- Hardcover: 416 pages
- Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd; First American Edition edition (25 Feb 1987)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0434098191
- ISBN-13: 978-0434098194
- Product Dimensions: 23.2 x 16.4 x 4.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 572,695 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
The first volume of the two-volume autobiography.
In an extraordinarily candid book of confessions, Anthony Burgess tells the story of a disaffected Manchester Catholic from his birth in 1917 up to 1959 and the commencement of his career as a professional writer. He details his burgeoning awareness of his artistic talent, his relationship with his first wife, his army career and his years as an education officer in Malaya and Borneo.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
In an extraordinarily candid book of confessions, Anthony Burgess tells the story of a disaffected Manchester Catholic from his birth in 1917 up to 1959 and the commencement of his career as a professional writer. He details his burgeoning awareness of his artistic talent, his relationship with his first wife, his army career and his years as an education officer in Malaya and Borneo.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have loved this book since its publication. I first started reading Anthony Burgess back in 1985 when I was sick, Earthly Powers was a mighty read that made me laugh, cry, think and most importantly learn. One of my friends once said that she found Burgess "too much of a show off" but that is one of the reasons that I love his work. This book indicates why he is such an eclectic writer with a broad subject range and a witty often sometimes wildly caustic sense of humour. His multi talents seem to have developed without any real help from his father and his description in the book of his rather loveless family life is very moving. There are some shocking scenes in this book often involving his very difficult first marriage and this theme is continued into the sequel. Nevertheless his honesty regarding this and yes his love for his wife mean that he never comes across as self pitying. Rather he is extremely good at mocking his own many achievements. Indeed his sense of fun and humour carry on throughout the book. I would certainly recommend this book to anyone who loves Anthony Burgess but it is also a very readable introduction. Have a funferal with him!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Reading Anthony Burgess is like chasing a butterfly after overeating at chinese buffet:- fun in small doses. (To be fair - only a fool would try and read this in one sitting.)
Burgess is never dull and is painfully polyglot - I wouldn't be suprised if he wrote notes to his milkman in Serbo-Croat. But Burgess' repeated admissions that his memory isn't brilliant lead me to think that many of yarns in this massive book are superb amalgams of fact & fiction.
We go from Manchester to Hove via Scotland, Gibraltar and Borneo. We have an odd battle between AB and an occultist; encounter a cynical old-boy network in WWII and learn a lot about Burgess' rather right-wing politics views.
In summary, a great literary autiobiograhy - arguably one of the top 5 produced by a a 20th Century British author.
Burgess is never dull and is painfully polyglot - I wouldn't be suprised if he wrote notes to his milkman in Serbo-Croat. But Burgess' repeated admissions that his memory isn't brilliant lead me to think that many of yarns in this massive book are superb amalgams of fact & fiction.
We go from Manchester to Hove via Scotland, Gibraltar and Borneo. We have an odd battle between AB and an occultist; encounter a cynical old-boy network in WWII and learn a lot about Burgess' rather right-wing politics views.
In summary, a great literary autiobiograhy - arguably one of the top 5 produced by a a 20th Century British author.
Format:Paperback
The first instalment of author Anthony Burgess' autobiography covers the period of his life through to the age of 42 (1917 to 1959) and, as might be expected from this 'larger than life' character, is an extraordinary account, packed full of compellingly told anecdotes, concluding with the snippet that at age 42 Burgess was diagnosed with a brain tumour and given only 12 months to live!
Along the way we learn that John Burgess Wilson (hence the title) was born into a working class Catholic family in Manchester, losing his mother and sister, while Burgess was only two-years old, to the Spanish flu pandemic, which was ravaging the globe at the time. Burgess' account of Manchester life during the period of his youth is, for me, the most absorbing section of the book, as he describes everything from (as might be expected, given his obsession with linguistics) the origins of northern dialects and jokes, through to the development of his musical and literary obsessions which would dominate his subsequent years.
Following Burgess' drafting into the war effort (Medical and then Educational Corps) in 1940 and subsequent marriage to Llewela ('Lynne') Jones in 1942, Burgess' story follows periods based in Gibraltar (in the army), and then Malaya and Brunei, in pursuit of a career in education. Throughout, Burgess continued to write poetry and harboured ambitions to be a classical music composer, such ambitions taking precedence over his later literary career writing novels. Indeed, the period of this first autobiographical instalment covers only a handful of his novels, which were predominantly based on his Far Eastern experiences. Recurrent themes in Burgess' life included religious tensions (he was clearly far from being a practising Catholic!) and sexual precociousness, including what was clearly a very 'open' marriage.
Burgess' writing is typically extravagant and sophisticated throughout (leading to repeated use of the dictionary) and with one or two exceptions, for example some of his more convoluted poetry or his in-depth analysis of the intricacies of Malayan dialect, makes for a joyous and compelling reading experience.
Burgess' later life (1959 to 1990 - three years before his death in 1993) is covered in the second autobiographical instalment, You've Had Your Time.
Along the way we learn that John Burgess Wilson (hence the title) was born into a working class Catholic family in Manchester, losing his mother and sister, while Burgess was only two-years old, to the Spanish flu pandemic, which was ravaging the globe at the time. Burgess' account of Manchester life during the period of his youth is, for me, the most absorbing section of the book, as he describes everything from (as might be expected, given his obsession with linguistics) the origins of northern dialects and jokes, through to the development of his musical and literary obsessions which would dominate his subsequent years.
Following Burgess' drafting into the war effort (Medical and then Educational Corps) in 1940 and subsequent marriage to Llewela ('Lynne') Jones in 1942, Burgess' story follows periods based in Gibraltar (in the army), and then Malaya and Brunei, in pursuit of a career in education. Throughout, Burgess continued to write poetry and harboured ambitions to be a classical music composer, such ambitions taking precedence over his later literary career writing novels. Indeed, the period of this first autobiographical instalment covers only a handful of his novels, which were predominantly based on his Far Eastern experiences. Recurrent themes in Burgess' life included religious tensions (he was clearly far from being a practising Catholic!) and sexual precociousness, including what was clearly a very 'open' marriage.
Burgess' writing is typically extravagant and sophisticated throughout (leading to repeated use of the dictionary) and with one or two exceptions, for example some of his more convoluted poetry or his in-depth analysis of the intricacies of Malayan dialect, makes for a joyous and compelling reading experience.
Burgess' later life (1959 to 1990 - three years before his death in 1993) is covered in the second autobiographical instalment, You've Had Your Time.
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