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176th out of 1,147 books
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The Wanting Seed
Tristram Foxe and his wife, Beatrice-Joanna, live in their skyscraper world where official family limitation glorifies homosexuality. Eventually, their world is transformed into a chaos of cannibalistic dining-clubs, fantastic fertility rituals, and wars without anger. It is a novel both extravagantly funny and grimly serious.
Paperback, Norton Paperback Fiction, 288 pages
Published
December 17th 1996
by W. W. Norton & Company
(first published 1962)
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Ian
rated it
Recommends it for:
fans of 1984, anyone scared of overpopulation, those who distrust the government.
Anthony Burgess is probably best known (at least among Americans) for his novel A Clockwork Orange. Like A Clockwork Orange, The Wanting Seed takes place in a near future society that is in the first stages of decline.
This book is hilarious and contains such things as reprocessing dead humans, promoting homosexual behavior as a way of population control, famine, and fake wars for the benefit of humanity as a whole. These things may not sound funny, but Burgess's language skills shi...more
This book is hilarious and contains such things as reprocessing dead humans, promoting homosexual behavior as a way of population control, famine, and fake wars for the benefit of humanity as a whole. These things may not sound funny, but Burgess's language skills shi...more
This is very much a future dystopia novel. It takes place in what was once the UK and follows the lives of a married couple, Tristram and Beatrice-Joanna. They are heterosexual couple living in a world where homosexuality and castration are heavily encouraged in order to curb the out of control world population. Breeding is shunned, a social faux pas. As poor crops and government law begin to come down on the people, they change to answer in strange and frightening ways.
It's an interesting...more
It's an interesting...more
I read this about a week or two ago, but it's already fading in my memory.
I guess the basic premise is that the world is overpopulated, so you're limited to how many children you can have. But polite, genteel people don't have any.
Which has a knockoff effect of, if you're gay (particularly male and gay) you advance more quickly in your career, and things like that. So there's a real advantage to pretending to be gay. And the culture has adopted gay dress and mannerisms. A...more
I guess the basic premise is that the world is overpopulated, so you're limited to how many children you can have. But polite, genteel people don't have any.
Which has a knockoff effect of, if you're gay (particularly male and gay) you advance more quickly in your career, and things like that. So there's a real advantage to pretending to be gay. And the culture has adopted gay dress and mannerisms. A...more
"Così va il mondo, non puoi far altro che accettarlo: gloglottii coitali e abbandono alla promiscuità, masticazione di tessuti corporei e militaresco inquadramento."
Il problema dei romanzi a tesi, è che se la tesi non ti convince proprio, beh, non puoi nemmeno consolarti con un bel romanzo. E' questo il caso di Il seme inquieto: un romanzo che, lo dico adesso e lo ribadirò più e più volte, fosse solo per dare la misura del mio sgomento, non sembra affatto scritto dalla s...more
Il problema dei romanzi a tesi, è che se la tesi non ti convince proprio, beh, non puoi nemmeno consolarti con un bel romanzo. E' questo il caso di Il seme inquieto: un romanzo che, lo dico adesso e lo ribadirò più e più volte, fosse solo per dare la misura del mio sgomento, non sembra affatto scritto dalla s...more
Il problema dei romanzi a tesi, è che se la tesi non ti convince proprio, beh, non puoi nemmeno consolarti con un bel romanzo. E' questo il caso di Il seme inquieto: un romanzo che, lo dico adesso e lo ribadirò più e più volte, fosse solo per dare la misura del mio sgomento, non sembra affatto scritto dalla stessa mano che ha concepito Arancia meccanica.
Eppure è lo stesso Burgess a rivendicare questo romanzo come un figlio del suo celebre capolavoro: lì il problema della delinquenza giovanile e ...more
Eppure è lo stesso Burgess a rivendicare questo romanzo come un figlio del suo celebre capolavoro: lì il problema della delinquenza giovanile e ...more
this book, from what i understand, is snubbed by anthony burgess scholars. no doubt. if you want a distopian future novel you would have read his A Clockwork Orange. this, however, is completely... already done. and kind of homo-phobic. you read it and you just have to wonder... "this was written in a different time, right? surely today burgess would defend this lifestyle, right? he wasn't bucking against it was he?" but as i kept reading, i liked it more. i mean... any govern...more
This book, written by the author of "A Clockwork Orange", is similarly dark and grim. Sadly, someone from the London Times called it 'fantastically funny'. That has to be one of the most moronic statements I've read in a long time.
The book deals with the problem of overpopulation and suggests some accompanying solutions: war with an unusual aim in mind, and cannibalism. Do these subject lend themselves well to laughing out loud?
Not in this book, they don't....more
The book deals with the problem of overpopulation and suggests some accompanying solutions: war with an unusual aim in mind, and cannibalism. Do these subject lend themselves well to laughing out loud?
Not in this book, they don't....more
I am a sucker for a good 1984-esque book. Also, I adore Burgess and all his linguistics talents. I loved his idea of cyclical history, one that is at least somewhat comforting in the midst of current economic crises. This is a must-read for any Burgess fan.
I read this in high school . . . I bought it because it was by Anthony Burgess, and then ended up writing a report about this, We, 1984, and A Brave New World, all of which are (if I recall correctly) dystopian novels with authoritarian governments. The report talked about how the governments in these novels used love and sex to control their populations.
I don't actually remember much about this particular book, though. But I think I liked it? Liked it and thought it was weird? ...more
I don't actually remember much about this particular book, though. But I think I liked it? Liked it and thought it was weird? ...more
Mildly offensive (homophobic) with an air of hysteria. The lament for traditional gender roles leaves me particularly cold.
The style is visual and emotional and enriches the text to the extent that the author's failure to anticipate technological advances (a general feature of quality dystopian fiction) in, for example, controlling reproduction and surveillance, is mostly unnoticed.
The novel is clearly demarcated into three parts (the urban, rural and military experiences of ...more
The style is visual and emotional and enriches the text to the extent that the author's failure to anticipate technological advances (a general feature of quality dystopian fiction) in, for example, controlling reproduction and surveillance, is mostly unnoticed.
The novel is clearly demarcated into three parts (the urban, rural and military experiences of ...more
Nicole
added it
This book offers a great story and a less discreet parody of society. It is highly critical of government interference, and more importantly those people who rise in government. It is a lighter Brave New World. On the face, it is a malthusian comedy as the back cover will suggest, but really it's that circle of societal affects that becomes apparent in dystopian novels. Our hero is unhappy but achieves in the society, and on some level whether an epiphany or something bad happens, he demonstrate...more
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Much like A Clockwork Orange, this is a very, very weird dystopian novel by Anthony Burgess. It describes an overpopulated, futuristic society in which homosexuality and self-sterilization are encouraged. The government is very powerful and repressive. When the protagonist, Tristram, gets involved in a protest, he is taken from his wife and put in jail. While he is imprisoned, CHAOS ensues. The masses of London revolt, revive religion, and adopt cannibalism. When, at the end, Tristram is f...more
This book is made for people who like weird comedies. This author wrote A Clockwork Orange, so be prepared for strangeness. I think this book is a very interesting look at our society of today. The futuristic society in the novel is a complete 180 of what we have right now and it really puts priorities into perspective. I recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind reading about love, loss, government corruption, starvation, cannibalism, all told in an upbeat and cheerful manner.
This bo...more
This bo...more
This is a fairly interesting dystopic novel. In the future, people have realized that society moves in a cycle between totalitarian fascism and more open liberalism. During the fascist part of the cycle, life is cheap, procreation is encouraged and there are wars, even if the government has to manufacture reasons to fight. During the liberal part of the cycle, life becomes expensive, people are encouraged to be homosexual and penalized for procreating. There are obvious drawbacks to both extreme...more
A satire about a future world suffering from out-of-control human population growth. This story was probably a lot funnier when it was published in the 60s because of how many taboo ideas it proposes as reasonable solutions to dealing with population growth. Unfortunately for the satire, it's not the 60s, the world has changed quite a bit, and many of the taboo ideas aren't anymore. As a result, I had a hard time seeing and appreciating the satire; and, at times, couldn't identify what was suppo...more
the book was very well written, much like 1984, Fahrenheit and a brave new world at times. it took these novels a bit further though by explaining a bit of history. the main character a history teacher Tristan Foxe explains that there country goes though cycle phases. starting in a society where people believe that everyone is good and punishments are lite because they think people will learn. then the government gets fed up with how people can't be all good and more policing is needed. essenti...more
This book was first published in 1962. That makes it one of the earliest dystopias I know about, though written more than a decade after Orwell's 1984. The author describes it as "a Malthusian comedy about the strange world overpopulation will produce." Early on, a main character, a historian, describes the way society continually goes through cycles (which he names Pelagian and Augustinian), and over the course of the book, the society actually morphs through both of those as well as ...more
Set perhaps in the mid 22nd century, Anthony Burgess’s The Wanting Seed pictures a supremely progressive society which has failed to come to grips with the population problem. London now covers one-third of England. Homosexuals are a privileged class, and heterosexuals are quietly discriminated against and limited to one birth (live or dead) per couple.
Tristram Foxe, as a history teacher, is one of the few who understands the great changes when they come, literally turning his worl...more
Tristram Foxe, as a history teacher, is one of the few who understands the great changes when they come, literally turning his worl...more
If you like unbelievable use of Vocabulary you will like Anthony Burgess. And Burgess' novel The Wanting Seed will not let you down in that fashion. Overall the novel is dealing with population control in a futuristic dystopian society. More acute themes deal with desires, sexual, for life, and love. And how one can never give up trying to pursue what they believe in... especially love. The wanting seed is pretty epic as it follows the life of the main character Tristram. The journey remin...more
Like most people my age (whether they'll admit it or no), I discovered Burgess by first being exposed to the movie version of A Clockwork Orange. While a good movie, the ending was unsatisfying- and it felt contrived, like it was unsatisfying for the very reason of being unsatisfying.
I hold The Wanting Seed almost as close to heart as the real version of A Clockwork Orange. With this book, yes I get the larger concepts of overpopulation and its effect on government and religion, but I thi...more
I hold The Wanting Seed almost as close to heart as the real version of A Clockwork Orange. With this book, yes I get the larger concepts of overpopulation and its effect on government and religion, but I thi...more
Everytime we get new computer technology for things that we can do from home, I think about this book and how easily we could live in a cubicle. The Wii gaming system scares me this way. No more going outside to exercise, go bowling, surf, whatever. All that can be done in front of a screen. Frightening. But at the same time I cheered for the homosexuals throughout the whole book and was extremely amused by what the heterosexuals had to go through.
My friend found a box of old science-fiction novels somewhere and this was one she let me borrow. The only Anthony Burgess novel I've read (oddly I've never got a chance to check out A Clockwork Orange), but I enjoyed it, especially the view expounded early in the novel that history is cyclical. As a philosophy of histoy buff, I enjoyed watching the different societies take shape and the relationship between the the population and the government.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book turned out to be not at all what I had expected. I had been referred to it by mention in the book The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell. So I was not expecting a science fiction tale much like Orwell's 1984 or Huxley's Brave New World. The dystopian future in this book is a world so over populated that extreme measures by a totalitarian government are resorted to for population control. The ending is if anything more depressing than either 1984 or Brave New World.
This is my favorite homophobic novel about a dystopia where "it is sapiens to be homo" that devolves into cannibalism and corporate sponsored warfare. I prefer the story of this to Burgess's A Clockwork Orange, even though this lacks the verbal gymnastics present in the ACO. However, it does present a atavistic understanding of human sexuality.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This book is a satire about a near future dystopian society which encourages homosexuality to prevent breeding and over population.
Anthony Burgess is an amazing writer, he can twist and contort words into sentences of deep marvel. The text is rich, humorous and the concept to prevent over-population evokes deep thought.
Anthony Burgess is an amazing writer, he can twist and contort words into sentences of deep marvel. The text is rich, humorous and the concept to prevent over-population evokes deep thought.
Burgess is most widely known for his novel "A Clockwork Orange," which was adapted into a successful and controversial Kubrick film. However, this novel beats A.C.O. flat on its butt, stomps it into the ground, and spits on it. It takes place in a dystopian Great Britain of the future, where overpopulation has driven "homo to be sapiens," as the tagline of the novel suggests. It's socially accepted and encouraged to be gay. In fact, politics are controlled by cannibalisti...more
Orwell meet Burgess, Burgess meet Orwell. Do I say it? The Wanting Seed is an Orwellian imagining of a future wherein the earth is so taxed by overpopulation that homosexuality is encouraged and is necessary to achieve promotion in society. Food is rationed, families may have only one child, if any, media is controlled. All of this negation of fecundity is creating a backlash - crops are failing, animals are dying. Soon jackbooted thugs are patrolling the streets. People are drafted into a...more
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Anthony Burgess was a British novelist, critic and composer. He was also a librettist, poet, playwright, screenwriter, essayist, travel writer, broadcaster, translator, linguist and educationalist. Born in Manchester, he lived for long periods in Southeast Asia, the USA and Mediterranean Europe as well as in England. His fiction includes the Malayan trilogy (The Long Day Wanes) on the dying days o...more
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“If you expect the worst from a person you can never be disappointed.”
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