One Hand Clapping (novel)
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Peter Davies (UK)
 First UK edition | |
| Author | Anthony Burgess (as Joseph Kell) |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Charles Gorham (UK edition) |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Alfred A. Knopf (US) Peter Davies (UK) |
Publication date | 1961 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 214 pp |
One Hand Clapping is a 1961 work by Anthony Burgess published originally under the pseudonym Joseph Kell in the UK.[1]
The novel was intended as an indictment of what Burgess saw as the degradation of contemporary Western education and culture.[2]
Burgess deliberately toned down his trademark love of vocabulary for the novel, which among other things lampoons the British television host Hughie Green. The entire vocabulary in One Hand Clapping amounts to approximately 800 words.[citation needed]
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").
