Earthly Powers
by Anthony Burgess · first published 1980
9mentions
5recommended by
7HN commenters
2009–2026first – last mentioned
71% recommend29% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Sprawling, beautifully written epic saga with a memorable opening line and playful, parodic narration; often cited as a book that turned readers into lifelong lovers of literature.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Anthony Burgess has long been regarded as one of the most original and daring writers of our time. In Earthly Powers, Burgess has writtena book rich with astonishing powers and surprising events.
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…John - Room At The Top Broyard, Anatole - Kafka Was The Rage Bulgakov, Mikhail - Master And Margarita, The Bulwer-Lytton, Edward - Zanoni Burgess, Anthony - A Clockwork Orange Burgess, Anthony - Earthly Powers Cage, John - Silence: Lectures And Writing Camus, Albert - Stranger, The Capote, Truman - In Cold Blood Carter, Angela - Nights At The Circus Chabon, Michael - Wonder Boys Chatwin, Bruce - Songlines,…
on “David Bowie’s Top 100 Books (2013)” ↗I read A Confederacy of Dunces every few years. It's a fun book. I also love Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess. Epic saga beautifully written.
on “Ask HN: Non-sci-fi fiction recommendations?” ↗…published .. nominally about a fictious African country, transparently dishing dirt on society and rule in Brunei. Clockwork Orange gets all the recognition but I still applaud his opening sentence in Earthly Powers, his parodic mockumentary of a (specific?) stereotyped British author.
on “Novelists as Schoolmasters” ↗…it. I also enjoy Riddley Walker, the first edition of Clockwork Orange (sans lexicographic annexure), and the outrageously provocative shock value of the opening sentence of Burgess's panoramic saga Earthly Powers. Your opinion is noted and respected.
on “Lawrence of Arabia, Paul Atreides, and the roots of Frank Herbert's Dune (2021)” ↗…Interpretation of American Destiny. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Authoritarianism. Hellfire Nation: The politics of sin in America. Also check out Michael Burleigh's two books on political religions (Earthly Powers and Sacred Causes). This isn't an aberration of history. Religious movements often drop their supernatural components under the guise of 'reason' and 'rationality' so as to adapt to the culture and politics.…
on “How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room.” ↗Earthly Powers was one of the books that really impacted me in my late teens, the structure, language, the incredible opening line - still my favourite opening line in any book. It was one of those books that made me…
on “AB Fab – On Anthony Burgess” ↗…high-vocabulary words with an excerpt from actual usage with the definition and etymology. Catamite, for example, is memorably demonstrated with, I believe, the opening sentence of Anthony Burgess's "Earthly Powers": "It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday, and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me."
on “Use YouTube to improve your English pronunciation” ↗Earthly Powers Anthony Burgess · 1980
on “Show HN: Opening lines of famous literary works” ↗That's a nice theory, but it seems to be common to get emotional with age - senile lability if you want to google it. My first introduction to the term as a teenager was in Earthly Powers[1]. Didn't get it then, but as I get older (and like you after kids), I find I tear up at stories of sacrifice and generosity. [1] https://books.google.com/books?id=PsJyuYIL-_MC&pg=PT6&lpg=PT... [2]…
on “Crying” ↗