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English writer Burgess Anthony: biography, creativity, best works

Burgess Anthony is an Englishman, best known for his anti-utopian novel "Clockwork Orange". Few people know that he was also a great musician, professionally engaged in literary criticism, journalism, translations.

Childhood. Youth

Burgess Anthony was born in Manchester in 1917. His family was Catholic. My father worked as an accountant, and my mother worked on the farm, until she died from the "Spanish" in 1919.

Father Burgess often went to the local pub to play the piano. In the end, these visits ended in a marriage to the owner of the establishment. Anthony was brought up by her aunt for a long time, and only then did her stepmother take up his stepmother.

The boy always has to be neatly dressed and different from the city's children, for which he often was beaten by local ragamuffins.

When the time came, Burgess Anthony was identified in a Catholic school. Here he dreamed of finding friends, but since the only one of the class could read and write, immediately fell into the category of "white crows."

As a child, the future writer was indifferent to music, until one day he heard a melody by Claude Debussy on the radio. He seemed to have discovered a new world, something he had never noticed before. His life turned over.

After school, Burgess Anthony entered college Xavierian. After his graduation, he continued his journey to study literature at the University of Manchester. And when the diploma was already on hand, I decided to stay in the alma mater and teach.

Life before writing

After the outbreak of World War II, a young teacher was drafted into the ground forces. During his business trip in 1942, he married Louella Jones. The story of her life was tragic.

Soon after the wedding, it became known that the couple will have a child. At that time, Anthony was already in the position of his unit. There he received horrific news - Luellu was beaten by four American deserters, and she went to the hospital. About to save the child, speech was no longer: the woman had a miscarriage.

She was never able to overcome and forget this misfortune. She was constantly tormented by nightmares, and to somehow muffle her pain, Louella became addicted to alcohol. She died in 1968 from cirrhosis of the liver.

Anthony Burgess, whose books served as a rescue from trouble, went headlong into the work. He taught at the University of Birmingham until 1950, then held a post in the Ministry of Education.

From the middle of the forties Burgess was fascinated by the study of music theory and almost did not think about literary creation. Although already in 1949 was written his main book - "Clockwork Orange."

Anthony Burgess in the mid-1950s was engaged in inspector activities in education in the British colonies (1954 - Malayan Federation, 1958 - Brunei).

In 1959, during one of the lectures, Mr. Burgess lost consciousness. The doctor who observed him, made a verdict - a tumor of the brain. According to him, Anthony did not have to live very long.

This news served as an impetus for the active transformation of the hero of our narrative into a writer.

Literary Activity

A distinctive feature of the writer's work is that he did not try to glorify his name, and often used pseudonyms. Since 1959, this man has written more than fifty books. He often dabbled in and published reviews of his own works in magazines. Of course, under a pseudonym.

The most famous works of the Englishman were the novels "Clockwork Orange", "Mr. Enderby from the inside", "Man of Nazareth", "Lusting Seed."

Anthony Burgess was fascinated by the work of J. Joyce, so many of his books on the style of writing are somewhat reminiscent of the works of this author. It affected the works of the Englishman and his strict Catholic education.

Anthony Burgess is known for having created for his books the artificial language of Nadsad. In this he was helped by the knowledge of seven foreign languages. But the basis for the creation was the Russian language, since in the 1960s the writer visited the USSR.

Continuation of the novel by George Orwell was also written by Anthony Burgess. "1985" is a work consisting of two parts. In the first, the writer analyzes the work of his colleague, using various techniques. For example, an imaginary interview. In the second part, he presents his vision of the events of the future.

"Clockwork Orange"

One of the most outstanding books of the twentieth century is the novel "Clockwork Orange". Anthony Burgess said that he wrote it, overcoming the anguish. He was overcome by memories of the first wife and their unborn child.

The book received its name by one biting expression of the London Cockney, meaning "things of a bizarre destination." But also here is the play of words. Orange means "orange" in English, and "man" in Malay.

The novel consists of three parts. In the first bandit 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 robbery, he is caught and imprisoned.

The second part is about imprisonment. Alex complains of violence and dreams to leave this terrible place as soon as possible. He is offered an experiment after which any kind of violence will be disgusting. A young man goes free.

In the third part, he tries to start a new life, but his parents abandoned him, former friends cruelly mocked Alex. Beaten and tortured, he is picked up by a writer whose wife Alex killed a couple of years ago. When he finds out in his guest a murderer, immediately locks him in the room and turns on hateful music. Alex throws himself out of the window. In the hospital, he realizes that the result of the experiment has disappeared. He's building a new gang ...

Burgess and music

Throughout his life he wrote 175 songs. 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 the music of Malaysia. Opera "Trotsky in New York" was written by Anthony in 1980. He owns a fantasy for piano and orchestra "Rome in the Rain" and other works. Burgess made a new translation of Bizet's opera "Carmen" into English and created an updated libretto for the opera "Oberon" by Weber.

Last years

Anthony Burgess, whose books were bought up like hot cakes, he 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 his old age from lung cancer. This happened in London in 1993.

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