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 Is it worse to be bad by choice, or be good by force? January 5, 2009
This novel is an amazing piece of literature. It centers around the dealings of a young man, approx. 15-16 years old, involved in gangs in the not too distant future. Alex, the sadistic protagonist, is a teenager who enjoys beating, stealing, and raping the innocent, until a tragic murder is on his hands and he's thrown in jail. While in jail, he defends himself from getting raped and accidentally kills his assailant. Because of this crime, Alex is forced into a radical new treatment which promises to change society for the better. Anyone who undergoes this treatment cannot commit or watch any violent or vulgar acts with feeling a sensation similar to that of death (drowning specifically). Once he finishes this treatment, Alex attempts to return to his former life only to find himself surrounded by the very people he hurt, unfortunately for him they decide to get even (involving an orgy of violence begun by very old men). Once Alex attempts suicide, the government's doctors cure him and give him a job, in hopes of gaining some badly needed good P.R.. After a while of being his original self once again, Alex seems uneasy, as if the acts of ultra violence no longer satisfy him. Then he meets an old friend who seems to have grown up, has a wife, good job, and a promising future. Alex then decides to abandon the life of a scoundrel youth, considering he is now in his either late teens or early twenties, for a more upstanding life.
This novel explores the Adolescent Psyche showing the thought process of a teen and how, with age, that seems to change so dramatically, like dropping the use of some strange form of slang. It also explores the moral question "Is it worse to be bad by choice, or be good by force?" and the questionable actions of the government (i.e. the Vietnam War).
If one could get past the abnormal dialect, it took me about half way to truly understand what every word meant, 'droog' means 'friend' ; 'korova' means 'cow'; 'golova' (gulliver) means 'head'; 'malchick' or 'malchickiwick' means 'boy'; 'soomka' means 'sack' or 'bag'; 'Bog' means 'God'; 'khorosho' means good, 'prestoopnick' means 'criminal'; 'rooker' is 'hand', 'cal' is 'crap', 'vec' is 'man' or 'guy'; 'litso' is 'face'; and so on. One should not let the language stop them from enjoying a truly classic piece of literature after all.
Horrorshow Novel, O My Brothers! December 25, 2008
The source of one of the most controversial movies ever made, Anthony Burgess's 'A Clockwork Orange' is at once a profound social commentary and a linguistic innovation. The book came around 1962, written at a time when the author was ill and given one year to live (he went onto live another three decades); but it was not until Stanley Kubrick's visual adaptation to the big screen that the book gained it's notoriety. Since publicity-shy Kubrick avoided the media, it was up to Anthony Burgess and the film's star Malcolm McDowell to defend the film when it was accused as a glorification of violence (the film was ultimately withdrawn from being shown in the UK by Kubrick himself). While at the time Burgess was enthusiastic about the movie, he gradually came to dislike the cinematic treatment by Kubrick--no doubt complicated by the fact that the assiduous director had adapted the US version of A Clockwork Orange, which was missing the all important 21st chapter. In an uncanny turn of events, it was the US publishers who thought the original ending in Burgess's novel was too 'optimistic', and was told to drop the last chapter altogether--which the author did, because he was in no position to argue being strapped for cash. In the book, Alex (the violent protagonist) redeems himself in the 21st chapter, renouncing his anarchic ways for a more quite life. What Burgess says is that the violence in youth is ephemeral--just a phase that needs to be lived out in order to be mature. Inhibiting the natural tendencies of a person, however harmful they maybe to society, is wrong; the conditioning of Alex by the 'Ludovico' technique (a play on Ludwig Van Beethoven's name) not only suppresses his violent instincts, but saps out his taste too (mainly his love of Classical Music, which the inhibitors lack). It makes him a 'clockwork orange'--a mechanically wound human being, capable of performing only good. Burgess is not excusing Alex, only pointing out that Alex did not willingly choose to be good--it was not a sincere transformation, but one done out of fear. This is what happens in the last chapter; Alex gets bored with his violent way of life and chooses--not with fear but understanding--to be a good human being.
Stanley Kubrick, since he adapted the US version of Clockwork, did not end the movie on that note--it ends bleakly with Alex going back to his sociopathic ways ('I was cured alright'). Later Kubrick and other critics admitted that the original ending of the book was unrealistic and too optimistic, but what they failed to see was that Burgess did not exactly have a ebullient ending either: he points out that though the protagonist has considered a normal life, his son would ultimately go through the same phase, and this trend would go on till the end of time; the rebellious violence of youth being a commonplace thing.
Burgess was right, as it turned out and all too prophetic.
'A Clockwork Orange' is a seminal masterpiece, without the backing of Kubrick's film (Time chose it as one of the 100 Best Novels Of The Decade). It can stand very well on its own: the highly innovative language (the anti-social 'droogs' speak in 'Nadsat' to separate themselves from mainstream society) and its timeless themes such as the absence of Free Will and its consequences, places 'A Clockwork Orange' in the pantheon of great Dystopian works such as Orwell's '1984' and Huxley's 'Brave New World'.
A Clockwork Orange December 22, 2008
This has turned out to be one of my favorite books ever. It's funny how you come to understand the street slang Burgess has made up. This book was very satifying. All of my emotions were used while reading this book, from hate, love, disgust, fear, confusion, etc.....
The Final Chapter December 22, 2008
This version of Burgess' classic contains his original transcript (and the one released everywhere outside the US), meaning the 21st chapter is the end. This 21st chapter makes a huge difference in meaning and authoreal intent, and the difference is obvious.
After getting used to the lingo created by Burgess, the book has a great flow to it, and the chapters are the perfect length. I found myself lying in bed, reading, and coming to an end of a chapter, deciding "ohhh they're short enough that I can read just one more". One more usually turned into at least 3 more, and it made for an exceptional, entertaining, and meaningful reading experience. Truly a classic work, I cannot wait to read more of Burgess.
"Oh, it was gorgeosity and yumyumyum." November 22, 2008
This sentence from the second-to-last chapter of our modern Dante's journey through Hell sums up this book in many ways. Intellectually stimulating, violent, fun, beautiful, dark and open; you won't find a better dystopia.
The problems I tend to have with dark novels about possible futures are that the authors tend to be extremely proud of themselves, and this smugness can ruin a book--and also that the changes in society often seem too clever or silly for me to actually enjoy the story.
A Clockwork Orange, however, pleases the ear as much as it does the mind. Maybe this is because most of Burgess' new words are actually words stolen from other languages. Whatever the reason, this counter-culture comes off as eminently plausible; and one that embraces violence without condemning it is a refreshing change from all these didactic novels about the "dangers" of the nature of humanity.
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