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John Anthony Burgess Wilson

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1 John Anthony Burgess Wilson 1917-1993

2 Born in Manchester into a Catholic family
Mother and older sister died in 1918 Raised by aunt until father remarried in 1922, went to Catholic schools Father died in 1938, step-mother in 1940 Interest in music was awakened after hearing Debussy’s Prélude to the afternoon of a Faun at home in his childhood

3 Attended Victoria University of Manchester, where he wanted to study music but instead graduated with a BA in English language and literature 1940; thesis about Marlowe’s Doktor Faustus There he met Llewela „Lynne” Isherwood, who claimed to be a relative of Christopher Isherwood. They married in 1942 While he was working for the Army Educational Corps in Gibraltar his wife was attacked and raped by four American deserters and as a result had a miscarriage. Burgess was not given leave. Left army in 1946, worked as a school teacher in England until 1954 when he moved to Malaya to work as teacher and housemaster Learned the language, wrote The Malayan Trilogy: Time for a Tiger, The Enemy in the Blanket & Beds in the East Took up a post in the British protectorate of Brunei in 1958; wrote Devil of a State

4 Collapsed while teaching in Brunei and diagnosed with inoperable brain tumor, given one year to live
1959 moved back to England and became full time writer Burgess and his wife went on a cruise from Tilbury to Leningrad in 1961; relearning Russian inspired Nadsat Met Italian translator Liliana Macellari in 1963 who became his second wife after Lynne’s death in 1968; they had one son together Spent remainder of his life travelling in Europe, living and teaching briefly in the US Settled in Monaco and is buried there

5 What’s the difference between the book and Stanley Kubrick’s movie?
A Clockwork Orange What’s the difference between the book and Stanley Kubrick’s movie? Main characters: Alex, Georgie, Dim and Pete Dr. Brodsky, Dr. Branom F. Alexander

6 „Then I looked at its top sheet, and there was the name—A CLOCKWORK ORANGE—and I said: ‚That’s a fair gloopy title. Who ever heard of a clockwork orange?’ Then I read a malenky bit out loud in a sort of very high type preaching goloss: ‚The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise my swordpen.”

7 "'Meantime, every chance of success was offered Thee
"'Meantime, every chance of success was offered Thee. There are three Powers, three unique Forces upon earth, capable of conquering for ever by charming the conscience of these weak rebels—men—for their own good; and these Forces are: Miracle, Mystery and Authority. .. "'And thus, after all Thou has suffered for mankind and its freedom, the present fate of men may be summed up in three words: Unrest, Confusion, Misery!” –Dostoeyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, The Grand Inquisitor

8 „They will convince themselves of our rightness, for they will see what a depth of degrading slavery and strife that liberty of Thine has led them into. Liberty, Freedom of Thought and Conscience, and Science will lead them into such impassable chasms, place them face to face before such wonders and insoluble mysteries, that some of them—more rebellious and ferocious than the rest—will destroy themselves; others—rebellious but weak—will destroy each other” –Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov, The Grand Inquisitor

9 „But, brothers, this biting of their toe-nails over what is the cause of badness is what turns me into a fine laughing malchick. They don’t go into what is the cause of goodness, so why of the other shop?”

10 „More, badness is of the self, the one, the you or me on our oddy knockies, and that self is made by an old Bog or God and is his great pride and radosty. But the not-self cannot have the bad, meaning they of the government and the judges and the schools cannot allow the bad because they cannot allow the self. And is not our modern history, my brothers, the story of brave malenky selves fighting these big machines? I am serious with you, brothers, over this. But what I do I do because I like to do.”

11 „…it was the adult world that could take responsibility for this with their wars and bombs and nonsense. So that was all right. So he knew what he talked of, being a Godman. So we young innocent malchicks could take no blame. Right right right.”

12 „It may not be nice to be good, little 6655321
„It may not be nice to be good, little It may be horrible to be good…what does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?”

13 „‚You’ve proved to me that all this dratsing and ultra-violence and killing is wrong wrong and terribly wrong…” „’You’re not cured yet. There’s still a lot to be done…’” „’But sirs, sirs, I see that it’s wrong. It’s wrong because it’s against like society, it’s wrong because every veck on earth has the right to live and be happy without being beaten and tolchocked and knifed. I’ve learned a lot, oh really I have,’ But Dr. Brodsky had a long smeck at that, showing all his white zoobies, and said: ‚The heresy of an age of reason,’ or some such slovos. ‚I see what is right and approve, but I do what is wrong. No, no, my boy, you must leave it all to us.”

14 „…and then I could slooshy the slovo Love being thrown around, the prison charles himself creeching as loud as any about Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear and all that cal. And now Dr. Brodsky said, smiling all over his litso: ‚I am glad, gentlemen, this question of Love has been raised. Now we shall see in action a manner of Love that was thought to be dead with the Middle Ages.’


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