Title
The line, "Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?" is a traditional Zen koan, and the novel takes its title from this. Burgess explained the title as follows: "The clasped hands of marriage have been reduced [by the novel's end] to a single hand. Yet it claps."
The phrase "one hand clapping", if translated literally into Malay, means "Bertepuk sebelah tangan", which usually means unrequited love when used in context of a relationship or romantic feelings. The English saying "It takes two to tango" has a similar connotation.
Another novel by Anthony Burgess, The Enemy in The Blanket , also has a title that is a translation of a Malay proverb ("Musuh Dalam Selimut").
Plot
Howard has an unusual talent: he has a photographic memory. He uses his talent to enter, and win, a mega-money TV quiz show.
He then discloses another gift: he is clairvoyant and can predict racing results. He gambles his winnings on race horses and the couple become extremely wealthy and travel the world, staying in luxury hotels.
On their return, however, Howard, disgusted by the corruption of the world they have seen - and troubled by prophetic glimpses of a coming decline in civilisation - declares that they must commit suicide together by barbiturates.
Janet resists, killing Howard with a coal hammer. Janet flees with the remainder of their money, to begin a new life abroad, taking her husband with her in a chest.
A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian satirical black comedy novel by English writer Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. It is set in a near-future society that has a youth subculture of extreme violence. The teenage protagonist, Alex, narrates his violent exploits and his experiences with state authorities intent on reforming him. The book is partially written in a Russian-influenced argot called "Nadsat", which takes its name from the Russian suffix that is equivalent to '-teen' in English. According to Burgess, it was a jeu d'esprit written in just three weeks.
Nadsat is a fictional register or argot used by the teenage gang members in Anthony Burgess's dystopian novel A Clockwork Orange. Burgess was a linguist and he used this background to depict his characters as speaking a form of Russian-influenced English. The name comes from the Russian suffix equivalent of "-teen" as in "thirteen". Nadsat was also used in Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of the book.
John Anthony Burgess Wilson,, who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer.
Shirley, A Tale is a social novel by the English novelist Charlotte Brontë, first published in 1849. It was Brontë's second published novel after Jane Eyre. The novel is set in Yorkshire in 1811–12, during the industrial depression resulting from the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. The novel is set against the backdrop of the Luddite uprisings in the Yorkshire textile industry.
Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand. There was a real Cyrano de Bergerac, and the play is a fictionalisation following the broad outlines of his life.
What a Way to Go! is a 1964 American black comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Shirley MacLaine, Paul Newman, Robert Mitchum, Dean Martin, Gene Kelly, Bob Cummings and Dick Van Dyke.
Yon Ill Wind is the twentieth novel of the Xanth series by Piers Anthony.
The Malayan Trilogy, also published as The Long Day Wanes: A Malayan Trilogy in the United States, is a comic 'triptych' of novels by Anthony Burgess set amidst the decolonisation of Malaya.
The Home and the World is a 1916 novel by Rabindranath Tagore. The book illustrates the battle Tagore had with himself, between the ideas of Western culture and revolution against the Western culture. These two ideas are portrayed in two of the main characters, Nikhilesh, who is rational and opposes violence, and Sandip, who will let nothing stand in his way from reaching his goals. These two opposing ideals are very important in understanding the history of the Bengal region and its contemporary problems.
Change of Heart is a 1934 American pre-Code drama film starring Janet Gaynor, Charles Farrell, James Dunn, and Ginger Rogers. The movie, about a quartet of college chums who all move to 1934 New York City, was written by James Gleason and Sonya Levien from Kathleen Norris's novel, Manhattan Love Song and directed by John G. Blystone.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a musical with a book by George Abbott and Betty Smith, lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and music by Arthur Schwartz.
Sentimentalism is a practice of being sentimental, and thus tending toward basing actions and reactions upon emotions and feelings, in preference to reason.
One Hand Clapping may refer to:
The Jewel That Was Ours is a crime novel by Colin Dexter, the ninth novel in Inspector Morse series. This novel was written by Dexter after he wrote a screenplay for an episode titled The Wolvercote Tongue in series 2 of the television programme Inspector Morse.
Newspeak is the fictional language of Oceania, a totalitarian superstate that is the setting of the 1949 dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, by George Orwell. In the novel, the Party created Newspeak to meet the ideological requirements of Ingsoc in Oceania. Newspeak is a controlled language of simplified grammar and restricted vocabulary designed to limit the individual's ability to think and articulate "subversive" concepts such as personal identity, self-expression and free will. Such concepts are criminalized as thoughtcrime since they contradict the prevailing Ingsoc orthodoxy.
Little Hands Clapping, is a novel by British author Dan Rhodes, published in 2010 by Canongate. Its title comes from a line in Robert Browning's poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin.
Madea's Big Happy Family is a 2011 American comedy-drama film based on Tyler Perry's 2010 play of the same name, the 11th film in the Tyler Perry film franchise, and the sixth in the Madea cinematic universe. Tyler Perry reprised Madea and Joe, and the other cast members included Loretta Devine, Shad "Bow Wow" Moss, David Mann, Cassi Davis, Tamela Mann, Lauren London, Isaiah Mustafa, Natalie Desselle, Rodney Perry, and Shannon Kane. It tells the story of Madea finding out that her niece is dying from her cancer as she gathers her niece's children and their family members to deal with the news.
The Belton Estate is a novel by Anthony Trollope, written in 1865. The novel concerns itself with a young woman who has accepted one of two suitors, then discovered that he was unworthy of her love. It was the first novel published in the Fortnightly Review.
Women in the Wind is a 1939 film directed by John Farrow and starring Kay Francis, William Gargan and Victor Jory. The plot concerns women pilots competing in the so-called "Powder Puff Derby", an annual transcontinental air race solely for women.
Frog is a novel by Mo Yan, first released in 2009. The novel is about Gugu, the aunt of "Tadpole", the novel's narrator. Gugu performs various abortions after the One Child Policy is introduced. The novel discusses both the reasons why the policy was implemented and the consequences of it.
