Wednesday, December 13, 2006

a clockwork orange

Just like George Orwell's 1984, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is a horrific foretelling of the not-so-distant totalitarian future where the acts of man can be tailored-fit to suit the existing rule or authority. Each page is bristling with blood and unspeakable violence. Ultimately, the novel is a philosophical inquiry on the nature of good and choice.


The novel's language is a mixture of nadsat (teen gangster dialect with a mix of Russian) and hints of Shakesperian prose. Burgess is a literary genius. The language is so cunning it shapes the novel and ultimately the characters. If it were not for the mini-glossary provided for the one who wrote the afterword, I'd still be figuring what tolchok, devotchka, and bazoomny means. I actually finished this book last week and I almost forgot to write about it. Next blog: written in nadsat language.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i will have to check this out. Thanx.

GC

Wednesday, December 20, 2006 1:02:00 AM

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Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family, Choose a f—king big television. Choose washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home. Choose your friends. Choose a three piece suit on hire purchased in a range of f—king fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who the f—k you are on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing, spirit-crushing game shows, stuffing f—king junk food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pishing your last in a miserable home, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, f—ked-up brats you have spawned to replace yourself. Choose a future. Choose life . . . But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life. I chose somethin’ else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you’ve got heroin?

Renton, Trainspotting