[ilds] Burgess and Durrell

[James Gifford]

Hello all, and Charles in particular,

As we all discovered in December through Charles, Liana Johnson (Anthony 
Burgess's 2nd wife and long-time lover) was also a Durrell translator in 
1959, three years before Burgess wrote _A Clockwork Orange_.

I've just run across this passage in Durrell's _Pied Piper of Lovers_ 
(1935) and thought I'd post it for any comments:

"Exquisite. Everything neatly docketed. We are, are we not, the one 
generation with clockwork guts?  Robot-minded hyper-super-steel and 
reinforced concrete."

The immediate shift of scene (the next words) move to music and an 
impromptu performance that elicits much emotion.

The thing I can't recall, and I haven't been able to dig up my copy of 
_Clockworks Orange_ (perhaps still in Vancouver), is if "clockwork guts" 
ties to F. Alexander's book in Burgess' novel.  It's a stretch, but it's 
worth considering, and even though I doubt we could prove a connection, 
the verbal link is suggestive...

Cheers,
James

James Gifford wrote:
> Hi Charles,
> 
> Proof positive -- you can see my iron links in the chain of memory below...
> 
> ---
> 
> I have a citation to Italian translations, but none have her name -- 
> this appears to be erroneous and leads me to suspect there are more than 
> one Italian translations:
> 
> http://www.liberonweb.it/Einaudi/ril_durrell.asp
> 
> There is, however, a potential item here:
> 
> www.ferraguti.it/download/cataloghi/catalogo%2056.doc
> 
> It lists the following item for sale:
> 
> Durrell Lawrence, /Justine/, Longanesi & C., Milano, 1959, ril. ed., 
> bs., mancante di sovcop., pp. 309. Introduzione di Elémire Zolla. Trad. 
> di Liana Johnson. Collana "La Ginestra" n° 35 € 15,00
> 
> I'm guessing from some other online postings, so it's not very 
> trustworthy, but it appears to have been reprinted in 1966 as well.
> 
> Whoa!  UVic has a copy.  I'll report on it tomorrow -- it's in Special 
> Collections, and it does indeed list Liana M. Johnson as the author. 
> It's the 1966 reprint of the 1959 edition.
> 
> Best,
> Jamie
> 
> 
> slighcl wrote:
>>  >From your listserv wire-service:  All the news that is fit to copy 
>> and paste.
>>
>> I would be obliged to any of our Italian subscribers for additional 
>> info on the Durrell translation reported below.  Did the translation 
>> make it into print?  Is it still in print?  So far I have been unable 
>> to find a bibliographical record.
>>
>> If the connection proves true, it would mean that wives of two 
>> prominent twentieth-century novelists translated Durrell's 
>> /Quartet/--Anthony Burgess's wife Liana (Italian) and Julio Cortazar's 
>> wife Aurora Bernárdez (Spanish).
>>
>> Charles
>>
>> ****
>> Liana Burgess
>> [obituary]
>> Telegraph (UK)
>> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/05/db0501.xml 
>>
>> Last Updated: 1:30am GMT 05/12/2007
>