Post by azzamabinladin on Sept 28, 2006 13:08:33 GMT -5
This is, in my opinion, essential reading.
A lot of people are attracted to this book because of its storied violence, but literary scholars value this book because the author, Anthony Burgess (one of the finest writers in the English language) invented a language predicated on Russia winning the cold war.
In a sense, after reading this book the reader walks away with a small bank of Russian vocabulary.
The plot and subsequent sub-plots of this book have become frighteningly real in the 21st century. I tend to look beyond Alex and examine the fact that the police force, by the end of the book, is filled out with street thugs who were once Alex's "droogs." Anyone here who lives in an urban area or listened to "How to Kill A Cop" by Ill Bill has likely learned that the police work as a government-funded gang. The whole "Stop Snitching" movement strated with the police and their "Blue Wall of Silence," which is a refusal by cops to testify against other cops in corruption cases and cases of officers abusing their power.
As a teacher I see schools trying to hire teachers who have a thug image. Sad as it sounds, my own boss says he wants people who can either intimidate the kids into learning or relate to students on the same level that students relate to the latest rap video. It's really quite sickening. This is one of the reasons I am getting out of teaching next year.
Also at issue in this book and very much alive today is behavior modicifation. Alex is given a treatment that prevents him from consciously deciding to do the right thing in life, he does it on newly-developed instinct. What good are his good actions if he doesn't make the choice himself? Today we are beginning to see this concern being raised with anti-depressants. I myself was perscribed anti-depressants when my brother died. I started taking Zoloft and all it did was kill my appetite and make me a Zombie. My eyes were glazed over 24/7 and my brain felt like wet concrete- I was told I was now "normal" and "happy."
Too bad no one saw the turmoil that was being replayed in my brain.
I cut that shit out after one week and flushed the rest of the pills.
Another great point that Burgress makes is that politicains will use you as a means to their own ends. It's kind of scary how the politicians would use Alex to get the results they want from the government. Sad but true, it's going on today.
If you haven't read this book I suggest you do. This isn't even Burgess' best work, which I feel is The Wanting Seed and deals with exactly what Americans are dealing with under the tyrannical rule of George Bush.
Burgess is quite a funny guy himself. Look him up on Wikipedia and I am sure you'll find him fascinating and quite fucked up, in a good way of course.
Peace,
Azzama Bin Ladin aka Member 162 Wants to Fuck Lily Thai
A lot of people are attracted to this book because of its storied violence, but literary scholars value this book because the author, Anthony Burgess (one of the finest writers in the English language) invented a language predicated on Russia winning the cold war.
In a sense, after reading this book the reader walks away with a small bank of Russian vocabulary.
The plot and subsequent sub-plots of this book have become frighteningly real in the 21st century. I tend to look beyond Alex and examine the fact that the police force, by the end of the book, is filled out with street thugs who were once Alex's "droogs." Anyone here who lives in an urban area or listened to "How to Kill A Cop" by Ill Bill has likely learned that the police work as a government-funded gang. The whole "Stop Snitching" movement strated with the police and their "Blue Wall of Silence," which is a refusal by cops to testify against other cops in corruption cases and cases of officers abusing their power.
As a teacher I see schools trying to hire teachers who have a thug image. Sad as it sounds, my own boss says he wants people who can either intimidate the kids into learning or relate to students on the same level that students relate to the latest rap video. It's really quite sickening. This is one of the reasons I am getting out of teaching next year.
Also at issue in this book and very much alive today is behavior modicifation. Alex is given a treatment that prevents him from consciously deciding to do the right thing in life, he does it on newly-developed instinct. What good are his good actions if he doesn't make the choice himself? Today we are beginning to see this concern being raised with anti-depressants. I myself was perscribed anti-depressants when my brother died. I started taking Zoloft and all it did was kill my appetite and make me a Zombie. My eyes were glazed over 24/7 and my brain felt like wet concrete- I was told I was now "normal" and "happy."
Too bad no one saw the turmoil that was being replayed in my brain.
I cut that shit out after one week and flushed the rest of the pills.
Another great point that Burgress makes is that politicains will use you as a means to their own ends. It's kind of scary how the politicians would use Alex to get the results they want from the government. Sad but true, it's going on today.
If you haven't read this book I suggest you do. This isn't even Burgess' best work, which I feel is The Wanting Seed and deals with exactly what Americans are dealing with under the tyrannical rule of George Bush.
Burgess is quite a funny guy himself. Look him up on Wikipedia and I am sure you'll find him fascinating and quite fucked up, in a good way of course.
Peace,
Azzama Bin Ladin aka Member 162 Wants to Fuck Lily Thai