Kingdom of the Wicked [Paperback]

Anthony Burgess (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2003

A Roman saga, taking in the excesses of Tiberius, Caligula and Nero and an irreverent account of the early days of Christianity. Sadoc, a dying shipping clerk, sets down for future generations a tale of epic proportions: he is charged with recounting no less an event than the birth of Christianity.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Allison & Busby (November 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749006722
• ISBN-13: 978-0749006723
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,282,861 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anthony Burgess (25th February 1917-22nd November 1993) was one of the UK's leading academics and most respected literary figures. A prolific author, during his writing career Burgess found success as a novelist, critic, composer, playwright, screenwriter, travel writer, essayist, poet and librettist, as well as working as a translator, broadcaster, linguist and educationalist. His fiction also includes NOTHING LIKE THE SUN, a recreation of Shakespeare's love-life, but he is perhaps most famous for the complex and controversial novel A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, exploring the nature of evil. Born in Manchester, he spent time living in Southeast Asia, the USA and Mediterranean Europe as well as in England, until his death in 1993.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Kingdom of the Wicked, June 4, 2000

By 

Muggsy Pendleton (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom of the Wicked (Paperback)

Anthony Burgess' profound learning is on display in a fascinating piece of historical fiction, The Kingdom of the Wicked. Picking up just days after the crucifixion of Jesus, we find the founding fathers of Christianity rendered realistically in an often hilarious book. From the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, to the imperial court of the mad Caligula, Burgess' novel takes the reader on a whirlwind tour of the Mediterranean during the first century. Though a well-crafted story filled with luminosities of language, it is the historical perspective that is perhaps most rewarding to the reader. Anyone who has spent time reading the Bible or has heard the stories of early Christendom will undoubtedly, unless a scholarly type, have difficulty referencing them in a real way. The various letters of the apostles provide only subservient snippets of the time while Burgess' novel takes us into the very rooms of the apostles as they write and commences on into their minds while monitoring everything from their lustful proclivities to their bowel movements. The learning combined with the lurid language at hand make The Kingdom of the Wicked a marvel. However, the leapfrogging from one story to another leaves the final storyline disjointed and the reader sometimes perplexed. Also, the learning has a darker side for, whereas details are lavishly furnished throughout, sordid specifics of Caligula's court are enough to make most readers turn quickly to the next page. It's enough to make one claim that some history deserves to be buried, but this is Burgess' bold statement to the contrary.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, but rather tiresome, February 23, 2003

By 

Richard Deem (unfortunately, Bloomington, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Kingdom of the Wicked (Hardcover)

I have read five books by Burgess, and I must say that this is not his best, that is not to say that it is a bad book though. In fact, I liked it (as my rating shows). It showed his thorough knowledge of ancient Rome, and Jerueselem. The characters were well portrayed, and both people with, and without great knoweldge of the time will find the book quite enjoyable to read, for its descriptions.
I have two complaints, however, the list of characters grows and grows, until I find myself thoroughly confused. Also, the storyline seems to flow together less and less towards the end, and it seems as if Burgess wanted to finish up the novel, so he just wrote down everything that was supposed to happen, without peicing it together with any sort of transitions.
The book still has its charms, the characters are all very interesting, and the descriptions of the ancient empire are very well written.
In the end, I would say that if you have a strong interest in ancient Rome, you should read this, as it tells history while making it enjoyable. I would not, however, recommend that this be the first book by Burgess that you read, as it is longer, and differently written than almost all his other ones.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good writing but doesn't hold together, September 26, 2001

By 

wysewomon "wysewomon" (Paonia, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Kingdom of the Wicked (Paperback)

This is a really hard book to rate. On the one hand, the actual execution -- writing, style, structure and so forth -- is great. The voice, that of a retired Roman clerk, is consistent throughout and the take on the Roman Empire and early Christianity is believable and interesting.

On the other hand, the story really fell short for me. As it went on, it became less of a coherent story and more of a list of (mostly dire and unpleasant) events. While at the beginning it seemed that the characters had some relationship to one another and that the story had a point, by the end it all seemed random and arbitrary. I enjoyed the narrator as a character, but I kept expecting his story to tie in with the main story. It never did, and I was left wondering why it was he felt so compelled to tell the story in the first place. As well, the ending fell flat. I was looking for at least one or two of the characters to undergo some change or experience some kind of redemption. Maybe I missed something, but it didn't seem like that happened. As a result, I was left feeling cheated.