Anthony Burgess Drank Blood…
Wednesday, February 6th by Shane
Not a vampire, just a souse
Hangman’s Blood was the author’s favorite drink, and among his many cocktails he wrote a staggering 33 books in 36 years. But Ed asks at The Guardian, why doesn’t anyone really care about the guy anymore? Was it because he was a huge jerk and spread himself too thin? Was it because he supposedly slept with hundreds of women? What about the fact people think he’s this guy? I’ve always been disappointed that Burgess added a final chapter to A Clockwork Orange that Kubrick wisely ignored, but I still don’t think a man who brought us Nadsat should be relegated to the lesser novelist pile.
In other Ed news, one of his heroes, Frank Wilson, is leaving The Philly Inquirer. Many other blogs have mentioned this, but as it seems Ed’s relationship with Mr. Wilson is far more personal, I thought it best to give him the floor. It sounds like the end of an era for The Inquirer, but hopefully people like Ed and others will carry the torch.
Oh, and in other blood news The Millions talks about parallels between P.T. Anderson’s new There Will Be Blood and the inspiration, Upton Sinclair’s Oil!. They don’t really like either of them, and with good enough reason. I too found myself a little confused as to the actual point of TWBB, though I enjoyed it a lot more than they did and was a able to except the out of nowhere ambiguity to the ending. The book, though, I will never pick up. Sounds like stereo instructions.
Oh, and finally in other The Guardian news, Levi tells you how to avoid a literary scandal. It’s a tongue-in-cheek explanation that has such tips as “Just say no to sending a friend out in public with a wig as you” and is a quick, fun read. And I had no idea about this Benjamin Black is John Banville thing. That’s just embarrassing.
February 6th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
Burgess was an instructor at Bread Loaf the summer I attended. I didn’t take his class, but I did notice his enthusiasm for the “suppressed desires” midterm chill out.