It's hard to put down A Clockwork Orange once you start it. Burgess was well versed in Russian (he was an utter genius) and created a fascinating language of the future. He had problems with the book and the movie. The book bothered him because he felt he did not make clear enough that rehabilitation is a dangerous process and can thwart creativity and love ... more >

It's hard to put down A Clockwork Orange once you start it. Burgess was well versed in Russian (he was an utter genius) and created a fascinating language of the future. He had problems with the book and the movie. The book bothered him because he felt he did not make clear enough that rehabilitation is a dangerous process and can thwart creativity and love of beauty along with one's anti-social propensities. He was also a musician. One of his books, Napoleon Symphony I think is the title, is meant to be an experiment in applying musical concepts to words and follows the symphonic structure of Beethoven's Third. Final comment, I apologize for the windy message, but we are in the realm of my great passion: reading. I, too, greatly enjoy Gibbon, but I've only read an abridged edition. This weekend I'm going to start George Carlin's memoir if I have the time. Great exchanging comments with you!

I've read - literally - all of Anthony Burgess and have a couple of books signed by him. He is in some sense a cautionary tale. His abilities were so protean, he was such a polymath, that mostly he did not know how to rein in all of these talents and focus them. His oeuvre may be flawed, but what a splendid effort! And he didn't begin writing until his early... more >

I've read - literally - all of Anthony Burgess and have a couple of books signed by him. He is in some sense a cautionary tale. His abilities were so protean, he was such a polymath, that mostly he did not know how to rein in all of these talents and focus them. His oeuvre may be flawed, but what a splendid effort! And he didn't begin writing until his early 40's when he was mistakenly diagnosed with a brain tumor. What a story.