Book 41 A Clockwork Orange

 

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess fulfilled the category “Book with a Made-Up Language.” All I can say is I am so glad I listened to this title on audio.

A Clockwork Orange, a novella about a bleak future full of ultra-violence perpetrated by the very young, explored some serious societal issues. Topics mentioned were youth and violence, drugs, the penal system, government—it’s influence and control, parenting, psychological conditioning, and the ramifications of personal actions. I could go on and on. The story was chock full of topics to discuss.

First, let’s talk about the language. As I mentioned I listened to the story on audio. The reader was fantastic. He spoke in a rolling, almost cockney British accent and made the language of the book sing. The youngsters in the novel (mid-teens) speak in a rapid-fire of invented words. Everything has a slag name to it, from body parts to food to names for other people. And even then, the narrator mentioned that kids younger than him had their own slang too! I can’t imagine writing a book like this. It’s almost completely another language. I had to immerse myself in the novel to understand everything. (A second read wouldn’t hurt.) I isolated myself to listen, and it took me quite a while to finish the six-hour audio. Frequently, I had to stop and translate Alex’s words in my head.

It was a real thinking book.

For many reasons…

My husband was thrilled to talk about the book once I finished. We discussed the various topics introduced in the novel for hours. Particularly, we focused on the issues of teens and authority. We have two teens and could see how it got out of control. What kind of authority can you have over your children if you fear them? Alex was a violent thug. His parents could do nothing to stop him. And we laughed at how he was surprised when they rented his room. I sympathize with them so much.

But another huge topic we discussed was the abridgment of the book (and the movie). The author wrote the forward of my copy. In it, he discussed how his American publisher cut the last chapter. In this section, Alex starts to grow up and learn the errors of his youth. He dreams of a regular life with a wife and kid. Hubby had never heard such a thing associated with the book or movie. We went over it for a long time—how it changed the story, the implications of a publisher changing a book that way. It miffed me a publisher would just cut a chapter, and the final one, to boot. With power like that, what’s an author to do?

I could write a dissertation on that novella, but I won’t here. (You do NOT want to read that.) But I will say it’s one of those few classics I think should still be taught in the high school. I’m an advocate of books relevant to students. Give them The Hunger Games, The Hate You Give, and Fangirl rather than Native Son, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure. But man, a listen to A Clockwork Orange…still relevant, still stimulating, still scary!

I give A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Five Slooshy Moloko Pluses.