Editing Anthony Burgess (section)

== Writing ==
=== Novels ===
{{more citations needed|section|date=November 2017}}
His Malayan trilogy ''[[The Long Day Wanes]]'' was Burgess's first published fiction. Its three books are ''[[Time for a Tiger]],'' ''[[The Enemy in the Blanket]]'' and ''[[Beds in the East]].'' ''[[Devil of a State]]'' is a follow-on to the trilogy, set in a fictionalised version of [[Brunei]]. It was Burgess's ambition to become "the true fictional expert on Malaya".{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} In these works, Burgess was working in the tradition established by [[Kipling]] for [[British Raj|British India]], and [[Joseph Conrad|Conrad]] and [[W. Somerset Maugham|Maugham]] for [[Southeast Asia]]. Burgess operated more in the mode of Orwell, who had a good command of [[Urdu]] and [[Burmese language|Burmese]] (necessary for Orwell's work as a police officer) and Kipling, who spoke [[Hindi]] (having learnt it as a child). Like many of his fellow English expatriates in Asia, Burgess had excellent spoken and written command of his operative language(s), both as a novelist and as a speaker, including [[Malay language|Malay]].

Burgess's repatriate years ({{circa|1960}}–1969) produced ''[[Inside Mr. Enderby|Enderby]]'' and ''[[The Right to an Answer]],'' which touches on the theme of death and dying, and ''[[One Hand Clapping (novel)|One Hand Clapping]],'' a satire on the vacuity of popular culture. ''[[The Worm and the Ring]]'' (1961) had to be withdrawn from circulation under the threat of libel action from one of Burgess's former colleagues, a school secretary.<ref>{{Harvnb|Lewis|2002|p=9}}.</ref>

His dystopian novel, ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'', was published in 1962. It was inspired initially by an incident during the [[London Blitz]] of [[World War II]] in which his wife Lynne was robbed, assaulted, and violated by deserters from the [[US Army]] in London during the [[Blackout (wartime)|blackout]]. The event may have contributed to her subsequent miscarriage. The book was an examination of free will and morality. The young [[anti-hero]], [[Alex DeLarge|Alex]], captured after a short career of violence and mayhem, undergoes a course of [[aversion therapy]] treatment to curb his violent tendencies. This results in making him defenceless against other people and unable to enjoy some of his favourite music that, besides violence, had been an intense pleasure for him. In the non-fiction book ''Flame into Being'' (1985), Burgess described ''A Clockwork Orange'' as "a jeu d'esprit knocked off for money in three weeks. It became known as the raw material for a film which seemed to glorify sex and violence". He added, "the film made it easy for readers of the book to misunderstand what it was about, and the misunderstanding will pursue me till I die". In a 1980 BBC interview, Burgess distanced himself from the novel and cinematic adaptations. Near the time of publication, the final chapter was cut from the American edition of the book.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}

Burgess had written ''A Clockwork Orange'' with 21 chapters, meaning to match the [[age of majority]]. "21 is the symbol of human maturity, or used to be, since at 21 you got to vote and assumed adult responsibility", Burgess wrote in a foreword for a 1986 edition. Needing money and thinking that the publisher was "being charitable in accepting the work at all," Burgess accepted the deal and allowed ''A Clockwork Orange'' to be published in the US with the twenty-first chapter omitted. Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of ''A Clockwork Orange'' was based on the American edition, and thus helped to perpetuate the loss of the last chapter. In 2021, The International Anthony Burgess Foundation premiered a webpage cataloguing various stage productions of "A Clockwork Orange" from around the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anthonyburgess.org/a-clockwork-orange-on-stage/|title=A Clockwork Orange On Stage|date=14 September 2023 }}</ref>

In [[Martin Seymour-Smith]]'s ''Novels and Novelists: A Guide to the World of Fiction,'' Burgess related that he would often prepare a synopsis with a name-list before beginning a project. Seymour-Smith wrote:<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rogers |first1=Stephen D |title=A Dictionary of Made-Up Languages |date=2011 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-4405-2817-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GTXrDQAAQBAJ&q=Burgess+believes+overplanning+is+fatal+to+creativity+and+regards+his+unconscious+mind+and+the+act+of+writing+itself+as+indispensable+guides.+He+does+not+produce+a+draft+of+a+whole+novel+but+prefers+to+get+one+page+finished+before+he+goes+on+to+the+next,+which+involves+a+good+deal+of+revision+and+correction&pg=PT350 |access-date=3 May 2020}}</ref>
{{blockquote|
Burgess believes overplanning is fatal to creativity and regards his unconscious mind and the act of writing itself as indispensable guides. He does not produce a draft of a whole novel but prefers to get one page finished before he goes on to the next, which involves a good deal of revision and correction.
}}

''[[Nothing Like the Sun]]'' is a fictional recreation of [[Shakespeare]]'s love-life and an examination of the supposedly partly syphilitic sources of the bard's imaginative vision. The novel, which drew on [[Edgar I.&nbsp;Fripp]]'s 1938 biography ''Shakespeare, Man and Artist'', won critical acclaim and placed Burgess among the first rank novelists of his generation. ''[[M/F]]'' (1971) was listed by the writer himself as one of the works of which he was most proud. ''[[Beard's Roman Women]]'' was revealing on a personal level, dealing with the death of his first wife, his bereavement, and the affair that led to his second marriage. In ''[[Napoleon Symphony]]'', Burgess brought [[Napoleon|Bonaparte]] to life by shaping the novel's structure to [[Beethoven]]'s ''[[Symphony No. 3 (Beethoven)|Eroica]]'' symphony. The novel contains a portrait of an [[Arab]] and [[Muslim]] society under occupation by a Christian western power ([[Egypt]] by [[Catholic]] [[First French Empire|France]]). In the 1980s, religious themes began to feature heavily (''[[The Kingdom of the Wicked]],'' ''[[Man of Nazareth]],'' ''[[Earthly Powers]]''). Though Burgess lapsed from Catholicism early in his youth, the influence of the Catholic "training" and worldview remained strong in his work all his life. This is notable in the discussion of free will in ''A Clockwork Orange'', and in the apocalyptic vision of devastating changes in the Catholic Church&nbsp;– due to what can be understood as Satanic influence&nbsp;– in ''Earthly Powers'' (1980).

Burgess kept working through his final illness and was writing on his deathbed. The late novel ''[[Any Old Iron (novel)|Any Old Iron]]'' is a generational saga of two families, one Russian-Welsh, the other Jewish, encompassing the [[sinking of the Titanic]], [[World War&nbsp;I]], the [[Russian Revolution]], the [[Spanish Civil War]], [[World War&nbsp;II]], the [[History of Israel|early years of the State of Israel]], and the rediscovery of [[Excalibur]]. ''[[A Dead Man in Deptford]]'', about [[Christopher Marlowe]], is a companion novel to ''[[Nothing Like the Sun]]''. The verse novel ''[[Byrne: A Novel|Byrne]]'' was published posthumously.

Burgess announced in a 1972 interview that he was writing a novel about the [[Black Prince]] which incorporated [[John Dos Passos]]'s narrative techniques, although he never finished writing it.<ref name=Cullinan>{{cite magazine |author=John Cullinan |type=interview |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/3994/the-art-of-fiction-no-48-anthony-burgess |title=Anthony Burgess, The Art of Fiction No.&nbsp;48 |magazine=[[The Paris Review]] |date=2 December 1972 |issue=56 |access-date=21 December 2021}}</ref> After Burgess's death, English writer [[Adam Roberts (British writer)|Adam Roberts]] completed the novel, and it was published in 2018 under the title ''The Black Prince''.<ref>{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Adam |author2=Anthony Burgess |title=The Black Prince |publisher=Unbound |year=2018 |edition=New |isbn=978-1-78352-647-5}}</ref> In 2019, a previously unpublished analysis of ''A Clockwork Orange'' was discovered titled, "The Clockwork Condition".<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cnn.com/style/article/a-clockwork-orange-sequel-scli-gbr-intl/index.html |title=Lost 'A Clockwork Orange' sequel discovered in author's archives |first=Rob |last=Picheta |date=25 April 2019 |website=CNN Style}}</ref> It is structured as Burgess's philosophical musings on the novel that won him so much acclaim.

=== Critical studies ===
Burgess started his career as a critic. His ''English Literature, A Survey for Students'' was aimed at newcomers to the subject. He followed this with ''The Novel To-day'' (Longmans, 1963) and ''The Novel Now: A Student's Guide to Contemporary Fiction'' (New York: W.&nbsp;W. Norton and Company, 1967). He wrote the [[James Joyce|Joyce]] studies ''Here Comes Everybody: An Introduction to James Joyce for the Ordinary Reader'' (also published as ''Re Joyce'') and ''Joysprick: An Introduction to the Language of James Joyce''. Also published was ''A Shorter "[[Finnegans Wake]]"'', Burgess's abridgement. His 1970 ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' entry on the novel (under "Novel, the"<ref>{{britannica|421071|novel|Anthony Burgess}}.</ref>) is regarded{{By whom|date=September 2010}} as a classic of the genre. Burgess wrote full-length critical studies of William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway and D.&nbsp;H. Lawrence, as well as ''[[Ninety-nine Novels]]: The Best in English since 1939''.<ref>[http://neglectedbooks.com/?page_id=54 The Neglected Books Page], neglectedbooks.com; accessed 26 November 2014.</ref>

=== Screenwriting ===
Burgess wrote the screenplays for ''[[Moses the Lawgiver]]'' (Gianfranco De Bosio 1974), ''[[Jesus of Nazareth (miniseries)|Jesus of Nazareth]]'' ([[Franco Zeffirelli]] 1977), and ''[[A.D. (miniseries)|A.D.]]'' ([[Stuart Cooper]], 1985). Burgess was co-writer of the script for the TV series ''[[Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson]]'' (1980). The [[film treatment]]s he produced include ''[[Amundsen]]'', ''[[Attila]]'', ''[[The Black Prince]]'', ''[[Cyrus the Great]]'', ''Dawn Chorus'', ''The Dirty Tricks of Bertoldo'', ''Eternal Life'', ''Onassis'', ''Puma'', ''Samson and Delilah'', ''Schreber'', ''The Sexual Habits of the English Middle Class'', ''Shah'', ''That Man Freud'' and ''Uncle Ludwig''. Burgess devised a [[Stone Age]] language for ''[[La Guerre du Feu (film)|La Guerre du Feu]]'' (''Quest for Fire''; [[Jean-Jacques Annaud]], 1981).

Burgess wrote many unpublished scripts, including ''Will!'' or ''The Bawdy Bard'' about [[Shakespeare]], based on the novel ''Nothing Like The Sun''. Encouraged by the success of ''[[Tremor of Intent]]'' (a parody of [[James Bond]] adventures), Burgess wrote a screenplay for ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (film)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' featuring characters from and a similar tone to the novel.<ref name=rubin>{{cite book |last=Rubin |first=Steven Jay |title=The James Bond films: a behind the scenes history |url=https://archive.org/details/jamesbondfilmsbe0000rubi |url-access=registration |year=1981 |publisher=Arlington House |location=Westport, Conn. |isbn=978-0-87000-523-7}}</ref> It had Bond fighting the criminal organisation CHAOS in [[Singapore]] to try to stop an assassination of [[Elizabeth II|Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II]] using surgically implanted bombs at [[Sydney Opera House]]. It was described as "an outrageous medley of sadism, [[hypnosis]], [[acupuncture]], and international terrorism".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Field |first=Matthew |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/930556527 |title=Some kind of hero : 007 : the remarkable story of the James Bond films |date=2015 |others=Ajay Chowdhury |isbn=978-0-7509-6421-0 |location=Stroud, Gloucestershire |oclc=930556527}}</ref> His screenplay was rejected, although the huge submarine silo seen in the finished film was reportedly Burgess's inspiration.<ref name=barnes>{{cite book |last=Barnes |first=Alan |title=Kiss Kiss Bang! Bang! The Unofficial James Bond 007 Film Companion |year=2003 |publisher=Batsford |isbn=978-0-7134-8645-2}}</ref>

=== Playwright ===
Anthony Burgess's involvement with theatre started while attending university in Manchester, where directed plays and wrote theatre reviews. In [[Oxfordshire]] he was an active member of the Adderbury Drama Group, where he directed multiple plays, including ''[[Juno and the Paycock]]'' by [[Seán O'Casey|Sean O'Casey]], ''[[A Phoenix Too Frequent]]'' by [[Christopher Fry]], ''The Giaconda Smile'' by [[Aldous Huxley]] and ''[[The Adding Machine]]'' by [[Elmer Rice]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=The International Anthony Burgess Foundation |title=Playwright |url=https://www.anthonyburgess.org/about-anthony-burgess/burgess-the-playwright/ |access-date=27 February 2024 |website=The International Anthony Burgess Foundation}}</ref>

He wrote his first play in 1951, called ''[[The Eve of Saint Venus]].'' There are no records of the play being performed, and in 1964 he turned the text into a novella. Throughout his life he wrote multiple adaptations and translations for theatre. His most famous work ''[[A Clockwork Orange (novel)|A Clockwork Orange]]'', he adapted for the stage under the title ''[[A Clockwork Orange: A Play with Music|A Clockwork Orange: A Play With Music]]''. An expanded edition of this play, with a facsimile of the handwritten score, appeared in 1999; ''A Clockwork Orange 2004'', adapted from Burgess's novel by the director [[Ron Daniels (director)|Ron Daniels]] and published by [[Arrow Books]], was produced at the [[Barbican Centre|Barbican Theatre]] in London in 1990, with music by [[The Edge]] from [[U2]].<ref name=":1" />  

His other famous translations include the English version of ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]'' by [[Edmond Rostand]]. Recently two of his until now unpublished translations were published by Salamander Street, which the Foundation called a 'significant literary discovery'.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Alberge |first=Dalya |date=June 11, 2022 |title=Anthony Burgess translation of Molière's The Miser comes to light for first time |url=https://theguardian.com/books/2022/nov/06/anthony-burgess-translation-moliere-the-miser |work=The Guardian}}</ref> One is ''Miser! Miser!'' A translation of [[Molière]]'s ''[[The Miser]].'' Although the original French play is written in prose, Burgess remakes it in a mixture of verse and prose, in the style of his famous adaptation of ''[[Cyrano de Bergerac (play)|Cyrano de Bergerac]]''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |access-date=27 February 2024 |title=Chatsky & Miser, Miser! Two Plays by Anthony Burgess |url=https://salamanderstreet.com/product/chatsky-miser-miser/ |website=Salamander Street}}</ref> The other ''Chatsky'' subtitled ''{{'}}The Importance of Being Stupid{{'}}'' based on ''[[Woe from Wit]]'' by [[Alexander Griboyedov]]. In ''Chatsky'', Burgess remakes a classic Russian play in the spirit of [[Oscar Wilde]].<ref name=":2" />