Before his death of cancer in 1993, Anthony Burgess complained that his most notorious work, A Clockwork Orange, first published in 1962, distracted readers from his other works. It certainly astonished me to learn that Burgess, who did not begin writing fiction seriously until he was in his thirties, was the author of a total of thirty-two novels, a volume of verse, two plays, sixteen works of non-fiction as well as countless musical compositions.
Burgess was born in 1917 in Manchester. In 1944, his first wife was robbed and beaten by four American GIs who had broken into their home. This appalling event would inspire A Clockwork Orange's most disturbing scene. Burgess was diagnosed with a cerebral brain tumor in 1959 and mistakenly given less than a year to live. Within that time, he completed the drafts of five novels. In 1962, A Clockwork Orange was published for the first time by Heinemann.
Among the first bidders for the film rights to the book were the Rolling Stones (wanting to star as Alex and his droogs - imagine that) and the artist Andy Warhol. Burgess eventually sold the rights to producer Si Litvinoff for $500. Why? He needed the money. In 1969, Stanley Kubrick is given a copy of the novel by a friend, and later that year bought the rights for $200,000.
Although Burgess became fond of Malcolm McDowell, Kubrick's choice for the role of Alex, his relationship with the director was always strained. For one, his worst fears about the film were realised: it depicted full-frontal nudity and rape. Moreover, he did not find out until a private screening of the film was held that Kubrick had entirely left out the final chapter of his book. Burgess's own thoughts can be found in his article 'A Clockwork Orange Resucked' (link on Things to do after you've been to this site).
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