Danielle Keys
Professor Leach
COM1102
24 January 2013
Anthony Burgess: Deeming Honor of Recognition We are gifted with a great opportunity as well as having the privilege, capability and means in exposing ourselves in a plethora of artful literature. Our freedom to choose what we read, our individual experiences to relate throughout in addition to our inter-feelings, we may develop our own interpretations of a story. With any given literacy we’ll comprehend and draw our own conclusions by the way of critical thinking. As a result, everyone does not view a single story the same way or draws the same conclusions to a stories ending. It’s up to the reader to “see” how it should play out. However, amid such freedom and range evolves readers of criticism and/or bias opinions towards various styles of literature. An author whose work has been of much negative criticism could be due to a reader of some ignorance towards the understanding of the context. Deficient to connect with a piece of literature, judgments of society, lack of critical thinking and understanding makes for a category of controversial authors. Among controversial authors’ such as, J.D. Salinger’s The Cather in the Rye, Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, J.K. Rowling’s The Harry Potter Series, Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Hasan, 2008), George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, so is Anthony Burgess’s most controversial novel A Clockwork Orange. Over the past fifty years, readers have deemed Burgess’s novel taboo disgusted with the unbolted image of sex, drugs, violence, and politics. In result, his work had been banned from several locations internationally. Meanwhile, open-minded readers will consider Anthony’s work as a piece of art, creative, raw and extraordinary, over more they can come to some understanding of the underlining thoughts Burgess had towards politics, discipline, “original sin,” and like his character, humans are capable of controlling their own fate. Capable of turning their life around from delinquent dystopias rather a utopia and role model to their environment. These readers can appreciate an author’s potency to go against the grain of society, majority of the acceptable morals, and ones religious faith. Burgess has stretched, probed, and prodded these boundaries to release the denied truths of evil in the world. He exposed his readers to the underworld of rape, drugs, robbery and violence. These things were not talked about especially that of young boys performing such malevolent crimes. Anthony Burgess is an amazingly gifted author with several repertoires within literacy. His creative literacy had and continues to (even after his passing) progress through judgments, criticism, and society’s disapproval. His work has become brilliant among the younger generation to what I would consider him as a good candidate to give recognition and utilize examples of his work in future published literacy books. Therefore, I feel this author should be an inclusion within today’s literary canon. When recently introduced to one of Mr. John Anthony Burgess Wilson’s novel, A Clockwork Orange, I was a little skeptical to indulge myself in his literature. Yet, this assignment offered me the opportunity to reconsider looking at the author’s milieu as well as to understand how this author somehow prevailed over extensive criticism; not just within his origin of roots but internationally. Nevertheless, it is to my surprise that I have never heard of Anthony Burgess and his works of literature up until recent. Burgess really did not begin exhibiting himself as a writer until he was almost 40 years in age. Rather that of a musician than a novelist. However, in school he began writing short stories, poems, and composed a symphony. He then moved on to several colleges collecting varies degrees within the arts of literature, all the while writing, composing, and conducting diverse musical styles. Following extensive education, he served the British Army by teaching as a musical director as well as teaching small intramural courses. After his time served, Burgess continued on teaching. Sequentially, he taught at three different colleges in addition to teaching at a grammar school over and above putting forth the desire to write. All in all, his literary contributions include, yet not limited too; thirty-three novels both fiction and non-fiction, two autobiographies, three published essays, composer of about 200 musical pieces, poetry, playwrights, of course the mentioned teaching, a linguistic and translator, media involvement such as column journalism, radio, television and interviews. Furthermore, he became an image internationally among similar controversial state of mind. Burgess earned provenance for, yet not limited too; receiving the Charles Baudelaire Prize, the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, his book Earthly Powers became internationally published. He also wrote the lyrics to the Broadway musical “Cyrano,” which became an award winning musical. His composed piece of “Symphony in C,” had been performed by the University of Iowa. As Burgess may be a great illustration and aspiring figure of literature, he too has been inspired by the works of extraordinary, creative, and talented artists that had an impression in the wake of his own work. His musical talents as well as occasional inserts in his novels had been inspired by Beethoven, Mozart, and Wolf Gang. Paradigms used in our literature book analogous to Shakespeare, authors such as William Burroughs, Ernest Hemingway, and James Joyce which also inspired him. The loss of his mother, politics, culture, observations of people, years of studies and religion had all made a profound impact on Burgess’s literary work. Regardless of all the endeavourers accomplished, Burgess’s dystopias futuristic fictions has been an accomplice for the criticism and the controversial feedback that has questioned Burgess of any merit or credibility for his published taboo. Burgess had composed at least two dystopias fictions, A Clockwork Orange and The Wanting Seed. However, he’s most likely known for, most criticized, and much controversy internationally for his novel, A Clockwork Orange. Last year, 2012, has marked the publishing of its 50th Anniversary Edition with restored text by biographer Andrew Biswell, who has gone through many lengths in order to study Anthony Burgess. Media, critics, and various appalled individuals had intuitively withdrawn from his literature. They lashed out negatively and blamefully toward his novel proclaiming it to be over the top and an unnecessary depiction of explicit dystopias. These people were people presumably ignorant to dismay the meaning behind his work. They seamlessly only comprehended the obvious evil demonic sin that had been brutally and bluntly projected to any one reader. During as well as previous to Burgess’s era, there weren’t many authors that had the courage like he had, to write literature unearthing the subversive world from the “norm;” seditious sinners, robbers, delinquencies, rapists, murders, homosexuality, crooked politicians, and futuristic social decay. In closing, Burgess’s passion, devotion, and endurance throughout his journey in life have undoubtedly held greater value than the objectionable positioned opinions. To acquire a reserved gift of such extensive diversified knowledge, abundance in expanded experiences and the successful attributions Burgess poised within the world of literacy, deems honor of acknowledgment in today’s literary cannon. Not only to be acknowledged, but propose that his stature could inspire young writers of today to be original, creative, stretch the norms and challenge one to go against the grain. Additionally, propose his work can be creditable to scholars, lesson able in academics providing a stimulus toward critically deriving and interpreting beyond society’s obvious inviolable clichés. Work Cited
Hasan. Directory Journal, 2008. Web. 24 January 2013. Retrieved from http://www.dirjournal.com/info/ten-of-the-most-controversial-books/