but more
particularly
English,
?
?
Sandulescu-Literary-Allusions-in-Finnegans-Wake
I have not re-read his writings for quite a while, though I keep watching A Clockwork Orange on television as often as I can.
In fact, today, in order to write this, I do not want to read him at all --for it is my personal recollections of the man that I want to put across.
.
.
not the scholarly assessments, which might in themselves be quite considerable.
.
.
It so happens that he is one of the rare bright minds that I have known well, and from very close quarters. Just because, it seems, we both enjoyed each other's company. Neither of us had had any friends in Monaco, and both of us were only
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 35
stubbornly frequenting English-speaking circles only. (That automatically included Princess Grace Kelly, of course. )
French Television only showed one English-language film a week, on a Sunday early afternoon at the time (it was just before 1980! ), and the London air connection was only one flight a day, also in mid-afternoon. In exchange, Riviera Radio, transmitting in English from Italy, had far greater freedom of expression, during the weekends in particular.
So, both Burgess and I were only left with the English Books and the English Gossip. . .
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 36
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? It was a real pleasure to talk to Anthony. . . his information was vast, precise, and always readily available. He was probably one of the best informed people I was ever given to meet and
? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 37
converse with for indeterminately long stretches of time.
(Proof of that? Here is the story: Not very long before his death, Anthony Burgess happened to be invited to Manchester to collect his hon. Ph. D. , his one and only. From his alma mater. And he had asked me to go along with him. It was then that I replied: "Why do you need an honorary Ph. D. ? Why don't you earn one, like H. G. Wells did in his time? " He promptly retorted: "There's nobody to examine me! " At the time, I found that somewhat arrogant, . . . but with the passing of years, I tend to
believe that he was, ultimately, right! )
Most often, he dispatched his typing--never in any way
electric, or modern--as quickly as he could, only to return to a
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 38
casual conversation that he was clearly enjoying more than journalistic work. (Lawrence Durrell, who lived a couple of hours away from us, in Provence, used to do exactly the same. )
Burgess was fundamentally a very good teacher. There was nothing of the pompous academic, or of the haughty bureaucrat about him. . . He was himself, even when he was telling a scholarly fib; for he always executed it with panache. (Cyrano was part of his personality, even in his cordial quarrels in Paris with Stephen Joyce. )
So, as I say, he was enjoying a good scholarly dialogue the way Falstaff would have enjoyed his many pints of beer. Burgess was ready to discuss any subject. . .
but more particularly English,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 39
French and Italian literatures. And Music! All in one. He would indeed have loved to have been the head editor of the Oxford Companion to English Literature. But the job was given instead to Margaret Drabble, the so very dutiful and subdued and obe? issante woman, sitting unobtrusively in her little corner. The outcome, given her by the British Establishment, was a subdued job. Burgess's would have been an ebullient and most unconventional overall outline of IngLit, beyond any shade of doubt.
But to return to Music: that was his forte!
More particularly, the close correlation between Literature and Music. Do you want an example? When he heard that I was bringing on to Monte Carlo the World James Joyce Convention,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 40
he at once "ordered" me to do it on the topic so dear to him-- Joyce and Stravinsky. And he was adamant about it. . .
It took me hours to explain to him that most Joycean scholars didn't even have enough languages under the belt to be able to translate The Lord's Prayer from Italian to German. . . let alone to take up the music / literature correlation in a proper academic fashion. To say nothing of Stravinsky of all composers in this wide, wide world of ours. . . Do you want proof of that? No paper however tiny on the subject was offered about Stravinsky at the 1990 Monte Carlo Joyce Convention. . . or any other Joyce Convention that I can remember. There was no muscle for that among the overspecialised academics.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 41
Unfortunately, I was a mere amateur violin player, not a professional composer, as he was. But I was a good listener, and the years of journalism I had behind me with various radio stations in different countries, helped a lot in the systematic prodding him with questions, in order to keep the fire of the discussion going while the bourbon lasted. . .
One last point: I have, recorded on tape, no end of Anthony Burgess talks he gave in Monaco, and everywhere else, whenever I happened to be following him, or whenever we were giving talks at the same international conference. . . Then, I have the six one-hour talks he gave at the Anglican Church Library here, free of charge, for the benefit of the British Association of Monaco.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 42
Any idea what shall I do with all this? They are almost as relevant to Joyce as "The Cats of Copenhagen" are, for Burgess had Joyce in the blood. . . and practically everything in there is in one way or another connected with James Joyce. . . All suggestions are welcome, though I find the Joyce circles pretty passive these days. Inward looking. Contemplating the belly button? !
We need one anecdote to wind up with. Symptomatic of the man.
It so happens that he is one of the rare bright minds that I have known well, and from very close quarters. Just because, it seems, we both enjoyed each other's company. Neither of us had had any friends in Monaco, and both of us were only
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 35
stubbornly frequenting English-speaking circles only. (That automatically included Princess Grace Kelly, of course. )
French Television only showed one English-language film a week, on a Sunday early afternoon at the time (it was just before 1980! ), and the London air connection was only one flight a day, also in mid-afternoon. In exchange, Riviera Radio, transmitting in English from Italy, had far greater freedom of expression, during the weekends in particular.
So, both Burgess and I were only left with the English Books and the English Gossip. . .
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 36
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? It was a real pleasure to talk to Anthony. . . his information was vast, precise, and always readily available. He was probably one of the best informed people I was ever given to meet and
? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 37
converse with for indeterminately long stretches of time.
(Proof of that? Here is the story: Not very long before his death, Anthony Burgess happened to be invited to Manchester to collect his hon. Ph. D. , his one and only. From his alma mater. And he had asked me to go along with him. It was then that I replied: "Why do you need an honorary Ph. D. ? Why don't you earn one, like H. G. Wells did in his time? " He promptly retorted: "There's nobody to examine me! " At the time, I found that somewhat arrogant, . . . but with the passing of years, I tend to
believe that he was, ultimately, right! )
Most often, he dispatched his typing--never in any way
electric, or modern--as quickly as he could, only to return to a
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 38
casual conversation that he was clearly enjoying more than journalistic work. (Lawrence Durrell, who lived a couple of hours away from us, in Provence, used to do exactly the same. )
Burgess was fundamentally a very good teacher. There was nothing of the pompous academic, or of the haughty bureaucrat about him. . . He was himself, even when he was telling a scholarly fib; for he always executed it with panache. (Cyrano was part of his personality, even in his cordial quarrels in Paris with Stephen Joyce. )
So, as I say, he was enjoying a good scholarly dialogue the way Falstaff would have enjoyed his many pints of beer. Burgess was ready to discuss any subject. . .
but more particularly English,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 39
French and Italian literatures. And Music! All in one. He would indeed have loved to have been the head editor of the Oxford Companion to English Literature. But the job was given instead to Margaret Drabble, the so very dutiful and subdued and obe? issante woman, sitting unobtrusively in her little corner. The outcome, given her by the British Establishment, was a subdued job. Burgess's would have been an ebullient and most unconventional overall outline of IngLit, beyond any shade of doubt.
But to return to Music: that was his forte!
More particularly, the close correlation between Literature and Music. Do you want an example? When he heard that I was bringing on to Monte Carlo the World James Joyce Convention,
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 40
he at once "ordered" me to do it on the topic so dear to him-- Joyce and Stravinsky. And he was adamant about it. . .
It took me hours to explain to him that most Joycean scholars didn't even have enough languages under the belt to be able to translate The Lord's Prayer from Italian to German. . . let alone to take up the music / literature correlation in a proper academic fashion. To say nothing of Stravinsky of all composers in this wide, wide world of ours. . . Do you want proof of that? No paper however tiny on the subject was offered about Stravinsky at the 1990 Monte Carlo Joyce Convention. . . or any other Joyce Convention that I can remember. There was no muscle for that among the overspecialised academics.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 41
Unfortunately, I was a mere amateur violin player, not a professional composer, as he was. But I was a good listener, and the years of journalism I had behind me with various radio stations in different countries, helped a lot in the systematic prodding him with questions, in order to keep the fire of the discussion going while the bourbon lasted. . .
One last point: I have, recorded on tape, no end of Anthony Burgess talks he gave in Monaco, and everywhere else, whenever I happened to be following him, or whenever we were giving talks at the same international conference. . . Then, I have the six one-hour talks he gave at the Anglican Church Library here, free of charge, for the benefit of the British Association of Monaco.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Bucures? ti 2012
C. George Sandulescu, Editor.
Literary Allusions in Finnegans Wake 42
Any idea what shall I do with all this? They are almost as relevant to Joyce as "The Cats of Copenhagen" are, for Burgess had Joyce in the blood. . . and practically everything in there is in one way or another connected with James Joyce. . . All suggestions are welcome, though I find the Joyce circles pretty passive these days. Inward looking. Contemplating the belly button? !
We need one anecdote to wind up with. Symptomatic of the man.
