THE WANTING SEED BY ANTHONY BURGESS

Generally, books about a dysotopian future present us with a civilization fully functioning under no pressure to change from its citizens and its usually left up to a narrator who struggles against something bigger than himself (namely the government or system that represses him) and is eventually crushed….WE by Yevgeny Zam yatin, 1984 by George Orwell, and BRAVE NEW WORLD by Aldous Huxley are three examples of this.

THE WANTING SEED by Anthony Burgess presents us with something different….At the beginning of the book, England and the world of the future is struggling with overpopulation….There is a one child policy and homosexuality is actively encouraged….Food resources are scarce due to destruction of nature to build housing for people and mystery diseases that kill off a lot of the livestock.

As the book continues though, society begins to break down, there are riots and cannibalism becomes commonplace….At the beginning, the government is in control but not overly oppressive….By the middle of the book, a new type of violent police named greyboys have appeared.

The actions in the book revolve around three characters-Tristam Foxe, a history teacher, Beatrice-Joanna his wife, and his brother Derek….Tristam and Beatrice-Joanna's young son has recently died and she is now carrying on an affair with Derek a high placed official in the government who pretends to be gay which is the only way you can have a high government job or succeed in this future….What happens she discovers she is pregnant again (even if the child dies, it is illegal to have more children in this society) and is not sure who the father is and Tristam finds about her relationship with Derek and ends up in jail and then shanghaied in a new military that is just a front….What is it a front for? Well think of war as a great depopulator and also the phony battles in 1984 and you have a good idea….What happens to all the bodies of the soldiers? Well don’t think about that just keep eating the plentiful tinned meat….

For a such a highly cultured intellectual guy (Writer, musician, linguist, educator, literary critic) Anthony Burgess’s writing is surprisingly earthy, he discusses the most base bodily functions and perverse wretchedness of humankind….His novels are the work of a highly creative yet sloppy mind….Like a big desk with drawers open piled high with important papers and manuscripts….Burgess is also a very fun writer to read….Best description I can think of is a combination of satirists like Evelyn Waugh and surrealists like JG Ballard with perhaps a little Kingsley Amis thrown in especially in the love triangle part.

A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, his most famous book, is also about a Dystopian future….It is his most disciplined and focused book which may be why it is his most successful work….Truth is I prefer the messy future written about in THE WANTING SEED to any of the other books written about in this post….It just feels more like human nature.