''One Hand Clapping'' is a 1961 work by

Anthony Burgess John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his Utopian and dystopian fiction, d ...

published originally under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Joseph Kell John Anthony Burgess Wilson, (; 25 February 1917 – 22 November 1993), who published under the name Anthony Burgess, was an English writer and composer. Although Burgess was primarily a comic writer, his dystopian satire ''A Clockwork O ...

in the UK. The novel was intended as an indictment of what Burgess saw as the degradation of contemporary Western education and culture. Burgess deliberately toned down his trademark love of vocabulary for the novel, which among other things lampoons the British television host

Hughie Green Hugh Hughes Green (2 February 1920 – 3 May 1997) was an English radio and television presenter, game show host and actor. Early life Green was born in Marylebone, London, to a Scottish father, Hugh Aitchison Green, a former British Army offic ...

. The entire vocabulary in ''One Hand Clapping'' amounts to approximately 800 words.

Title

The line, "Two hands clap and there is a sound; what is the sound of one hand?" is a traditional

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

koan A (; , ; ko, 화두, ; vi, công án) is a story, dialogue, question, or statement which is used in Zen practice to provoke the "great doubt" and to practice or test a student's progress in Zen. Etymology The Japanese term is the Sino-Jap ...

, and the novel takes its title from this. Burgess explained the title as follows: "The clasped hands of marriage have been reduced y the novel's endto 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 ''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. It is a detailed fictional exploration ...

'', 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 Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

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 Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

together by

barbiturates Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as ...

. 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.

Characters

Janet Shirley - The narrator and point of view through which the reader sees the novel. She introduces herself as "Janet Shirley, ''née'' Barnes ... just gone twenty-three." Burgess portrays her voice using a spartan vocabulary. Howard Shirley - Aged 27 and the husband of Janet. At the novel's opening, he is working at a used car dealership. He is an average man living an average life in Britain. Novels by Anthony Burgess 1961 British novels Works published under a pseudonym Alfred A. Knopf books Peter Davies books {{1960s-novel-stub