Burgess Anthony is the Englishman best known for his dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange. Few people know that he was also an excellent musician, professionally engaged in literary criticism, journalism, and translation.
Childhood. Youth
Burgess Anthony was born in Manchester in 1917. His family was Catholic. My father worked as an accountant, and my mother was engaged in farming until she died from the "Spanish woman" in 1919.
Burgess's father often went to a local pub to play the piano. In the end, these visits ended in marriage to the hostess of the institution. Anthony was raised by her aunt for a long time, and only then her stepmother took up him.
The boy was always to be neatly dressed and was somewhat different from the city kids, for which there was often a bit of local raggers.
When the time came, Burgess Anthony was assigned to a Catholic school. Here he dreamed of finding friends, but since he was the only one in the class who could read and write, he immediately fell into the category of "white crows".
In childhood, the future writer was indifferent to music, until at one point he heard on the radio the melody of Claude Debussy. It was as if a new world had opened up to him, something that he had never noticed before. His life turned upside down.
After high school, Burgess Anthony entered Xaverian College. After his graduation, he continued his path to the study of literature at the University of Manchester. And when the diploma was already in my hands, I decided to stay in alma mater and teach.
Life before writing
After the outbreak of World War II, a young teacher was drafted into the army. During a business trip in 1942, he married Luella Jones. Her life story was tragic.
Shortly after the wedding, it became known that the couple will have a child. Anthony at that time was already in the location of his unit. There he received terrifying news - Luella was beaten by four American deserters, and she was hospitalized. There was no question of saving the child: the woman had a miscarriage.
She was never able to overcome and forget this misfortune. She was constantly tormented by nightmares, and in order to somehow stifle her pain, Luella became addicted to alcohol. She died in 1968 from cirrhosis of the liver.
Anthony Burgess, whose books served as a salvation from trouble, went headlong into work. He taught at the University of Birmingham until 1950, then served in the Department of Education.
From the mid-forties, Burgess was passionate about studying the theory of music and practically did not think about literary work. Although already in 1949 his main book was written - A Clockwork Orange.
Anthony Burgess in the mid-1950s was engaged in educational inspections in the British colonies (1954 - the Malay Federation, 1958 - Brunei).
In 1959, during a lecture, Mr. Burgess lost consciousness. The doctor who observed him issued a verdict - a brain tumor. According to him, Anthony was left not so long to live.
This news served as an impetus for the active transformation of the hero of our story into a writer.
Literary activity
A distinctive feature of the writer's work is that he did not try to glorify his name, but often used pseudonyms. Since 1959, this man has written more than fifty books. Often he dabbled and published reviews of his own works in magazines. Of course, under a pseudonym.
The most famous works of the Englishman were the novels A Clockwork Orange, Mr. Enderby Inside, The Man of Nazareth, Lusting Seed.
Anthony Burgess was passionate about the work of J. Joyce, so many of his books on the style of writing are somewhat reminiscent of the works of this author. Affected the work of the Englishman and his strict Catholic upbringing.
Anthony Burgess is known for creating the artificial language Nadsad for his books. In this he was helped by knowledge of seven foreign languages. But the basis for the creation was the Russian language, since in the 1960s the writer visited the USSR.
The sequel to George Orwell’s novel was also written by Anthony Burgess. "1985" is a two-part work. In the first, the writer analyzes the work of his colleague using various tricks. For example, an imaginary interview. In the second part, he presents his vision of future events.
A Clockwork Orange
One of the most outstanding books of the twentieth century is the novel A Clockwork Orange. Anthony Burgess said that he wrote it, overcoming heartache. He was overcome by memories of his first wife and their unborn child.
The book got its name from one gnarly expression of the London Cockney, meaning "things of bizarre purpose." But also a pun is used here. Orange in English means "orange", and in Malay - "man."
The novel consists of three parts. In the first gangster, Alex and his gang are engaged in robbery, robbery, and they are covered by bribed old women. But after Alex accidentally kills a woman during a robbery, they catch him and put him in jail.
The second part is about imprisonment. Alex complains of violence and wants to leave this terrible place as soon as possible. He is offered an experiment, after which any kind of violence will be disgusting to him. The young man goes free.
In the third part, he tries to start a new life, but his parents abandoned him, his former friends cruelly mocked Alex. Beaten and tormented, he is picked up by a writer whose wife Alex killed a couple of years ago. When he recognizes the killer in his guest, he immediately locks him in the room and turns on the hateful music. Alex is thrown out of the window. At the hospital, he realizes that the result of the experiment has disappeared. He is collecting a new gang ...
Burgess and music
Throughout his life he wrote 175 compositions. Among them were simple melodies, and symphonies, and even the operetta "Blooms from Dublin" (based on "Ulysses").
Many of Burgess's musical works are based on his impressions of Malaysian music. The opera Trotsky in New York was written by Anthony in 1980. He owns the fantasy for piano and orchestra "Rome in the Rain" and other works. Burgess made a new translation of Bizet's Carmen opera into English and created an updated libretto for Weber's Oberon opera.
Last years
Anthony Burgess, whose books were sold out like hotcakes, wrote until the very last days of his life. He taught at Princeton and other American universities.
Married a second time. His chosen one was the Italian princess.
The writer died in old age from lung cancer. It happened in London in 1993.