The Wanting Seed (Norton Paperback Fiction)

The gender politics are a bit clunky for the modern reader -- for example, Burgess uses terms such as "mince" and "twitter" and "prance" and "fuss" when discussing the homosexual oligarchy who runs an overpopulated world. But hey, it was published in 1961, and was probably wildly progressive and tolerant for that era. The first half, pre-apocalyptic, is as sharp and funny as anything he's written, and of course, with Burgess, you know the language is going to be a treat. The post-apocalyptic half (a few bad harvests and fishery collapses leads to Lord Of The Flies/Soylent Green in a busy year of civilization collapsing) is darker, less funny, and a bit strained, but not at all boring or stupid. If you like your literature smart and literary, this is a good read, and mercifully short, at about 180 pages.

First off, the kindle edition is pretty bad. I've come across a lot of spelling errors, which personally really detracts from my immersion. -1 star for that.With that out of the way, I have not finished the book yet so maybe I will come back and revise this review, but so far I haven't been sucked into this book the way I was with Clockwork Orange. It's a product of its time, and this doesn't usually bother me, but in this case I've been a bit turned off by the (by modern standards) sexism, racism, and ideas about homosexuality that are presented.

I dont even remember buying this book but i did love reading it even problematic for 2021 standards

So many absurd yet somehow feasible scenarios for an overpopulated world. The book somehow manages to end on a positive encounter despite the darkness.

A Clockwork Orange is better known, and I'm sure it was harder to write, but this book is perhaps Burgess' best, a highly entertaining story, written in crystal-clear prose, that asks some Big Questions. For example, when society faces a crisis, should the Government ask every citizen to bear some of the burden, or should they implement a horrible but 'necesary' solution in secret, and let most of us live in happy denial? And does God have a role? The treatment of God as just another inscrutable character has been copied by Philip Pullman, without the wit or sublety of Burgess. Fairly easy read, enjoyable, funny, and thought-provoking. I love it.

In a distopian future the world is divided into three overpopulated super states, Enspun Ruspun and Chinspun. But because man is refusing to reproduce providence punishes him with crop failures and starvation. The Pelgian society collapses and an Augustian society takes over where the white trash are drafted and sent to kill each other in a phony war; their carcasses being processed for meat. In many way it is an exposure of Burgess's view of the conflict an Augustian and a Pelgian view of humanity, that man is innately sinful or that sin comes from outside and man is perfectable.

The diction and imagery were wonderful. The story frustrating and sinister. I think this book made me most wonder, if a crisis strips away someone’s humanity, how can they recover it?

condition exactly as described and fast shipping!

W W Norton & Co Inc; Reissue版 (1996/12)ISBN-10: 0393315088 のレビュー人口過剰・過密化・食料不足の世界を描いたディストピア物。あきらかに『一九八四年』や『すばらしい新世界』を意識してますが、暗くまじめな小説ではなく、ドタバタ・コメディ調不条理劇。最初、まったく辞書を引かずにどんどん最後まで読んでみました。ストーリーは追えます。未来世界の設定もわかります。キャラクターもわかります。会話の可笑しさもなんとなくわかります。ただし、もちろん、著者の超絶技巧の言葉遊び、博覧強記の引用・パロディはほとんどわかりませんでした。この作家はシェイクスピアとジェイムズ・ジョイスに関する著作があるという、やっかいな人で、その引用やモジリを瞬間的に素のまま理解するのはほとんど不可能でしょう。かといって、そのために何か勉強するとか準備するというのも無駄なような気がします。ともかく手にとって、しゃにむに読んで、調べたいものは調べるという方策でよいのではないでしょうか。1ページ32行で285ページ。それほど長くはない小説です。最初の30ページぐらい読んでつまらない場合、その後おもしろくなることは期待できないので、読むのを止めるべし。ちなみにわたしは他の作品も読みたくなりました。

In a similar vein to "A Clockwork Orange", this novel discusses whether man is naturally bad or can be taught to be good, the cycles of history, the instinct to reproduce against the pressures of a populous world, and how one man deals with all of this in a world where the Population Police monitor births, where gays control the government and promote their lifestyle to help deal with overpopulation.Burgess' Catholic influences show strongly in the book, which begins just as the government have decided that people are bad and become more repressive, moving away from a liberal stance that punishes those who have more children than allotted with fines and re-education-called a Gustinian and Pelagian period by the hero, Tristam Foxe, a history teacher whose first child has died, and who unwittingly has a second that may or may not be his.The picaresque story takes Tristam from teaching these strange historical theories, to prison, to a world where war and breeding are encouraged and even mandated as a way of dealing with both man's instincts to sex and violence, and the unfortunate consequences of these urges.The book is not laugh-a-minute, but abounds with humour- the pro-homosexuality posters that tell you "it's sapiens to be homo", the discussion of Rabelais where a soldier tells Tristam that the book is "French. One of the dead languages". It's also short, as was "Clockwork Orange", but makes well-thought-out arguments as to human nature and the quality of life. "everyone's got a right to be born. But at the same time, everyone's got to die sooner or later".The cockney-Russian slang of "Clockwork Orange" is gone too, making this book a little more readable.

Anthony Burgess' take on how to deal with overpopulation. You can encourage homosexuality, stage fake First World War battles complete with trenches, bayonets and recorded artillery sounds, and of course there's cannibalism. As dystopian novels go, this is definitely one of the most surreal!"The Wanting Seed" is great social satire that might best be described as a farcical dystopian view of Humanity written with tongue planted firmly in cheek. As "Dr. Strangelove" is to nuclear war, so "The Wanting Seed" is to overpopulation.Oh, and if you're curious about the title, it's a word play on an old English folk song, "The Wanton Seed":"I said to her,'My pretty maidCome tell me what you stand in need.''Oh yes kind sir, you're the man to do the deed,For to sow my meadow with the wanton seed, the wanton seed,For to sow my meadow with the wanton seed'."

You read this wonderful book and then think of when it was written - quite a few years ago. So the years since that it has been proved accurate.

Good book. Thing arrived in horrible condition with stains and rips.Could have gotten this level of quality at a yard sale for 25 cents...Now stop asking for a review, you got it.Hit the rope, all of you.