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A Clockwork Orange
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A Clockwork Orange - Week 1 (April 2016)
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Probably the most important preparation I did for this book was to print the Nadsat glossary. The first few chapters were a bit challenging because I had to keep on checking the voc words or the paragraphs wouldn't make sense, it disturbed my reading flow a bit. But you get used to it in maybe 2-3 chapters and the reading experience is amazing. I'm excited about this discussion :)
Probably the most important preparation I did for this book was to print the Nadsat glossary. The first few chapters were a bit challenging because I had to keep on checking the voc words or the paragraphs wouldn't make sense, it disturbed my reading flow a bit. But you get used to it in maybe 2-3 chapters and the reading experience is amazing. I'm excited about this discussion :)
Jukang wrote: "Probably the most important preparation I did for this book was to print the Nadsat glossary. The first few chapters were a bit challenging because I had to keep on checking the voc words or the pa..."I think you're right! I started reading and before the end of the first chapter I didn't need to use much of the Nadsat glossary... You can understand most of the words through the context.
I had forgotten a couple of things about the language, from when I first read this. One is that Alex's language is a mix of Russianate words, then idiomatic English vocabulary, and then a third dialect useful to the outcast culture of thugs and rebels. That third dialect is the most interesting to me. For example, the word egg becomes eggiweg, the word school becomes skolliwoll, the word apology becomes appy polly loggy, and the word guts becomes guttiwuts. I think these are more than schoolboy coined words. They all have a musical rhythm that you hear with triads in music. And music is heavily imbedded in this novel, both in the overarching structure and in the harmonic themes in the story itself. And the language (coined words too) conveys those musical ideas.
Don't forget that Anthony Burgess was first and foremost a musician, so I need to think of this story as a musical theme, ugly or not.
I'm having a little trouble with the language, but so thankful for the link to the glossary. :) I've found there are a whole lot of different words used for boys and girls! I'm shocked at the violence in the first two chapters. And, it seems like it's only gonna get worse...
I have been doing this a chapter a night pretty much. It's helped with both the language and the violence which is a bit much. I'm done with this block and I am excited to discuss it more. (view spoiler)
Wow! This book was more violent than I thought. :O I shouldn't be surprised with the book description, but I didn't realize the detail. No, I have never seen the movie version, either. (view spoiler) It's getting easier to read after the first 5 chapters, but still occasionally looking up words, sometimes just to verify what I think it means. Glad it's a shorter book, or I may not be able to finish in a month. ;) :)
I confess that I read this in high school, and didn't realize until I was finished that there was a nadsat dictionary in the back. That might be a better way to do it. Burgess was dissatisfied with the addition of the dictionary in the US additions. It does not show up in the 50th Anniversary edition published by Norton, for instance, though it has extensive endnotes. I am charmed by nadsat. I think Burgess uses it to show Alex is smart ( his language is much more elegant and poetic and flowing in the book), but also his lower class origins. His attempts at a "very refined manner of speech, a real gentleman so goloss." (26) Which carry a strained aspect that those fumbling with flowery speech often have. Some nadsat is evocative of Cockney, a dialect that was often cryptic in order to confuse police and other authorities.
I also loved that Burgess brings in a character that is writing a book called "A Clockwork Orange," a thrilling bit of authorial magic. The horror of the rape of the wife was real to Burgess. His wife was raped during WW2 by marauding AWOL US soldiers who were never apprehended. His wife mis-carried after the event ( and never conceived again thus making the couple childless) and her wedding ring finger was broken.
I was also taken by the description of Alex's catharsis while listening to Classic Music, in this case an imaginary violin concerto by an imaginary symphony ( unless there really is Macon Philharmonic?) " Oh, it was wonder of wonders. And then, a bird of like rarest spun heaven metal, or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all none sense now, came the violin solo above all other strings, and those strings were like a cage of silk around my bed." (39) It is rewarding to re-read a good book after a long wait. It makes one realize reading is a sense that improves with age. Sight, hearing, and even taste may taper off, but my reading is deeper, more intense, more flavorful and rewarding.
I find Alex liking classical music so much as a contradiction. He's so violent at night, and yet doesn't like to listen to anything but classical music, a calm music. And, I agree Rob, the description of the violin concerto was quite poetic. :)
Kimberly wrote: "I find Alex liking classical music so much as a contradiction. He's so violent at night, and yet doesn't like to listen to anything but classical music, a calm music."At first, I also thought Alex's classical appreciation felt contradictory to his violent whims. However, I thought it was interesting the way the author described him imagining dramatic violent acts being conducted in tune with his music. To me, this implies that Alex's fantasies are not solely about hurting other people but also about his desire to become larger than life, infamously leaving his own time-tested mark on the world.
Rob wrote: "I confess that I read this in high school, and didn't realize until I was finished that there was a nadsat dictionary in the back. That might be a better way to do it. Burgess was dissatisfied with..."That's horrible about his wife. I had no idea.
Rob wrote: "I also loved that Burgess brings in a character that is writing a book called "A Clockwork Orange," a thrilling bit of authorial magic. The horror of the rape of the wife was real to Burgess. His wife was raped during WW2 by marauding AWOL US soldiers who were never apprehended."Wow. I can't even imagine ... I wish I had known this going into the book. It completely alters my perception of the book.
This week's reading is about:
Chapters 01-05
Feel free to post your thoughts here.