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Introduction

by Ben Forkner

 

This current issue of the Anthony Burgess Newsletter has not been without its problems, but most of us have now learned to live in a permanent state of crisis, and are able to walk forward around the sink holes, rattlesnake pits, and hornet nests, pleased with a measure of daily progress, despite the certitude of disaster around the next corner. By myself, of course, the only solution would have been long ago a clean shot between the eyes, but fortunately, I have strong companions in the crusade, and generous help whenever it is needed. I would like to thank Akos Farkas for all he has done for this seventh issue. To begin with, he provided his essay, " Orange Juice for the Bears : Anthony Burgess in Hungary, " filled with intriguing details from Hungary’s Burgessians, including the news of original music for the Hungarian dramatization of One Hand Clapping, composed by a group of popular singers called (I am citing Professor Farkas from the text) Dolly Roll. Somehow, the score of this performance has to be recovered, and printed in the next issue of the Newsletter. I would also like to print (in English translation) the last chapter of Tamas Benyei’s The Innocent County : the English Novel after 1945. Clearly, we have much to learn from Hungary, and from all of eastern Europe. In addition to sending his own revealing piece, Professor Farkas must also be considered a sort of co-editor of this issue, for suggesting the essay by Joanna Wiersbinska on " Burgess Translated into Polish. " By the way, both Professor Farkas and Professor Wiersbinska were contributers to the Second International Burgess Symposium, " The Lives of Anthony Burgess, " held at the University of Angers last December 2004, and organized by Graham Woodroffe and John Cassini. I recommend to all our readers the account of the Symposium written by Professor Woodroffe for our Burgess online site. The third article in this currrent issue, " L’Etrange Cas d’Antoine Bourgeois, Ecrivain Français " is one more high wattage performance from another bright light of the Symposium, Dougie Milton, our merry myriad-minded Paris correspondent. I thank all of them, and all of you, and finally, by no means a mere ritualistic bow in the direction of our online genius, I thank my good friend and helpmate Valérie Neveu, without whom not an inch of this voyage would have been undertaken.

 

Ben Forkner

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Last Updated on Monday, 01 July 2013 06:51
 
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