A Clockwork Orange (the novel) - Have you read it?

I recently finished three books whose movies I really liked. One of them was A Clockwork Orange.

Man, that was hard to read! Truthfully, though, the further I went, the better I got at all the slang. By the end of the book, I was following it pretty well, o my brothers!

So, who's read it? What did you think?

Edited to add:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000532/

but as you have to almost memorize the dictionary of slang terms to understand what's going on, I didn't get very far. Plus, I really resent having to practically learn a new language just to enjoy a book. That's not enjoyment, that's work!

After I finished the book, I went back and read the beginning again. It made a lot more sense the second time through.

or by not giving it a second chance. I'm satisfied with Kubrick's version :)

as I recall it scared the shit out of me

of the lead in the movie from the avatar list. Glorifying a rapist. How cool was that? NOT!

themes like rape, prostitution, drug abuse, war, death, etc etc have been explored in literature since homer.

what is your opinion of "the rape of persephone?"

I can't abide by glorifying all the rape and plundering the Gauls did.

what, consuming all of odysseus' substance while he is at sea, menacing poor telemachus.

people.

I guess blacks should enjoy literature about lynching just as women should realize rape in fiction is just fiction.

if you look at everything as product to consume, there are only two options: be entertained/not be entertained.

but if you look at things more contemplatively, even the most vile aspects of the human condition round out what it means to be essentially human.

Lest they become anti-literacy prudes.

In fact, I'm pretty sure there is quite a bit of literate about lynching written BY blacks.

Does this mean I am a pedophile!?!?!?!

holy crap!

Seriously though, that is a book about a rather loathsome character that is so beautifully written that it shocked me. Nabokov's mastery of English and his ability to play with words and imagery is without comparison, and the underlying subtexts of the novel are really fascinating also.

Or you can just say it's "smut" like the people who refused to publish it originally.

Back to the topic, I do think that in some ways the movie did a grave disservice to A Clockwork Orange because it did seem to glorify the violence instead of it being something horrific. The book is really good and far superior to the movie, even though I enjoy the movie on some level also.* And again, there are so many very fascinating insights into human nature discussed in it, that to me calling it some kind of rape fantasy is completely missing the point. Does "The Color Purple" also endorse rape, violence and racism? Of course not.




*that does not mean I want to rape or beat up anyone.

There's nothing gratuitous about it: Kubrick portrays Little Alex as a sick sociopath who has no problem beating up old men or bestowing violence on women. He's a scary product of a bleak dystopia, a warning of what our future could be like if we allow ourselves to be controlled by external social forces who don't have our best interests in mind.

I never read the book, because I sneaked into the movie and aged 16 when it was released in 1971. (I think it was rated either R or X, but I'm 6'1" and my boyfriend at the time was 6'2", so no one questioned us.) Mistake, I was too young to understand it. But when I saw it again in my 20s, I realized how brilliant it was. Doesn't make it watchable, tho. I'll never sit thru it again!

There was a little dictionary in the back explaining the Nadsat slang terms. Some later editions did not have that.
A little offputting at first but when you reread it, it gets much better.

but still took what seemed like weeks to get through the first 30 pages, then as others have said, you get the hang of the slang ( hey that rhymes-unintentional too) and got through the rest of it fairly quickly. This was a long time ago, but if I recall correctly, I thought it was a very powerful book.

I actually like the movie too, although I think Kubrick sorta missed the point a little.

in fact, I watched the film again Saturday night.
Sunday morning I woke up, fired up the Moog, and played the beginning of the 9th.
ms mitchum then yelled from the next room,"I know what you watched last night!"
Busted.

He thought it was just one of his minor works, unworthy of consideration.

Both the book and the film are good for different reasons. The print Alex, only fifteen years old, is much more frightening than the early-twenties-ish Malcolm McDowell. I'm sure back in 1963, the idea of a fifteen-year-old sociopath was terrifying and slightly improbable. Now we read about them every day in the newspapers or see them on TV news.

I always thought the one enormous, jagged false eyebrow thing was bizarre and sinister. I wonder who came up with that idea?

lots and lots of groodies. :evilgrin:

It really puts you inside the head of a completely despicable person, frightening and very compelling. The slang does take some time, but it is integral to the story.

Yeah, it was tough going in the beginning, but you get used to all of the nadsat slang by the time you're halfway through.

What frightened me about it all was the age difference between the Alex of the book, and Alex in the film. The book's horrors are so much more explicit... and to ascribe them to a 15 yr old is chilling. Much easier to accept the plot when the protagonist is played in his late-teens/early 20's (though played by a very young-looking 29 yr old Malcolm McDowell)

Also, Rolling Stone published the "unpublished final chapter" several years back. If you can get hold of it - check it out.

I liked the movie better.

"Come and get one in the yarbles! If you've got any yarbles."

much more than I liked the movie, actually. I didn't realize there was a dictionary/glossary at the end of the book till I finished it for the first time - I just picked up the anglicized Russian as I went along.

Great book.

mark