Jerry Cornelius is an English assassin, physicist, rock star, and messiah to the Age of Science. Written between 1965 and 1967, this sequence of four novels relating Cornelius's adventures has been credited with inspiring dozens of writers and artists to rethink the genre of science fiction. Set in a shifting, fluid version of the counter-culture 1960s, these books were among the most prominent 'New Wave' SF books. Jerry Cornelius is one of the most remarkable and distinctive characters in Moorcock's work, and his time-travelling, trippy and bizarre adventures are must-reads. Contains THE FINAL PROGRAMME, A CURE FOR CANCER, THE ENGLISH ASSASSIN and THE CONDITION OF MUZAK.
“Some try to understand the world, while others seek to impose their understanding on it.”
Source: The Mirror; or, Harlequin Everywhere (pp. 790-791)
Source: The Cornelius Quartet, The Condition of Muzak (1977)
Context: Unfortunately, Mr. Smiles, these latter folk are those least equipped to perform the operation. Like Frankenstein, my dear Mr. Smiles, they produce a monster.
“Better the myth of happiness, than the myth of despair.”
The Cornelius Quartet, The Condition of Muzak (1977)
Source: The Mirror; or, Harlequin Everywhere (p. 786)
The Cornelius Quartet, The Condition of Muzak (1977)
Source: Harlequin Invisible: or, the Emperor of China’s Court (p. 761)
“There’s more to life than drugs and sex.”
The Cornelius Quartet, The Condition of Muzak (1977)
Variant: There’s more than life to drugs and sex. It’s better than nothing.
Source: Harlequin Invisible: or, the Emperor of China’s Court (p. 761)
“Yesterday’s underdog is tomorrow’s tyrant.”
The Cornelius Quartet, The Condition of Muzak (1977)
Source: With the flag to Pretoria (p. 738)
“How many generations need to comply in a fallacy before it becomes accepted as truth?”
The Cornelius Quartet, The Condition of Muzak (1977)
Source: The BL 755 cluster bomb (p. 652)
“Stagnation’s no substitute for stability.”
The Cornelius Quartet, The Condition of Muzak (1977)
Source: Optics for defence (p. 649)
“The barbarians don’t come from outside the walls any more, do they?”
The Cornelius Quartet, The English Assassin (1972)
Source: The Hill (p. 579)
“Is there anything sadder, I wonder, than an assassin with nobody left to kill?”
The Cornelius Quartet, The English Assassin (1972)
Source: The Alternative Apocalypse 1 (p. 399)
“Technology is potential freedom from brutality.”
The Cornelius Quartet, A Cure for Cancer (1971)
Source: Beyond the X ecliptic (p. 316)
“Time to be moving; moves to be timing.”
The Cornelius Quartet, A Cure for Cancer (1971)
Source: Beyond the X ecliptic (p. 314)
The Cornelius Quartet, A Cure for Cancer (1971)
Source: Ex-bank clerk slave girl in private sin palace (p. 172)
