trocchi was working on a scow on the hudson river, cains book is an extraordinary autobiographical account about a junkys life, and. Alexander trocchi, richard seaver illustrator, greil marcus foreword 3.
Alexander trocchi 192584 left glasgow university with the honours of a brilliant philosophy scholar. Trocchi, alexander, seaver, richard, marcus, greil. Spatial subversion in alexander trocchis young adam and cain. The holy man and other stories by alexander trocchi. Trocchis final and most feted work apart from the oddsandends poetry shambles, man at leisure, a. Aug 04, 2014 foreword to cains book by alexander trocchi 1993 alexander trocchi was a legendary figure in his lifetime. If the experience of heroin, of the fix, is central to cain s book, both its destructive force and the possibilities it holds for creativity are recognized and accepted without apology.
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