British writer Andrew Burgess entered the history of literature as the author of the satirical anti-utopia A Clockwork Orange. The book quickly became popular, but after the release of the film in 1972 it took place in the list of the most iconic books of the 20th century. What determines the success of the work?
about the author
The full name of the writer is John Anthony Burgess Wilson. He took his middle name as a pseudonym, since he worked in one of the British colonies in Malaysia, where administration officials were not allowed to write under their own name. Burgess began his literary career at the age of 38. The annotation to the book âClockwork Orangeâ says that this is the most famous work of the author. In fact, he has published more than 40 novels, among them the equally famous âPower of the Earthâ, âHoney for Bearsâ, âMan from Nazarethâ, âThe Long Way to Tea Partyâ and âShakespeare in Loveâ.
Through all his work, one thread runs through the red thread - evil in modern society and history. Burgess was worried about the free will of man before the choice between good and evil. The same problem was at the heart of A Clockwork Orange. The genre of this work in literature is defined as utopia, black humor or science fiction. The film, which director Stanley Kubrick made in 1972 from the book, is classified as a detective and drama. Perhaps this is a more accurate definition. The success of the film overshadowed all the other works of the writer. They cover a wide range of genres and historical periods, because Burgess himself denied restrictions - both in creativity and in life.
House on wheels
Just as Burgess put freedom of choice first in his books, he valued it in life as well. In his heart he was an eternal traveler and found pleasure in traveling freely around the world. He said: âThe most interesting thing in the life of a writer is that he does not need to be in one place. He is not a sculptor who needs a large studio where he can place large blocks. A writer needs only a typewriter and paper to work. And wherever he is, he asks himself the question, why is he here? â
Burgess bought a motor home. He liked to live and work in it. This house was perfect for traveling because it had everything. It was equipped with modern fixtures, it even had bookshelves and a minibar. It seemed that he was at home, but in fact at any moment he could go on the road. He stopped his motor home in the most picturesque places in Europe.
Childhood
The author of A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess, was born to a Catholic Irish family in the industrial working city of Manchester in northern England on February 25, 1917. He does not remember his mother. In 1919, at the end of World War I, an epidemic of the âSpanish womanâ raged, which killed the writerâs mother and sister in one week.
When Anthony was 5 years old, his father announced to him that he would have a new mother. The second wife of John Wilson was Margaret Dower, the owner of the Golden Eagle Pub. Burgess never talked about his childhood until 1986, when the novel âThe Pianistsâ was published. In the book, he wrote about the life of his father, a pianist who performed in pubs and music halls. The stepmother despised the boy, and the father did not pay any attention to his son. Anthony's only outlet was music; it became an integral part of his childhood and life in Manchester.
He studied at Burgess Catholic Catholic College of Xevere. The author of A Clockwork Orange joked that there he was instilled not only with the correct pronunciation, but also with fear of the infernal flame. Anthony read voraciously and adored Don Quixote. He dreamed of becoming a composer. At the age of 16, he became disillusioned with the Catholic faith and this event had a great influence on him. As Burgess himself said: âWhen an adherent of the Church of England departs from faith, this process goes smoothly. But for a Catholic, a deviation from faith is comparable to a fracture of bones and a rupture of muscles, as if the human brain was empty. â
Student years
In 1937, failing exams at the conservatory, at the age of 20, Burgess entered the University of Manchester, where he studied English literature and phonetics. While studying, an interest in languages ââappeared, which will then become a hobby of all life. This will be shown not only in the plot of A Clockwork Orange as the new language ânatsatâ; in 1978, a French director would turn to Burgess with a request to come up with some simple language for the film âFight for Fireâ.
Burgess's student years came during the war in Spain. There were many Communist students at the university, but Anthony was never interested in political movements and utopian ideals. He was disgusted by the Marxist theory that it is possible to create an ideal society and an ideal person.
Burgess met Luella Jones, a Welsh Protestant and political science student. They married when she was 18 years old, and Burgess was 22 years old. Burgess Anthony received the diploma of the future author of A Clockwork Orange in early 1940, when England was already bombed by the Nazis. He asked for the front, but he was sent to a provincial hospital. Soon Anthony was transferred to a military band and finally sent to the Gibraltar area as a teacher.
British malaya
In 1946, Burgess was demobilized and he found a teacher's place at Oxford School. Every evening he spent in the pub, making sure that his future was not connected with music, he was preparing to write. The first book, Vision of the Battle, was published in 1953. It was an ironic novel based on his own combat experience in Gibraltar. A few months later a book was published about the ordinary provincial school âWorm and Ringâ. Nobody had written about it then, and Burgess described everything that was really going on there.
Teachers did their work, but treated it with great cynicism. Burgess was suffocating in such an atmosphere and applied for a teacher's place in the colony. Soon he was sent to Malaya, where he became a teacher of English. There, in the mail to Bodobar, Burgess sent a manuscript of the novel âTiger Timeâ, which brought the first success. In it, he wrote about Malaya. Many works were written about her, but Burgess spoke of her through the eyes of an alien: planters and their wives, playing bridge, adultery in the bungalows of officials.
Return to England
Burgess left Malaya due to illness. The writerâs wife was told that he had a tumor and he had very little left to live. At the end of 1959, they returned to England. Anthony recalled: âI felt responsible to my future widow. I had to provide it and could not earn a little. To achieve this, I had to write at least 2,000 words before breakfast. â In that year, he wrote six novels.
Among them was the first novel in the series about the poet Enderby. Then he wrote four more books from this series. âMr. Enderby from the insideâ was published in 1964, âEnderby from the outsideâ, âThe End of Enderbyâ in 1974 and the last book âEnderby has no endâ was published in 1984. The tragicomic character of these novels, the misanthrope poet, writes his poems while sitting on the toilet and argues that it is time to fulfill his conjugal duty towards his young wife. Before Burgess, no one dared to write about sex in this manner. A year later, after the publication of the first book about Enderby, the novel A Clockwork Orange was released.
About what a book, or prerequisites for creation
In 1962, he wrote the story of the teenager Alex, who kills and rapes people with his gang. In reviews of the book A Clockwork Orange, they wrote that she is cruel and can provoke a wave of crime. But the writer looked at these things differently. At that time, rock and roll began to gain popularity, the first riots associated with it were in the pub âElephant and Castleâ, then demonstrations followed. The whole country rose against the new current.
Burgess saw the threat of a new society that emerged in the late 50s, a symbol of which teenagers became. In addition, he was preoccupied with the violence that flourished in the Teddy Boys gangs and the Mods and Rockers gangs that replaced them, between which there were often bloody clashes. In A Clockwork Orange, the writer wanted to show the society of the future, so he placed the action in the 70s and came up with a new language for them.
History of Natsat
The history of creating the language helps to see what the author wanted to show the reader - the combination of English and Russian is inspired by two superpowers - capitalist democracy and Soviet communism. For good reason, the author used this combination, it means the society in which the protagonist lives. And the two political powers are not so far from each other, as it seems at first glance.
In 1961, the âeternal travelerâ Burgess visited Russia. Then the decision came to create a special language ânatsatâ - from Russian numerals from 11 to 19 - ânatsatâ. Explaining the meaning and content of the book âClockwork Orangeâ, the author specified that teenagers who are carriers of nadsat are âteenagersâ or âteenagersâ (teenagers, literally âover the age of eightâ). In English, by adding the suffix teen, numerals from 13 to 19 are formed.
âA mixture of languagesâ, Russian and English, sounds like a warning: regardless of country, nationality, social structure or time, a person from an early age carries evil in himself, which the author put into the meaning of the book âClockwork Orangeâ. To revive the novel, to give it a shade of futurism, the author, abandoning the modern cockney slang, used slang words and new ones taken from the Russian language - natsat.
When translating a work, these words, of course, caused difficulties. It was necessary not only to convey the authorâs idea, meaning and content of the book âA Clockwork Orangeâ, but also to make the words look unusual both for the English-speaking reader and for the Russian-speaking. English-speaking readers also encountered difficulties, since the meaning of the words was not directly explained in the novel. In Russian translations, these words are written in Latin - droog, litso, viddy, or Cyrillic English words - "aiza", "face", "maine". In the film, the heroes drink tranquilizer milk in the Korova bar, and its walls are decorated with the inscriptions moloko, moloko plus.
Teen evil
In reviews of the book A Clockwork Orange, readers write that this is a work of an extremely courageous man, because the authorâs first wife was a rape victim. Luelle lost the baby she was pregnant with. She never recovered from what she experienced and became an alcoholic. Burgess suffered a lot. He could write about his pain, sorrow. But he didnât. Instead, he created the character of A Clockwork Orange, made him charming, endowed him with the ability to listen and feel the music as he himself loved it, especially Beethoven.
This novel became a kind of atonement for the author, because he was very worried that he could not save Luella from alcoholism. In reviews of the book A Clockwork Orange, some write that reading it, you are very disgusted. But evil is evil. And teenage evil is shown in the novel as it is. One could justify the author and say that society is more cruel. But Burgess put into the novel a completely different idea - that man generally tends to make mistakes.
Alex, the protagonist of Burgessâs book A Clockwork Orange, has come a long way from a rapist to a decent member of society. His path consists of disappointments, joys and mistakes. The governmentâs attempts to get Alex to reform are unsuccessful.
According to Burgess, if a society forces a person to be positive, then he becomes nothing more than a âclockwork orange,â that is, mechanized, artificial. The writer lived in Malaysia for a long time, where the word orang means âmanâ, in English - âorangeâ. It is impossible to force behavior to be imposed; a person must realize his own actions, outgrow them on his own experience.
Burgess Trilogy
The novel has three parts. In the first, the author introduces the reader to the world of the main character Alex Delarge - he is simultaneously obsessed with a thirst for violence and a craving for beauty. He listens to Bach's Brandenburg Concerto, and before his eyes stands the title of A Clockwork Orange. In a brief description, it is difficult to convey the monstrosity of the actions of Alex's gang. Once, bursting into the cottage, they beat the owner-writer with brass knuckles. When they left, "he was lying in a pool of blood." and the scribbled sheets of paper scattered across the floor. And when Alex âdrew strengthâ from classical music, a white sheet of paper suddenly appeared in front of his eyes, on which was written in large letters: âA Clockwork Orangeâ. Only then did the hidden meaning of this name begin to reach him, and he wonders: âWill I comprehend it to the end?â
Friends are substituting Alex; he goes to prison in the second part of the book A Clockwork Orange. In summary, it is impossible to convey the thoughts of the protagonist, in which there was not a bit of regret about the crimes he committed. The prison does not change it. The author provides the reader with the opportunity to understand that it is impossible to correct a person by punishment. After two years in prison, Alex is invited to take part in a medical experiment in exchange for freedom. He was brainwashed to become incapable of violence, but the âLudovico methodâ has a side effect - the subject has an aversion to classical music.
The third part of the book A Clockwork Orange, which is the subject of our review, describes what happened in Alexâs life after prison. He says so: âIn the wild it is worse than in prison.â Parents drive him out of the house, past victims, meeting him on his way, cruelly avenge him. When he was very ill, he was picked up by the same person to whom they âbroke their headsâ in their own house when he wrote the strange book âA Clockwork Orangeâ. Brief explanations of this man about choice and rights made Alex âmake legsâ, but the friends of this âhuman rights activistâ caught him and locked him up to calm down. Then he heard âthe veryâ music of JS Bach and decided to jump out of the window from the seventh floor. After a suicide attempt, Alex undergoes a course of treatment in the hospital, after which he returns to his previous life, and there is no trace of the Ludovico method. âI saw myself running along the sea and shaving with a razor the face of the world, distorted from pain. Finally, I was healthy. â
But in the very last chapter, Alex meets Pete's ex-boyfriend and wife and realizes that he has âgrownâ out of crime. Alex âbecame an adult.â He wants to find a wife to nurse in the arms of their son. Live a quiet family life.
Main character
Alex is the epitome of teenage rebellion and aggression. He is the leader of a youth gang that hangs around the city at night, organizes bloody battles with other gangs, attacks passers-by, humiliates and mutilates people, rob shops and shops. The protagonist of the book receives great pleasure from rape and beatings. Drugs âhelpâ him maintain the level of aggression at the proper level; he draws strength from listening to Beethovenâs favorite music. The guy is incorrigible, the attempts of the state and surrounding people to influence him and make him law-abiding, only amuse Alex.
Other characters
Alex Them's accomplice - a dark guy, where his nickname comes from - is not smart and smart, but surpasses his accomplices "in anger and possession of all the vile tricks of the fight." The chain is a favorite weapon, with it it hits the eyes of the enemy. Alex himself speaks of him with disgust. Dim (as the original name is for a guy, from the English dim) then leaves the gang and becomes a policeman.
Alex's friend Georgik always envied that Alex dominated the gang. After a conflict with him, Alex overestimates his abilities, kills an old woman and goes to jail. George was killed during the robbery of the âcapitalistâs houseâ.
The fate of these adolescents reflects the possible paths that a representative of their world can take. The calmest person in this gang is Pete, it is he who helps Alex see life with different eyes.
âCrystallography loverâ is a victim of one of the crimes. An elderly weak man was attacked by Alexâs gang, but later, along with the same old men, attacked the âcuredâ offender. The writer introduced this character consciously, wanting to emphasize the helplessness of the âcuredâ protagonist, who is unable to fend off even the feeble old man.
Dr. Branom is a scientist who experimented with the treatment of aggression. The âobjectâ of his experiments was Alex. The doctor bribes his experimental subjects with ostentatious friendliness, calls himself a friend, and enters into confidence in them. The author shows scientists very ruthless in relation to their âwardsâ.
Features of the novel
The scene and time in the novel are not indicated. Presumably this is the future. The narration is conducted on behalf of the protagonist and the reader immediately sees his attitude to the environment - contempt and desire to stand out from others, even through violence. That is why he becomes a leader in the gang. Oddly enough, but in Alex coexist both craving for violence, and craving for the beautiful. Another type of violence that was used against him was the âLudovico methodâ. Alex does not want to be kind, but he is forced. This is personality abuse. The motives for this help to reveal the main themes of the work.
Alex uses natsat to describe life around him. From the side it seems that he is a foreigner, since he speaks slang. The reader tries to look at the world through his eyes and, thus, plunges into the world of violence that the main character commits in the first part of the novel. Involuntarily, he begins to feel sympathy for Alex as a storyteller. To some extent, natsat is a kind of brainwashing, so as you read the work, your view of the world around you changes. Using this language, you can control others.
Analysis of the work
Continuing the analysis of A Clockwork Orange, it is necessary to clarify that the leitmotif of this novel is classical music. And the structure of the work resembles an opera: three parts in seven chapters. The first and third reflect each other in a mirror, the second is diametrically opposite to them. In the first and last parts, the action takes place mainly on the street, in an apartment or a country house, in the second part - in prison.
Both the first and second parts begin with the same question: âWell, now what?â Only in the first part, Alex asks this question to himself, and in the second part the head of the prison touches him. The first and third parts are similar in plot - in one Alex comes off on his victims, in the other - they are on it. They are like a reflection of each other, and these parallels help to trace the development of the plot.
The references to God have two functions in the novel:
- The author suggests tracing the parallel between the life of Alex and the life of Christ. A martyr who renounced his individuality in the name of society; the story of the protagonist consists of three parts, similar to the last three days of Christ. Christ dies, He is buried, He resurrects on the third day. In the first part of the novel, they catch Alex, in the second they âburyâ him in prison, in the third he returns to a semblance of life. In addition, in the second part one of the commandments is mentioned - "whoever hits you on your right cheek, turn the other to him too."
- Unobtrusive Bible references. Alex, in his quest for violence, compares himself to the Romans who crucified Christ. The author involuntarily identifies the main character with the whole state - with the Romans.
Classical music is an integral part of Alex's life: he commits violence, comes home and relaxes while listening to Beethoven. Perhaps that is why an aversion to music was a side effect of the treatment.
Journalism
The novel sold poorly, needing money; Burgess set about writing critical articles in magazines and newspapers. As a critic, he worked until his death. Several selections of his articles have been published. In addition, he wrote several biographies of writers. In 1964, in order to facilitate his work as a journalist, Burgess acquired a house in southern London. He wrote for television and the drama theater. For this it was necessary to attend the opera and theater. There was no time to write books.
Nevertheless, in 1963, the novel Honey for Bears was released; in 1966, The Thrill of Intent. Both books are satire on espionage novels. All Burgess's novels explore the problem of evil and good. Despite the fact that he had lost faith in his youth, he investigated this issue from the point of view of a Catholic. She influenced the work of Anthony, not only in books like A Clockwork Orange, but also in subsequent works.
Despite the rejection of the faith, Burgess was grateful to the Catholic education for meeting the writers he admired. The writers, whose style he adopted, whose language he used, were all Catholics. Among them, he especially singled out D. Joyce. Burgess devoted seven books to his beloved writer. In addition, he admired Shakespeare, and in 1964 published the book âShakespeare in Loveâ about the writer's love works.
Film award
In the 60s, Hollywood acquired the right to make a film based on A Clockwork Orange. In 1970, while on the road, Burgess learned that Stanley Kubrick was making a film on him. The author did not participate in the filming, because Kubrick did not want to discuss the script with anyone. The meaning of A Clockwork Orange is lost, because the script did not include much of the original text.
The director sent him to the United States to receive the prize that was awarded to the film. When the creators were invited to the stage, Burgess stood up and said: âThe Lord sent me, sorry, Stanley Kubrick, so that I would receive this award.â The writer no longer had anything to do with the film. After showing in the UK, a scandal erupted in America that the film would generate a wave of violence. Unflattering reviews of the book A Clockwork Orange rained down. Enemies accused the author of propaganda for the killings.
In 1974, Burgess wrote the novel The Testament of a Clockwork, in which the poet Enderby suffers for the consequences of the film, and does not feel his responsibility. Burgess was offended by the fact that for the right to make a film, Kubrick paid him only $ 500 and removed the last chapter of the book A Clockwork Orange, the description of the plot of which briefly boils down to the fact that Alex repents and is about to start a family. However, the film turned the novel into a bestseller, which has been translated into many languages ââof the world.
Other works of Burgess
Orwellâs novel â1984â impressed Burgess. Although in this book everything is under the absolute control of the state, and citizens become its victims. Readers note in their reviews of A Clockwork Orange that resembles this state. Burgess wrote the book â1985â about groups of young freedom fighters fighting a totalitarian state and secretly studying Latin, which plays the same role here as Beethoven. This is something beautiful that attracts young people, because it is prohibited.
The film industry received many scripts from Burgess, many of which later turned into novels. Those who worked with the writer recall that one of his most attractive features was that as soon as he gave up the thought, the rudiments of the plot appeared immediately. When Kubrick said that it would be nice to make a film about Napoleon, Burgess was delighted and wrote the script âNapoleon Symphonyâ. The film was never made, and the script later turned into a novel. The script âJesus of Nazarethâ also became a novel and was published in France as âThe Man of Nazarethâ.
Life is like a symphony
In 1968, Burgess's wife died of cirrhosis. Then in his life again appeared Liana Marcelli, the daughter of an Italian countess. They once had a fleeting romance in London. She informed him that he has a four-year-old son named Paolo Andre. Burgess was proud to be a father. In the fall of that year, she and Liana got married. They lived in Malta for a year, but the house was confiscated by the new government. They set off again and stopped in Rome. Inspired by the myth of Oedipus, Burgess wrote the novel "MF".
âWriting novels replaced me with writing symphonies,â said Burgess. But he always wrote music and by the end of his life became famous as the creator of beautiful musicals. So in 1990, a new version of A Clockwork Orange and several opera libretto, for example, Weber's Oberon, which was staged in Venice, appeared.
In 1976, Burgess settled in Monaco and lived there until his death. The writer wrote his autobiography. The son of Burgess says he was struck by how many details, dates, addresses, names can be remembered. The writer died in November 1993 in London. ABBA is written on its tombstone - it is Burgess's favorite pun. Abba are the words of Christ uttered by him on the cross. This is a stylized recording of a sonnet rhyme. And if you look at the cover of Burgess's books, these letters are his initials in English - Anthony Burgess.