The Condition of Muzak
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The Condition of Muzak is a novel by British fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock, published by Allison & Busby in 1977. It is the final novel of his long-running Jerry Cornelius series. It was first published in its revised form in 1979.[2]
The novel won the 1977 Guardian Fiction Prize.[3] The title refers to Walter Pater's maxim: "All art constantly aspires towards the condition of music".
Overview
The chaos and decay that permeated Moorcock's A Cure for Cancer and The English Assassin has devolved further into a surreal Europe of splintered city states. Jerry Cornelius, increasingly morphing into his role as Pierrot, has lost the power to change or even affect events and narrows his quest to an everlasting search for his true love, his sister Catherine.
Reviews
In his review in The Times Tom Hutchinson wrote: "The Condition of Muzak considers the process of living as a harlequinade and is, for me, a most moving summation.... Here we move through Mr Moorcock's obsessions, the serials of Fantômas, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Arthurian legend, through chronos-zones—behold the pun!—to bi-sexuality, with a small sideswipe at Stanley Kubrick on the way. The realisation comes that Jerry is seeking sanctuary in different universes of Time in separate private mythologies. As indeed, is the implication, are we all".
In a piece in The Guardian, Barry Cole was "struck by the singular fact that out of science fantasy or science fiction has emerged (J. G. Ballard and Kurt Vonnegut have similarly developed) a writer who has managed to supersede conventional science fantasy and yet make of traditional fiction something wholly new".[4]
Writing in The Observer, Angus Wilson called it "one of the most ambitious, illuminating and enjoyable works of fiction published in English since the war".
Notes
- ^ Publication listing at ISFDB.
- ^ "The Condition of Muzak" at The Complete Review.
- ^ "Michael Moorcock", SFE – The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 27 September 2016.
- ^ "Madasafish".
References
- "Internet Speculative Fiction Database". isfdb.org. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- "Moorcock's Miscellany". Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- Brown, Charles N.; William G. Contento. "The Locus Index to Science Fiction (1984–1998)". Retrieved 16 December 2007.
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- The Fireclown (1965)
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- The Final Programme (1968)
- The Mad God's Amulet (1968)
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- The Runestaff (1969)
- The Black Corridor (1969)
- Behold the Man (1969)
- The Chinese Agent (1970)
- The Eternal Champion (1970)
- Phoenix in Obsidian (1970)
- Warlord of the Air (1971)
- A Cure for Cancer (1971)
- The English Assassin: A Romance of Entropy (1972)
- Elric of Melniboné (1972)
- Breakfast in the Ruins (1972)
- The Land Leviathan (1974)
- The Adventures of Una Persson and Catherine Cornelius in the 20th Century (1976)
- The Sailor on the Seas of Fate (1976)
- The Condition of Muzak (1977)
- Gloriana (1978)
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- "Kings in Darkness"
- The Land That Time Forgot
- New Worlds
- Airtight Garage
- The Chronicle of the Black Sword
- The Final Programme
- Elric: Battle at the End of Time
- Stormbringer RPG
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