A Clockwork Orange

Discussion in 'Sci-Fi Books' started by jendi17, May 20, 2004.

  1. jendi17

    jendi17 Member

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    I heard that A Clockwork Orange is a really good book, Has anyone read it, and what is it about?
     
  2. Penny

    Penny Supermoderaginaire

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    I've read it! It's a very good book, if you like crazy stories about crazy people...
    It's a black comedy. A critique of the government, a critique of people for the goverment, people against the goverment...
    The main character, Alex, is a very disturbed kid, who loves violence. The whole story is based around him.

    The author made a very good point with A Clockwork Orange: Alex going to prison for a crime, and then used as an anti-crime technique for the government, technique that has many bad sides, and then used by people who are against the government which does him harm as well.
    After he was in prison, he was used by everyone as a way of making a point - a selfish point to help themselves, to further a cause.
     
  3. BraveSirRubin

    BraveSirRubin Members

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    I am currently reading it, and finidng it to be terrible. Infantil ideas, and outdated critices. Plus, I cannot help but despise Alex. I dropped that book for a while, and am reading some Hemingway...
     
  4. backtothelab

    backtothelab Senior Member

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    das some funny shit
     
  5. Penny

    Penny Supermoderaginaire

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    Yeah like for example the language the author puts in Alex's mouth! It's crazy...
     
  6. BraveSirRubin

    BraveSirRubin Members

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    He just uses russian words. original...maybe.......... crazy....no.
     
  7. backtothelab

    backtothelab Senior Member

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    he did'nt just throw in a couple of russian words, jesus christ, did you even read the book, jackass
     
  8. We_All_Shine_On

    We_All_Shine_On Senior Member

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    a fine read.... especially if you already know what viddy well and dirty old soomkas means.... I suggest the clockwork to english dictionary(someone really made one ) online....
     
  9. We_All_Shine_On

    We_All_Shine_On Senior Member

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    omg you know whats in my head now? I little bit o the old ultraviolence, me droogs...
     
  10. wiufcaoltp

    wiufcaoltp Welcome To The Interzone

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    The book is certainly a masterpiece of black humour... among other things... Some people have a hard time stomaching the more violent parts, but the only part that can make me cringe slightly is the part where Alex and his droogs break into that writer's house and rape his wife in front of him. That's the only part which steps over the line for me... but perhaps it was the point.

    I think the nadsat language (well, it's basically English with some Russian thrown in and I believe some Rumanian as well, but I'm not sure. But it's not limited to that, there are other original expressions thrown in the mix) is pretty funny, actually.
     
  11. BraveSirRubin

    BraveSirRubin Members

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    Please refrain from talking like the idiot that you are.

    Yes, he substituted some english words for Russian words, creating a type of "slang" language. He did a good job at it too, but that does not make the book any better.

    I am rather sure that all of you people who cannot speak Russian must have had the hardest time reading this book... if you read it without a dictionary, or anything like that, you probebly missed half of the story.
     
  12. BraveSirRubin

    BraveSirRubin Members

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    Yes, the humour is wonderful, but it does not truly fit the storyline, which is weak.
     
  13. wiufcaoltp

    wiufcaoltp Welcome To The Interzone

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    You know, I've heard many people complaining about that. I personally never had much of a problem understanding it, except for perhaps the first few pages. After the first chapter I'd gotten pretty used to it, and I've re-read the book a few times since then. I basically understand everything by now. This may be because in the first edition I read there was a part in the back which translated everything, and anyway, most of the Russian words and invented words are repeated many times... by the time you're halfway through the book there aren´t any words you didn´t come across the first half, with maybe an exception or two.
     
  14. BraveSirRubin

    BraveSirRubin Members

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    Well, maybe for some readers, there is the fascination of discovering the slang. I personally fluently speak, read, and write Russian, so I was truly not impressed by the slang words. They brought no thrill to me, because I already knew all of them.
     
  15. wiufcaoltp

    wiufcaoltp Welcome To The Interzone

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    You're lucky, I quite like that language, even though I know next to nothing about it.

    It makes me wonder, though... how would a Russian translation of the book look? I mean that rhetorically, by the way.
     
  16. TARABELLE

    TARABELLE on the road less traveled

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    Made a great movie, too. Visually strong.
     
  17. BraveSirRubin

    BraveSirRubin Members

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    Rewriting the slang in a foreigh language would be editing the book, and therefore, not legimate. I'm rather sure that they would just leave the "slang" words as they are, and maybe include some of the english slang, such as "horrorshow".
     
  18. Penny

    Penny Supermoderaginaire

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    Original... yes, crazy... I still say yes! To me at least - but not crazy in the insane way, I meant, crazy in the context, and yeah, crazy in the original way.
     
  19. Lindiglo

    Lindiglo Member

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    That's a lotta BS. I read the book without knowing Russian or using a dictionary and I didn't lose any of the meaning. Through the context it is rather simple to comprehend the meaning of the words. It is not just Russian words. There are English words with new meanings, as well. I'm with wiufcaoltp. Once you get past those first few pages and realize what the hell is going on, you're golden.
    Lindi
     
  20. Andy73

    Andy73 Member

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    I've seen the movie many many times, one of my favorites. It is one of the few really good violent movies, otherwise I don't like violence in movies.

    Is the book very similar to the movie?
     

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