Hi everybody! Remember this feature I attempted to regularly do? I decided to resurrect it today (because it's that time of year to think about resurrections? you decide!)
Right now I am reading the final novel for my 20th Century Lit course. It's a little novella we all came to know through Mr. Stanley Krubrick's adaptation in the early 1970s. Except, I (and most likely many of you) didn't watch it until much later than that.
A Clockwork Orange is chock full of juxtapositions, creative slang, metaphors and motifs. The movie is good, but, like all movies based on books, the book is WAY better!
I'm only in the early stages of part two. The "ultraviolence" and "horrorshow" antics of part one were captivating. Picking up on the slang that is seemingly a mixture of Russian and Shakespearean amazed me. At first, the story seemed so confusing due to the language, but I quickly became accustomed to it and I am now fully absorbed in the plot. I am at the part where Alex is in jail, just blamed for the death of a cellmate and signed up for the procedure that will "cure" him of his violent ways.
I read a little bit about the author before starting this novel. Supposedly, he broke the story into 3 parts of 7 to showcase Alex's metamorphosis into becoming an adult. The 21 chapters is symbolic of 21 being the age of majority in many places. The creative use of Russian words captured into the slang was because he didn't want his story to be trapped in a certain time period, but one that was ageless. And I love that he has his protagonist passionate about classical music. The juxtaposition of highbrow music mixed with the lowbrow antics and violence is thrilling.
I suggest you read this. And watch the movie if you haven't. Just prepare yourself for ultraviolent scenes.
1 comment:
I'm reading The Pelican Brief by John Grisham and Never Too Late by Gail Vaz-Oxlade. Reading has taken a bit of back seat lately since I've been overwhelmed with settling in and all but I plan to step up my game pretty quick here.
Post a Comment