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Little Wilson and Big God
Book by Burgess, Anthony
460 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
20 people are currently reading
481 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Burgess
360 books4,252 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Seriocomic novels of noted British writer and critic Anthony Burgess, pen name of John Burgess Wilson, include the futuristic classic A Clockwork Orange (1962).
He composed also a librettos, poems, plays, screens, and essays and traveled, broadcast, translated, linguist and educationalist. He lived for long periods in southeastern Asia, the United States of America, and Europe along Mediterranean Sea as well as England. His fiction embraces the Malayan trilogy ( The Long Day Wanes ) on the dying days of empire in the east. The Enderby quartet concerns a poet and his muse. Nothing like the Sun re-creates love life of William Shakespeare. He explores the nature of evil with Earthly Powers , a panoramic saga of the 20th century. He published studies of James Joyce, Ernest Miller Hemingway, Shakespeare, and David Herbert Lawrence. He produced the treatises Language Made Plain and A Mouthful of Air . His journalism proliferated in several languages. He translated and adapted Cyrano de Bergerac , Oedipus the King , and Carmen for the stage. He scripted Jesus of Nazareth and Moses the Lawgiver for the screen. He invented the prehistoric language, spoken in Quest for Fire . He composed the Sinfoni Melayu , the Symphony (No. 3) in C , and the opera Blooms of Dublin .
Seriocomic novels of noted British writer and critic Anthony Burgess, pen name of John Burgess Wilson, include the futuristic classic A Clockwork Orange (1962).
He composed also a librettos, poems, plays, screens, and essays and traveled, broadcast, translated, linguist and educationalist. He lived for long periods in southeastern Asia, the United States of America, and Europe along Mediterranean Sea as well as England. His fiction embraces the Malayan trilogy ( The Long Day Wanes ) on the dying days of empire in the east. The Enderby quartet concerns a poet and his muse. Nothing like the Sun re-creates love life of William Shakespeare. He explores the nature of evil with Earthly Powers , a panoramic saga of the 20th century. He published studies of James Joyce, Ernest Miller Hemingway, Shakespeare, and David Herbert Lawrence. He produced the treatises Language Made Plain and A Mouthful of Air . His journalism proliferated in several languages. He translated and adapted Cyrano de Bergerac , Oedipus the King , and Carmen for the stage. He scripted Jesus of Nazareth and Moses the Lawgiver for the screen. He invented the prehistoric language, spoken in Quest for Fire . He composed the Sinfoni Melayu , the Symphony (No. 3) in C , and the opera Blooms of Dublin .
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August 28, 2022
An extraordinary autobiography.
Prior to reading this, the only other book I'd read by Anthony Burgess was A Clockwork Orange. I was inspired to read this book, having come across a short extract, photocopied and framed on the wall of The Wheatsheaf pub in Rathbone Place, London. Anthony Burgess was once a customer and he was describing the era in the 1940s when both he and Julian Maclaren-Ross were regulars. As a great admirer of Julian Maclaren-Ross, it was a desire to read this particular section (probably only six or seven pages in total) that prompted me to read it. I should add that Burgess was gratifyingly complimentary about the work of Maclaren-Ross and brings that era beautifully to life.
Little Wilson and Big God is only the first part of a two part biography and covers the 42 years from Burgess’s birth, in 1917, to 1959, when his time as teacher and education officer in Malaya and Brunei came to an end and he decided to devote himself to writing full time (believing he only had a year to live).
Burgess was clearly very bright and something of a polymath. He taught himself languages and wrote classical music in addition to gaining scholarships and doing well at school. Despite this he was also something of a slacker as a young man, drifting through the war, and then into teaching in Malaya and Brunei. He and his wife had an open relationship from the off, and he appears to be very honest about his conduct which was frequently drunken and idiosyncratic. He has a trove of great memories.
I found the whole book engrossing as he vividly recreated the Manchester of his boyhood; life in the army during the war with all its attendant pettiness and absurdities; and his various eccentricities, and onto ever more outrageous behaviour as an observant if unorthodox expat during the fag end of British colonialism.
His writing style is flamboyant and sophisticated, and required a few stops to consult the dictionary, and I felt I was in the hands of a great writer at the top of his game.
The second part is called You've Had Your Time.
5/5
Prior to reading this, the only other book I'd read by Anthony Burgess was A Clockwork Orange. I was inspired to read this book, having come across a short extract, photocopied and framed on the wall of The Wheatsheaf pub in Rathbone Place, London. Anthony Burgess was once a customer and he was describing the era in the 1940s when both he and Julian Maclaren-Ross were regulars. As a great admirer of Julian Maclaren-Ross, it was a desire to read this particular section (probably only six or seven pages in total) that prompted me to read it. I should add that Burgess was gratifyingly complimentary about the work of Maclaren-Ross and brings that era beautifully to life.
Little Wilson and Big God is only the first part of a two part biography and covers the 42 years from Burgess’s birth, in 1917, to 1959, when his time as teacher and education officer in Malaya and Brunei came to an end and he decided to devote himself to writing full time (believing he only had a year to live).
Burgess was clearly very bright and something of a polymath. He taught himself languages and wrote classical music in addition to gaining scholarships and doing well at school. Despite this he was also something of a slacker as a young man, drifting through the war, and then into teaching in Malaya and Brunei. He and his wife had an open relationship from the off, and he appears to be very honest about his conduct which was frequently drunken and idiosyncratic. He has a trove of great memories.
I found the whole book engrossing as he vividly recreated the Manchester of his boyhood; life in the army during the war with all its attendant pettiness and absurdities; and his various eccentricities, and onto ever more outrageous behaviour as an observant if unorthodox expat during the fag end of British colonialism.
His writing style is flamboyant and sophisticated, and required a few stops to consult the dictionary, and I felt I was in the hands of a great writer at the top of his game.
The second part is called You've Had Your Time.
5/5
July 25, 2018
Fact is stranger than fiction. Among self-effacing or preening autobiographies that fill the book market, this is a breath of fresh air. Burgess is so candid that it takes will to hear him out sometimes. A reader is often curious about a favourite writer, but this account makes one desire some limits to that curiosity. One wonders how curious should someone have to be to be very interested in elaborate accounts of his sex life, his waxing poetic about Keatsian 'ripening breasts' and the women of the East with their different complexions and idiosyncratic ways, his dallying with Chinese prostitutes and keeping Malay mistresses. It is a distinctively masculine account of physical and cerebral passions. The word 'occident' also comes to mind, but who is the reader to begrudge these strong and sometimes generous opinions so freely given? Rather than preemptively branding these memories with the familiar charge of being oppressive, objectifying and colonial (after all, his experiences are, in a way, non-typical of the ruling Westerner), as reader I feel obliged to hear him out when he is being so determinedly frank. It is, as if, by writing all this down, he implies, 'I have expressed myself in these words, now do your worst to me'. A lesser writer, perhaps, would - writing in the very contemporary 1987 - feel the need to pick his words more carefully, and demonstrate sensitivity and respect to Others, but Burgess tells all and spares none. To dismiss this memoir with a label is to disregard its entertainment value, its own strange, teeming, riotous, irreducible quality. Malaya through his eyes is a tropical mess with predatory flora and fauna, marked by heat and decay, an ungovernable little foothold of Empire. He is a paradoxical extension of that Empire and cultural rebel and linguistic adventurer, baffled, amused, appreciative. His experiences at various teaching colleges open up a first-hand account of a world far more varied and humorous than the history books of the region will allow, and those familiar will note many of these accounts make their way into his Malayan Trilogy, thinly disguised as fiction.
This book calls readers to disregard sensitivities, to laugh at dirty jokes in translation (the name of the Trilogy's fictional state of Lanchap means 'smooth and slippery' but also 'to masturbate'), to appreciate its author's love for music and image where these lie.
There are some beautiful passages from sections of his early life when he talks about learning music, about the difference between the musician and the composer. Curious, his admission that he cannot play perfectly but that to a composer it doesn't matter what is made manifest when he has it all on the page and in the imagination. There is affection in these recollections, but also a touch of regret at things that could've been done better; gravity and levity compete. He can be such a snob but only because he's a natural intellectual, even at fourteen years old. Happily reading Joyce, teaching himself music, experimenting as a comic artist, magazine editor, poet. At home among the modernists.
This book calls readers to disregard sensitivities, to laugh at dirty jokes in translation (the name of the Trilogy's fictional state of Lanchap means 'smooth and slippery' but also 'to masturbate'), to appreciate its author's love for music and image where these lie.
There are some beautiful passages from sections of his early life when he talks about learning music, about the difference between the musician and the composer. Curious, his admission that he cannot play perfectly but that to a composer it doesn't matter what is made manifest when he has it all on the page and in the imagination. There is affection in these recollections, but also a touch of regret at things that could've been done better; gravity and levity compete. He can be such a snob but only because he's a natural intellectual, even at fourteen years old. Happily reading Joyce, teaching himself music, experimenting as a comic artist, magazine editor, poet. At home among the modernists.
May 11, 2016
‘Little Wilson & Big God’ is a marvellous book - marvels are not to be trusted, of course. The fact that Burgess may or may not be blagging much of the time is part of the book's appeal: a great writer of fiction is turning his tools on the raw material of his own life and fashioning it into a kind of magic lantern show. In his works of fiction, Burgess’s invention occasionally waned – when talking about himself he is never at a loss. The language is evocative, exuberant and delights in obscure words and precise details. The sense of time and place is wonderful. This is the best kind of autobiography – shameless, self-serving and joyous, leaving the dirty work for biographers to come.
July 13, 2021
Before this book, I hesitate to admit I had not heard of John (Jack) Wilson or of his pseudonym Anthony Burgess. I was virtually adhered to his story and am glad I learned the author's intention before seeing (and I plan never to see) Hollywood's destruction of Burgess's story A Clockwork Orange. Who among us knows the true story behind the movie? Hollywood did a disservice to the author even if the actors themselves were said to have been top knotch. Malcolm MacDowell is always convincing and moving. Wilson (Burgess) himself was a prolific Irish writer whom I wish I had read earlier.
July 24, 2024
Burgess wrote two volumes of memoirs; this book covers his first forty two years. Though nearly twice the size of the second book, You've Had Your Time, it's half as interesting.
It gives a rather different account of a young English writer's maturity than most books of its type. Burgess was born in Manchester, not the Home Counties; he did not go to one of 'great universities'. He was reared among pubs, chop-shops and off-licences and called 'mard-arse' at school. He didn't seem to let up once entering the army. When a superior demanded that Burgess call him ‘Sir', Burgess replied that he only called the Monarch and the Almighty 'Sir', and that he was neither.
Although the book is a catalogue of disasters, it has no self pity. Burgess's productive restlessness outlaws that. It seems he had more to pity than most. Burgess' Father returned from World War One to find both his wife and daughter dead from the flu epidemic and baby Burgess gurgling in his cot. It caused him, Burgess suggests, to resent his son for the sheer audacity of surviving.
A warning. Some have described the memoirs as the greatest novels of Burgess' career and you don't need a biography to see why. Burgess had a store of tall tales about his life and either came to prefer them to reality or simply forgot the difference. The lumpy, pompous style irritates, dropping words like 'stertorous' like a punctured dictionary.
Get the second volume instead.
It gives a rather different account of a young English writer's maturity than most books of its type. Burgess was born in Manchester, not the Home Counties; he did not go to one of 'great universities'. He was reared among pubs, chop-shops and off-licences and called 'mard-arse' at school. He didn't seem to let up once entering the army. When a superior demanded that Burgess call him ‘Sir', Burgess replied that he only called the Monarch and the Almighty 'Sir', and that he was neither.
Although the book is a catalogue of disasters, it has no self pity. Burgess's productive restlessness outlaws that. It seems he had more to pity than most. Burgess' Father returned from World War One to find both his wife and daughter dead from the flu epidemic and baby Burgess gurgling in his cot. It caused him, Burgess suggests, to resent his son for the sheer audacity of surviving.
A warning. Some have described the memoirs as the greatest novels of Burgess' career and you don't need a biography to see why. Burgess had a store of tall tales about his life and either came to prefer them to reality or simply forgot the difference. The lumpy, pompous style irritates, dropping words like 'stertorous' like a punctured dictionary.
Get the second volume instead.
July 28, 2012
Burgess is very much out of fashion these days, on the logical grounds that he was something of a serenely and mildly racist, sexist, homophobic imperialist of the cheerful and well-meaning variety. He comes across much more stubbornly Catholic and conservative than his prodigious philandering would lead you to believe, and has a few casually deplorable things to say about women and brown people. Despite his obvious mental gifts, he is frequently forced to fall back on pleas of laziness or persecution to excuse various failures, both academic or professional. I enjoy his work, because I like to learn, and I like an author who can present an etymological history of the vast array of Malay words for copulation in one paragraph, then a joke about Kandinsky in the next. I own the second volume of his autobiography, but I admit that upon finishing this one, I feel no urgence to begin reading it. It is no surprise that Burgess's autobiography contains a lengthy index: I suspect I will consult this if I want a few pages of targeted wit and erudition, and will perhaps dip into it from time to time for the pleasure of watching him perform, but as a sustained act, he rather overstays his welcome.
May 17, 2014
An entirely self-serving masterpiece of autoreportage, in which its author/subject paints an absolutely absorbing picture of pre- and postwar Britain. His account of interwar Manchester conveys the sights and smells of a place long-extinguished. He contextualizes his eccentricities, laying bare the roots of his flaws in this book, whereupon the vast difficult personality evidenced in the rest of his ouvre is limned. The writing and recollection are unparalelled.
January 17, 2012
(1988 notebook): just finished LW&BG, Burgess's half life story - fascinated by his wife Lynne and would have liked more on her. His life seems a little too easy despite the experiences in Gibraltar and Malaya. Here is a man who can write a novel in six weeks, can pick up languages in days, and compose symphonies in his spare time, most of which he devotes to getting drunk and getting laid, in that order.
Just jealous I suppose.
Just jealous I suppose.
July 14, 2021
Beautifully written, but dense. Anthony Burgess has a grasp of language that few will ever equal, but it does make for difficult reading for mere mortals. His childhood, war experience, personal relationships, and post-war employment, with the overarching theme of his relationships with religion, music and the beginning of his writing are recounted; this is autobiography as literature.
May 3, 2021
A great show-off but with a prodigious memory and talents, musical and linguistic, Burgess packs the first 40+ years of his life into 450 pages, taking us to the point of a (mistaken) terminal diagnosis and the decision to spend a year (to become a lifetime) as a full-time writer. He has many tales to tell - of school, university, army and colonial service - and of drinking - and of sex - precocious, casual, purchased, and frequently adulterous. All of it novel fodder. Unabashed brio, unabashed erudition. Not easy to read, but something to marvel at.
June 15, 2022
I love AB's books, most of them. Much as I am enamoured of his prose style and literary voice, I found the first 75% of this book to be overlong and quite dull. The story of his impoverished catholic childhood, his younger years in the Xaverian college and his wartime experiences, while essential to understand his character, is too long and overdetailed.
His years of the war and in the defective cultural machine of the British War Effort, while delightfully cynic, are almost worthy of the maladies we normally associate with the third world. These are also much too long and detailed. One senses that no effort was made to "cut back" here, rather like things HAD to be extended over two volumes.
The story of his sentimental life is more interesting, where he does come across like a right bastard, unrepentant womanizer, much given to a tumble in the bushes with the nurses. His open marriage to Lynne, who manages to get pregnant during his absence in the war and then introduces two lovers who want to take her abroad upon AB's return, is the meatiest and most important aspect of this first half. AB's efforts to make himself a name as a composer are also extremely important in his life, and also very richly detailed.
So, while he makes no effort to come across as a liekable character, and one is not to judge him morally, he does appear a little cold and emotianally impaired. It does seem that the roots for his disaffection for this formidable wife, further explored in the second volume, were planted in this period. But let's not be unfair with Lynne, who made it forthright from the start that no monogamy was to be expected of her. I am certain that if Mr. Burgess would have been capable of pregnancy, he was sure to get knocked up a few times, too.
His years of the war and in the defective cultural machine of the British War Effort, while delightfully cynic, are almost worthy of the maladies we normally associate with the third world. These are also much too long and detailed. One senses that no effort was made to "cut back" here, rather like things HAD to be extended over two volumes.
The story of his sentimental life is more interesting, where he does come across like a right bastard, unrepentant womanizer, much given to a tumble in the bushes with the nurses. His open marriage to Lynne, who manages to get pregnant during his absence in the war and then introduces two lovers who want to take her abroad upon AB's return, is the meatiest and most important aspect of this first half. AB's efforts to make himself a name as a composer are also extremely important in his life, and also very richly detailed.
So, while he makes no effort to come across as a liekable character, and one is not to judge him morally, he does appear a little cold and emotianally impaired. It does seem that the roots for his disaffection for this formidable wife, further explored in the second volume, were planted in this period. But let's not be unfair with Lynne, who made it forthright from the start that no monogamy was to be expected of her. I am certain that if Mr. Burgess would have been capable of pregnancy, he was sure to get knocked up a few times, too.
May 14, 2023
"Little Wilson and Big God" is the first volume of Anthony Burgess's autobiography, and it is an extraordinary journey through the first half of his life. This book exemplifies Burgess's literary prowess and his remarkable ability to weave compelling narratives. I find it deserving of a full five-star rating.
Burgess's life story is as captivating and complex as any of his novels. His recollections of his childhood in Manchester, his experiences during World War II, and his struggles as a young writer are all recounted with his trademark wit and linguistic flair. This isn't just a list of chronological events, but a rich tapestry of memories, observations, and reflections.
What sets this autobiography apart is Burgess's unflinching honesty. He doesn't shy away from discussing his personal flaws, his difficult relationships, or the darker periods of his life. Yet, despite the hardships he faced, his indomitable spirit and passion for literature shine through.
Burgess's prose in "Little Wilson and Big God" is nothing short of masterful. He has a unique ability to make even the most mundane details fascinating, and his descriptions are vivid and evocative. His love for language is evident in every page, and his storytelling prowess is on full display.
Another standout feature of this book is its exploration of the theme of identity. Through his recounting of his life, Burgess delves into the complexities of his own identity - as a man, a writer, and a citizen of the world. He wrestles with questions of faith, morality, and purpose, offering readers a profound and thought-provoking experience.
In conclusion, "Little Wilson and Big God" is a remarkable autobiography that offers a fascinating look into the life and mind of one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. It's a book that is both deeply personal and universally resonant, a testament to Burgess's immense talent and enduring legacy. I am more than happy to give it a full five-star rating.
Burgess's life story is as captivating and complex as any of his novels. His recollections of his childhood in Manchester, his experiences during World War II, and his struggles as a young writer are all recounted with his trademark wit and linguistic flair. This isn't just a list of chronological events, but a rich tapestry of memories, observations, and reflections.
What sets this autobiography apart is Burgess's unflinching honesty. He doesn't shy away from discussing his personal flaws, his difficult relationships, or the darker periods of his life. Yet, despite the hardships he faced, his indomitable spirit and passion for literature shine through.
Burgess's prose in "Little Wilson and Big God" is nothing short of masterful. He has a unique ability to make even the most mundane details fascinating, and his descriptions are vivid and evocative. His love for language is evident in every page, and his storytelling prowess is on full display.
Another standout feature of this book is its exploration of the theme of identity. Through his recounting of his life, Burgess delves into the complexities of his own identity - as a man, a writer, and a citizen of the world. He wrestles with questions of faith, morality, and purpose, offering readers a profound and thought-provoking experience.
In conclusion, "Little Wilson and Big God" is a remarkable autobiography that offers a fascinating look into the life and mind of one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. It's a book that is both deeply personal and universally resonant, a testament to Burgess's immense talent and enduring legacy. I am more than happy to give it a full five-star rating.
February 14, 2021
Un libro insufrible. Uno lee biografías (autobiografía, para el caso) de escritores por una de dos razones, o el autor tuvo una vida emocionante o quiere conocer los entresijos de la creación de su obra.
Sobre el primer punto, Burgess tuvo una vida emocionante no cabe duda, pero parece no haberse dado cuenta. Estaba más ocupado juzgando a alguien por su acento o por demostrar que era el más inteligente y culto de la sala. No importa que esté en plena Segunda Guerra Mundial o en un país exótico, su narración es aburrida.
En el segundo punto, hay muy pocas reflexiones literarias, al menos sobre la propia obra. Hay análisis de poemas más bien oscuros y mención de algunos colegas casi siempre para despreciarlos o enfocándose en algún rasgo de su vida personal no de su obra.
Eso sin contar los comentarios problemáticos que han "envejecido mal". Sexismo, racismo, colonialismo se suman a su egocéntrica superioridad intelectual.
Sobre el primer punto, Burgess tuvo una vida emocionante no cabe duda, pero parece no haberse dado cuenta. Estaba más ocupado juzgando a alguien por su acento o por demostrar que era el más inteligente y culto de la sala. No importa que esté en plena Segunda Guerra Mundial o en un país exótico, su narración es aburrida.
En el segundo punto, hay muy pocas reflexiones literarias, al menos sobre la propia obra. Hay análisis de poemas más bien oscuros y mención de algunos colegas casi siempre para despreciarlos o enfocándose en algún rasgo de su vida personal no de su obra.
Eso sin contar los comentarios problemáticos que han "envejecido mal". Sexismo, racismo, colonialismo se suman a su egocéntrica superioridad intelectual.
April 17, 2018
Streckenweise ein wenig ermüdend, aber doch faszinierend, die Tragik des Menschen, der so gern Komponist gewesen wäre, Joyce-Verehrer und Katholik - oder jedenfalls allezeit vom Katholizismus begleitet. A.B. betrügt seine Frau Lynne und umgekehrt, sie bleiben sich aber in Liebe zugetan. Aber die Beschreibungen sind etwas zu casual für mich.
to-buy
June 16, 2019Recommended by Mary Carr in The art of memoir
October 15, 2022
Anthony Burgess is the best writer, bar none; and his life was certainly unusual.
September 23, 2023
Great read , history time and place with anecdotes.
May 23, 2024
What a life! Like many good writers, Burgess seems to know a little about everything and a lot about some things. Looking forward to the second volume.
February 19, 2025
First Volume of ...
... the best autobiography I ever read. Kept my attention every minute. Too bad he wasn't as good at novels.
... the best autobiography I ever read. Kept my attention every minute. Too bad he wasn't as good at novels.
July 13, 2019
“The first task was to quieten them, and not through the regular military technique of demanding quiet, which did not work. The thing to do was to grab some docker arbitrarily from the front row and talk to him with whispering earnestness, thus inducing the listening silence of the curious. WIth this gained, I would cry “Gentlemen!” That provoked large howls of derision. I would follow with “Those of you who can read may have seen the word over public urinals. I use the word with that meaning.” While they were thinking that over I would try to introduce the prescribed topic ...”
(The description of an education session he delivered to conscripted dock workers during WWII.)
Anthony Burgess tells the story of his life from his birth in 1917 until the day in 1959 when he was diagnosed (incorrectly) with an inoperable brain tumour and decided to devote the time remaining to him to writing novels to support his soon-t0-be-widow. It's a candid and vituperative account of growing up alienated in Britain: a Catholic, a northerner and lower middle class. It's also a good account of the transformation of society that took place in the first half of the 20th century. Burgess is clever, in love with words, funny and he tends to deal with received opinions the way a terrier does rats.
(The description of an education session he delivered to conscripted dock workers during WWII.)
Anthony Burgess tells the story of his life from his birth in 1917 until the day in 1959 when he was diagnosed (incorrectly) with an inoperable brain tumour and decided to devote the time remaining to him to writing novels to support his soon-t0-be-widow. It's a candid and vituperative account of growing up alienated in Britain: a Catholic, a northerner and lower middle class. It's also a good account of the transformation of society that took place in the first half of the 20th century. Burgess is clever, in love with words, funny and he tends to deal with received opinions the way a terrier does rats.
May 30, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed this baroque, funny, honest and gossipy trip through Burgess’s interesting life- the first half. He is both self depreciating and self aggrandising, but I think the truth occasionally shines through, when it matters.
His first marriage with the ‘always brave’ Lynne, is fascinating, and when he talks about his marriage it seems like they were a real team , and despite the infidelities and tribulations they stayed together and had a ‘them against us’ attitude. The little boy who lost his mother so young, found the family he needed in Lynne, and their wandering, eventful, exotic and carousing life together.
Burgess makes everything interesting with his effortless timing and humour, and insight, but his life was pretty interesting anyway; his childhood is vividly portrayed, he details his enrolment in the RAMC, time in Gibraltar , Lynne’s assault during the blackout in London, back in England , postwar, trying to earn a living, teaching in a village, then to Malaya and Brunei , at which point he is a published and successful writer.
I love his attitude to language, he has learned quite a few languages, and he makes cultural deductions from them.
The style of autobiography is rapid fire, people are sketched vividly.
His first marriage with the ‘always brave’ Lynne, is fascinating, and when he talks about his marriage it seems like they were a real team , and despite the infidelities and tribulations they stayed together and had a ‘them against us’ attitude. The little boy who lost his mother so young, found the family he needed in Lynne, and their wandering, eventful, exotic and carousing life together.
Burgess makes everything interesting with his effortless timing and humour, and insight, but his life was pretty interesting anyway; his childhood is vividly portrayed, he details his enrolment in the RAMC, time in Gibraltar , Lynne’s assault during the blackout in London, back in England , postwar, trying to earn a living, teaching in a village, then to Malaya and Brunei , at which point he is a published and successful writer.
I love his attitude to language, he has learned quite a few languages, and he makes cultural deductions from them.
The style of autobiography is rapid fire, people are sketched vividly.
May 4, 2014
Great for linguists and musicians as Burgess goes into the minutiae of both subjects. Also great if you don't mind the reminiscences of an aged man reviewing his sexual history/escapades. Having said this, I enjoyed much of the book. The struggle with lapsed Catholicism, the pictures painted of prewar Manchester and life for colonials in Malaya as well as the literary circles of London were spellbinding. I have not read any of Burgesses novels, and I don't think that I want to. I didn't know what a prolific composer he was. Again, I don't think I'll seek out his musical compositions. But, as a non- biography reader, I would recommend this book to people I like! Keep a dictionary beside you when reading this book - although Burgess admits to creating neologisms, so don't be surprised if you can't find the work you're looking for.
August 22, 2022
Every now and then I dip briefly into the work of an author labelled 'literary,' and every time I quit in disgust. What is it about these writers? Narcissistic? Check. The inability to write a sentence without sounding asinine? Check.
The decline of poetry is regrettable, because if it still flourished we could have shoved all these 'literary writers' off into its sandbox to be as navel-gazing and coyly obscure as they please, while leaving prose to honorable craftsmen who like to produce strong sentences, and who actually have an interest in something besides themselves.
The decline of poetry is regrettable, because if it still flourished we could have shoved all these 'literary writers' off into its sandbox to be as navel-gazing and coyly obscure as they please, while leaving prose to honorable craftsmen who like to produce strong sentences, and who actually have an interest in something besides themselves.
April 1, 2013
Recently finished this, and I enjoyed it immensely. Anthony Burgess was a renowned BS artist so certain passages have to be taken with a grain of salt, but it can't be denied he had an extraordinary life, and he describes it in these pages with a trademark mix of surprising filth and intimidating vocabulary.
February 3, 2009
I expected to love this; however, it's incredibly boring! I love autobiography and lit bio, but this is NOT my kind of thing, I guess.
There's a second volume, more's the pity (also on my 999 list).
There's a second volume, more's the pity (also on my 999 list).
Currently reading
April 11, 2010Being a Catholic in pre war England was no peice of cake. Learning about Burgess' upbringing brings light and life to his prose.
May 11, 2010
Fascinating
August 1, 2013
Hilarious, outstanding, enraging, horrifying. I really enjoyed this book. Very honest and open account.
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September 12, 2016Abandoned after 120 page. My second attempt at this book. Lost interest.
January 17, 2016
I'm fascinated by the lives of people as driven as Burgess. This is his version of his life. It might not all be accurate.
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