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| Avon 1968, Harry Douthwaite |
By 1965, Moorcock was already trying to expand beyond the heroic fantasy and science fiction he had become known for (sometimes as "James Colvin"). Interested in writing fiction which would more closely confront the topical issues of 1960s London (or at least, in a less allegorical way), he came up with the first Jerry Cornelius book. Written in about ten days in January 1965, The Final Programme describes a "needle-gun"-toting electric guitarist who thrives most happily living amongst his own bubble of hedonistic associates, but is reluctantly drawn into the dark back alleys of modern society and rampant, unchecked technology.
“(British SF writers of the early 60s) felt contemporary fiction was anaemic and had lost the momentum modernism had given it. Most fiction we saw had no way it could usefully confront modern concerns— the H-bomb, computers, engineering and communications advances, space travel—not to mention changing social conventions and consequently language, politics, warfare, the altered psyche in the face of so much novelty of experience.”Modeled physically on an eye-catching passerby spied while dining in a Notting Hill cafe, Jerry Cornelius's surname was taken from a sign fronting a nearby greengrocer ship ("Cornelius of London"). Like the heroes of most of Moorcock's books at that time, Cornelius was far from a typical protagonist and his plot arc hardly follows a traditional trajectory. In fact, like Elric, ErekosĂ«, Arflane, Manny Bloom and Karl Glogauer, Cornelius' final act portrays a betrayal of mankind, although in all of these cases mankind is in such a pathetic state that it seems to be in dire need of a "reboot" anyways.
- “Get The Music Right” Interviewed By Terry Bisson (Modem Times 2.0, 2011)
“(He is) Not the ‘spy’ some critics described him as but an urban adventurer as interested in his psychic environment as the contemporary physical world. My influences were English and French absurdists, American noir novels. My inspiration was William Burroughs with whom I’d recently begun a correspondence. I also borrowed a few SF ideas, though I was adamant that I was not writing in any established genre. I felt I had at last found my own authentic voice.”Beyond the above inspirations, Moorcock has also cited Ronald Firbank, Bertolt Brecht and “the Hammett school of thriller fiction” as influences on The Final Programme.
- Intro To The Michael Moorcock Collection (Gollancz)
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| Allison & Busby 1969, Mal Dean |
After deciding on Jerry and an ultra-modern, hyper-sexed version of London as his new vehicle for sociopolitical fiction, Moorcock needed a narrative upon on which to hang this fashionable new coat. He decided to use his earlier Elric stories “The Dreaming City” and “While The Gods Laugh” for this purpose. Thus, in the first half of The Final Programme, Jerry Cornelius’ intrigues lead him to betray his estranged family, resulting in the deaths of his sister-lover Catherine and his brother-nemesis Frank. Shortly thereafter, he and the mysterious Miss Brunner seek out a lost manuscript which is revealed as a red herring.
The second half of the book seems to have closer relations to Moorcock’s New Worlds science fiction tales, such as “The Shores of Death” (The Twilight Man), “Behold the Man”, The Fireclown and “The Deep Fix”. Like those stories, this portion features never-ending, somewhat nihilistic parties, false-messiah figures, and hallucinatory mind-control weapons. Moorcock’s experience climbing mountains in Lapland (see “The Mountain”) also comes in handy when describing the arctic “womb” where Jerry's nemesis/partner Miss Brunner eventually constructs her super-computer. There is also a direct link to the surrealist story “The Real Life Mr. Newman”, although it is not necessary to have read that story to follow this one. The final ending of The Final Programme is quite unique to itself, however.
Brief Plot Synopsis
A resourceful young "urban adventurer" named Jerry Cornelius helps the mysterious techno-mogul Miss Brunner and her elite associates raid his deceased father’s house, now guarded by his brother Frank's henchmen. In the battle, Jerry’s sister (and lover) Catherine is killed and the mission is a failure. Back in London, Jerry returns to his life as a musical dilettante, but Miss Brunner convinces him to help her track down the enigmatic Newman manuscript, which Jerry’s brother Frank had absconded with during the Normandy raid. In arctic Lapland they track down and kill Frank. However the Newman manuscript turns out to be a hoax.
Returning to London (again), Jerry holds a massive party. However, Miss Brunner brings him back north to her new “Laplab” where she is building a supercomputer. Disgusted by Miss Brunner’s ruthless methods, Jerry tries to live a “normal life” with his new Swedish wife Una Persson, but Miss Brunner forces him to return to her base. When her supercomputer is finally finished, she uses it to create a new “Messiah of the Age of Science” by physically (sexually) merging herself with Jerry. This new being, “Cornelius Brunner”, gains millions of followers all across Europe (probably with the help of stolen hallucimat technology), and ultimately leads them to their deaths in the Black Sea.
(See Detailed Plot Synopsis at bottom)
Fear of a Cornelius Planet
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| Allison & Busby 1976 Richard Glynn Jone |
While looking for a publisher, Moorcock was surprised (perhaps naively) to encounter a good deal of resistance to his new, sexually-liberated action satire. Publishers found the book’s structure problematic, and claimed that it used sexually provocative imagery in order to shock (an ironic stance considering the cover later chosen for the 1973 Mayflower paperback!). Compared to Moorcock’s earlier works, the book probably has a looser sense of sexual mores, but in comparison to the kind of literary fiction coming out during that period it was not particularly explicit (if one was a regular reader of New Worlds anyways). Although a few chapters were published in New Worlds, the book did not see the light of day until two years later when Avon bought it in 1967 (cover at top of page). In later Cornelius books the narrative splinters in more experimental directions, but this first book is a good introduction as it is generally fast-paced and straight-forward in its prose style. The next novels in what would eventually be called "the Cornelius Quartet" would see much more dramatic experimentation in structure and narrative.
J___C___
Around this time the initials "J.C." also became a kind of "multiversal meme". Originally, John Carnell (JC) had come up with Moorcock’s sometimes pen-name “James Colvin” (JC), but without any real ulterior motives Moorcock also used this naming convention for Jeremiah “Jerry” Cornelius. Variations of “Jeremiah Cornelius” would later appear in many tales of the Eternal Champion (Hawkmoon's and Corum’s stories in particular) and in the Dancers at the End of Time sequence.
Interestingly, Moorcock’s initial conception of The Final Programme also included a cassette tape of music (Jerry Cornelius plays guitar in a fictional band named "The Deep Fix") and complementary artwork. Perhaps too far ahead of its time, this multimedia plan eventually fell by the wayside. Fortunately the artwork (by Mal Dean) has appeared in most editions and Moorcock's rock band "The Deep Fix” eventually recorded a couple albums over the years (including some songs presumably Cornelius-related).
Detailed Plot Synopsis
Wikiverse Entry
Wikipedia Entry
Fake Geek Boy's excellent article on the Cornelius series
Next Chapter: Jerry Cornell's Comic Capers
(Previous Chapter: The Ice Schooner)
