The Worm and the Ring
The Worm and the Ring is a 1960 novel by English novelist Anthony Burgess, drawing on his time as a teacher at Banbury Grammar School, Oxfordshire, England, in the early 1950s.[1]
It is Burgess's version of the Ring Cycle.[2] The Dragon pub in the novel corresponds to the worm and a purloined diary to the ring.
Characters
(Wagnerian equivalents in brackets)
- Woolton, the school principal (Wotan)
- Frederica, Woolton's wife (Fricka)
- Lodge (Loge)
- Albert Rich, a student at the school (Alberich)
- three female students (the Rhinemaidens)
- Linda (Woglinde, one of the Rhinemaidens)
Libel action and revised edition
The novel was withdrawn from circulation following a libel action by Gwendoline Bustin, the secretary of Banbury Grammar School, where Burgess had taught in the early 1950s. Several characters were recognisable as figures from the school, but only Miss Bustin, later Lady Mayoress of Banbury, objected. Heinemann agreed to "amend all unsold copies of the book" (The Times, 25 October 1962) but actually pulped them.
A revised edition of the novel, with the libellous elements removed, was published in 1970.[2]
References
- ^ Kastan, David Scott, ed. (2006). The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature, Volume 1. Oxford University Press. p. 321. ISBN 9780195169218.
- ^ a b Ziolkowski, Theodore (2017). Music Into Fiction: Composers Writing, Compositions Imitated. Boydell & Brewer. p. 117. ISBN 9781571139733.
- v
- t
- e
- The Long Day Wanes
- The Right to an Answer
- The Doctor Is Sick
- The Worm and the Ring
- Devil of a State
- One Hand Clapping
- A Clockwork Orange
- The Wanting Seed
- Honey for the Bears
- Inside Mr Enderby
- The Eve of Saint Venus
- Nothing Like the Sun
- A Vision of Battlements
- Tremor of Intent
- Enderby Outside
- M/F
- Napoleon Symphony
- The Clockwork Testament
- Beard's Roman Women
- ABBA ABBA
- 1985
- Man of Nazareth
- Earthly Powers
- The End of the World News
- Enderby's Dark Lady
- The Kingdom of the Wicked
- The Pianoplayers
- Any Old Iron
- Mozart and the Wolf Gang
- A Dead Man in Deptford
- Byrne
- Moses: A Narrative
- Revolutionary Sonnets
- An Essay on Censorship
- Homage to Qwert Yuiop
- One Man's Chorus
- Shakespeare
- Joysprick
- Ninety-Nine Novels
- Language Made Plain
- A Mouthful of Air
This article about a 1960s novel is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. See guidelines for writing about novels. Further suggestions might be found on the article's talk page. |
- v
- t
- e