Evil Milk

I have been wanting to share this meme for a while now and thought, why not today. Now, I have only watched one movie of thee four featured here. It is, of course, A Clockwork Orange, my favourite film and based on a novel by my favourite author, Anthony Burgess. In both book and movie, milk represents purity, innocence and a certain barbarism, if not downright bestial savagery. My reflection on milk in fiction can befound in this post from 2010. So this meme is not new to me, but it's still worth sharing.

A Clockwork Orange and... David Bowie

You know I am a fan of A Clockwork Orange, both film and novel. Iam howevernot a fan of David Bowie. I don't dislike him, I'm just not a fan or anything. I never cared all that much about his music. Well, I learned recently that David Bowie and I have a point in common: we are both fans the film. To the point that he even imitated the Yorkshire accent of Malcolm McDowell. Well, I once spoke nadsat, but I never went as far as trying to mimick McDowell's accent.

30 Years After Anthony Burgess

I had to commemorate it: today is the anniversary of the death of Anthony Burgess. The author of A Clockwork Orange , which made me discover him. I posted in 2017 about how I learned of his passing. It was the same kind of experience people have when they learned of the death of JFK. You might also want to read this post from 2008. Anyway, 30 years after his death, he is still my favourite author.

The Big Ugly Casting

A month ago exactly, I blogged about The Big Ugly. A crime movie that was neither great nor inventive, but that I enjoyed a lot. One of the reasons why is that Malcolm McDowell and Ron Perlman play in it, and this casting was a stroke of genius. I also thought that it was quite interesting, as both have played in films that were direct or indirect works of Anthony Burgess. McDowell of course for A Clockwork Orange and Ron Perlman for Quest for Fire, which language was created by Burgess. So they in a way Burgessian actors. I think The Big Ugly is the only film they played opposite each other, in which case it's another reason to cherish it. In any case, whoever did the casting for this movie sure did his job well.

A Sockwork Orange

As you know, I am since my teenage (and maybe before) a big fan of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess and the movie it inspired. So I got quite excited when I learned of the existence of these socks, featuring one of the classic book covers of the novel. I find them real horrorshow. Burgess allegedly hated this cover, because it was directly inspired by the film and he wanted his novel to stand on its own. Be that as it may, I really want these socks now.

A birthday wish from Malcolm McDowell

I come back on my birthday, which was a week and a half ago already. My brother PJ got me a very special birthday present: a birthday wish told by actor Malcolm McDowell. If you don't know who he is, he playedthe Alex DeLarge in A Clockwork Orange. Incidentally my favourite movie. My bro managed to do this through Cameo, which provides the services of celebrities or semi-celebrities for birthday and special celebration wishes. I won't get into details of what he said, but he was very funny. It is kind of strange to think he knows I exist (although he'll have forgotten before long I'm sure) and to hear him speaking of his iconic role to me. Anyway, that was one of the most original birthday presents I ever had.

A toddler's Clockwork Orange

Today is the birthday of Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange. To celebrate the birthday of my favourite author and the 50th anniversary of the release of the movie adaptation, I thought I would share something funny. No, this series of books (there are more covers to find, which I might uploadone day) does not exist, but I wished it did. I'd genuinely be happy to buy them. I think it would be a hit.

Alex the Antichrist

As this is Good Friday, I thought I would give you film suggestion for the day: A Clockwork Orange, my favourite. I'm not kidding. It is fitting for Easter, if only for this scene (warning: there is not only violence but also nudity in it). Is A Clockwork Orange a Christian film you may ask? Well, the YouTube video below makes a pretty good argument for it. I found I don't agree with everything the YouTuber says (and he falls for too many myths about both Anthony Burgess and the genesis of A Clockwork Orange, mostly invented by Burgess himself), but I do agree that Alex is an Antichrist figure. Quite literally, in fact. You can read my own opinion on the subject in 2016. Anyway, so there you have it: it does not take much to add A Clockwork Orange to your list of Easter movies.

A real horrorshow loyalty card!

As you may know, the Anthony Burgess Foundation has its own café. I learned yesterday that it now has loyalty cards! And not just any loyalty cards. Viddy well the image on the card. If it isn't little o' Alex. It is a shame that I live so far away from Manchester, where the Foundation is. That said, I will most certainly stop at the café during my next pilgrimage in the city of my favourite writer and I will get myself one of these horrorshow loyalty cards. It will take a while for me to get my free drink, but it will be an excuse to go there more often.

Alex & Droogs (?)

There are silly things, sometimes, you wish were true, however ridiculous they seem. You can see here the cover of a comic book adaptation of  A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Or, to be precise, an adaptation of the movie. And yes, if you think it looks ridiculous and like the cover of an Archie comics, it is because this is a fake. Or rather, something fan made. Very well made too, it looks like a piece of a vintage, long forgotten adaptation, where the violence has been toned down, but the film's iconic imagery remains. All the same, I wish there has been an Alex & Droogs comics, it have been real horrorshow.

A Clockwork Orange banned in Florida?

I read this piece of news yesterday which really got me fuming: in Florida, a group of legislators and conservative lobbyists (well, of course!) are trying to ban books from public schools that they deem "pornographic", among other things. Among these books is A Clockwork Orange of Anthony Burgess. My favourite author and the novel that introduced me to him. ACO is actually more than that: it was the coming of age novel for me. It taught me a lot about the nature of freedom and art and was my true introduction to proper literature. It is one of these novels that makes a young man (or woman) think and grow. Trying to censor it is pathetic, it is cowardly, it is stupid, it is despicable.

L'Orange culturelle

Petite nouvelle apprise de la Fondation Anthony Burgess: il y a une nouvelle édition de L'Orange Mécanique, avec postface de l'auteur, tapuscrit enrichi de dessins de Burgess et bon, c'est un must pour tout fan du roman et de son auteur. Surtout pour ceux qui ne lisent pas l'anglais. Moi, j'ai déjà au moins deux copies du roman, alors j'hésite... Mais sinon, je le recommande à tous les nouveaux lecteurs potentiels d'un grand roman trop peu connu parce que dans l'ombre de son adaptation cinématographique.

Alex DeLarge, the action figure

Sometimes, someone invents something absolutely uber cool. Like this action figure for grownups. You can easily recognize Alex from A Clockwork Orange. The movie version of the character of course. It comes with cane, knife, different sets of head, with or without a hat, with or without a mask, and many different sets of hands. The only thing missing is a voice that speaks Nadsat. I found this in my news feed on Facebook, thought it was made up, but apparently it exists and you can buy it on Amazon. At nearly £85, it is a bit much, even for a fan like me. That said, it is a real horrorshow toy, the ultraviolent answer to both GI Joe and the Barbie doll.

A Clockwork Orange in Liverpool

Everybody knows the movie, not as many people know the original novel by Anthony Burgess, but there is another medium to (re)discover A Clockwork Orange if you are in Liverpool: on stage. The Everyman Company made its own adaptation. First I have a rhetorical question: why wasn't such project made when I was working and living in Liverpool? If I didn't have family obligations, I would probably take time off to go and see it. Having lived there for a year, I have an attachment to it, I also consider it a very fitting place for a stage adaptation. It's a Northern city with a history of violence. Burgess loved it almost as much as his native Manchester. In fact, the story of A Clockwork Orange could very well be set in a nightmarish Liverpool. Anyway, it's from Saturday the 14th of April to Thursday the 12th of July, for those lucky enough to go and see it. And here is the video of their rehearsal. It does not merely make me want to see the play, I want to be back on stage just looking at it! Or better still: I want to be on stage, in Liverpool, playing a role in an adaptation of something by Anthony Burgess.

Anthony Burgess, In Memoriam

Some people remember what they were doing when they learned about the murder of JFK, some people remember when they learned about the death of Princess Diana, I remember vividly when I learned about the death of Anthony Burgess. I was with my brother PJ picking up our neighbours to go to school, their TV was on, and on the news they announced that the author of A Clockwork Orange had died. I had discovered the movie a few months before and had read the novel a few weeks ago, within a day, as I couldn't put it down. I felt very sad learning about it, knowing that I had just discovered my favourite writer. I started reading his other books, and never looked back since. So Anthony Burgess died on the 22nd of November 1993. 2017 is the 100th anniversary of his birth. I often blogged about him over the years, I did it more extensively this year. I will do more until the year ends. Until then, I commemorate his departure.

Nadsaturday

The International Anthony Burgess Foundation invented this word to design the anniversary of the publication of A Clockwork Orange. The novel of my teenage. Nadsat is the slang used by the (anti)hero of the story. You can find about it on social medias with the hashtags #Nadsaturday. So have a real horrorshow Nadsaturday everyone! And read the novel! Or at least start with watching the film. But celebrate.

Of Christ and Antichrist

Easter is tomorrow and I thought I would share an anecdote about it. I often identified Easter with Jesus of Nazareth, which script was written by Anthony Burgess, my favourite writer. He also wrote in parallel Man of Nazareth, his own and more personal take on the story of Jesus. But Burgess is of course most famous for writing the dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange, which was adapted into a famous (and sometimes infamous) dystopian movie about youth, violence and free will. The connection may surprise you, but both novels/movies do share similar themes and if you pay attention to the dialogues you can see both works have the same spirit. When I told of Burgess' involvement with the Biblical movie years ago to a fellow uni student, who really enjoyed A Clockwork Orange, book and movie, he could not believe it. "Anthony Burgess wrote the script of Jesus of Nazareth? But he's the Antichrist!"

It is not quite true, but that deserves to be a great unknown line. Burgess was not the Antichrist, or even an Antichrist, although he was a lapsed Catholic and had no issue in his writing delving in blasphemous thoughts. You can read more about it in this post and that one. In A Clockwork Orange raise moral and ethical issues which cannot be answered through the narrow views of any catechism or credo. You also have a main character, Alex who is not only an antihero of another type, pure and innocent, nevertheless he could be considered a sort of Antichrist, not so much because he opposes Christian teaching as he completely disregards them. In jail, he loves reading the Bible, not as a holy work inspiring religious devotion, but as a source of sadistic fantasies. As one can see in the scene below. It is a scene like this one, which was also in the novel, that prompted by fellow student to say that Anthony Burgess was the Antichrist. He was only partially right: Burgess' character was an Antichrist. Then he wrote a character that was Christ. You tell me which one was more believable.

99 years of Anthony Burgess

Today is a very special dayt for me: it is my blogging anniversary (see my post in French here) is the birthday of Anthony Burgess, who would have been 99 today. My favourite writer, the author of A Clockwork Orange. This year is also the anniversary of the movie adaptation of his most famous novel. I blogged about it recently. But this is not about A Clockwork Orange I want to blog about tonight. It is a bit sad in fact that the rest of his work remained in the shadow of his dystopian book. Back in 1994, around that time of year, because I had read A Clockwork Orange, I wanted to discover more of his novels, I bought Honey for the Bears. This was a new discovery, the epic comedy telling the story of a British antique dealer selling cheap Western dresses in Soviet Russia, during a holiday there with his American wife. It was maybe the first time I was conscious to read 'true" literature. Even though I had read classics before, there was something about Honey for the Bears that really struck a chord with me. On a comical scale, it treated of serious questions about the absurdity of utopias (always dystopian in practice) and the survival of national and individual identities and cultures against two hegemonic powers. The novel confirmed Burgess as my favourite writer. After it, I went on to find every single book of Anthony Burgess I could get my hand on. So this is the book I want to find, in original English and read this year to celebrate Burgess. Sadly, if there is a new American edition being released, it is currently out of print in the UK. But anyway, there are many other novels, some I have not read yet, to celebrate 99 years of Anthony Burgess. I recommend that you do the same.

A Clockwork Anniversary

I learned from the Anthony Burgess Foundation's Facebook page that today was the 44th anniversary of the release of A Clockwork Orange.  Maybe my favourite movie, based on the novel from my favourite author. To say that it changed my view of the world is an understatement. It shattered my view about a lot of things, from moral to music, it also made me discover a lot of things about language and civilization. It is the movie of teenage. Here's an article about it where the great Malcolm McDowell is interviewed. And I will end this post with the official trailer. Have a look at it, watch the movie as soon as possible if you have never done so already, if you did, then watch it again soon.

A story and a glass of milk

I am not into internet memes all that much and try not to blog about them, but I had to share this one. A meme that is an answer to a meme and is about A Clockwork Orange. A great movie based on a great novel by Anthony Burgess, my favourite writer. So yes, book or movie, this is one amazing story that starts with a glass of milk. Milk mixed with drugs, but nevertheless. And for good reasons: milk is not as the first meme stupidly implied something tame and harmless. Milk is primitive, milk is savage, milk is beastly, milk is barbaric. I blogged about it before. Alex drinks tea because he is still in many ways a child, he is nevertheless a thug. And the story he narrates starts with a glass of milk.