Alex Delarge: Immortal
Anthony Burgess: February 25, 1917 - November 22, 1993
Burgess wrote a book that takes criminality by the yarbles in his depiction of Alex DeLarge, the menacing protagonist in A Clockwork Orange. Burgess' original compilation contained 21 chapters. The last chapter describes Alex's rehabilitation, not on account of the radical correctional experiment conducted upon him, but on his maturation. He gets tired of his life and seeks something deeper consistent with simply growing up.
When the book was submitted to the editor, that last "happy ending" was omitted in favor of ending the fiction with Alex portending additional malevolence from his hospital bed. The edition that was distributed in America did not contain the chapter containing the happy ending for the protagonist and, for that matter, society, omitting it entirely to ostensibly satisfy America's bloodthirsty market. The European edition was printed in its entirety.
