Book 139: Finished.

“When a man cannot chose, he ceases to be a man.”

This might be one of the first times I've finished a book off my list and don't think I will read it again (at least not for a long time). Sometimes when I read, I know that I will have to read a book again for various reasons. It might be that some passages were unclear, or that I loved it and want to revisit it, or that I feel pulled to it in some way. There are other reasons, of course, and while I was certainly blown away by what was in A Clockwork Orange, I think one read was enough for me...at least for now.

I talked a little bit about it when I wrote about my initial impressions last week, but this novel is insane. On top of the slang, there is also the violence. And while most of it takes place in the first few chapters, there are sentences and other passages later on that bring it back to the forefront of the novel. Usually I can handle violence and gore. On the few occasions that someone has been seriously injured at the park, I can completely handle whatever is in front of me. I can stand watching it in movies. I'm not okay with it, but I can see it and understand.

For some reason, the violence in A Clockwork Orange was a but much for me. I mentioned in my first post that Alex, the narrator, and his friends beat up and gang rape a young woman early on in the novel. That was a difficult scene to read, but Burgess mentions Alex leering at other women and thinking about raping them as well. It turned my stomach quite a few times.

I think the violence is so powerful because of the slang. I mentioned this in both of my earlier posts on the book, but Alex and his friends talk in nadsat, a crazy slang that dominates the novel. The words even sound harsh, so when Alex talks about raping a woman, or beating another person, it comes across even more violent, if possible. It is hard to explain exactly what I mean, but if you have read the novel, I hope you understand.

But, even with all the violence, Burgess has an interesting story, and one that I really loved...in some kind of weird way. Alex is finally imprisoned after being held responsible for killing an older woman. While in prison, Alex doesn't seem to change. Instead, the government decides to use a new technique on him to help him avoid violence. Forcing him to sit in a chair, his eyelids pried open, they show him super violent and horrifying movies, accompanied by music. Slowly, he begins to feel sick when seeing the videos and even when he has the tiniest thought of violence. The idea is to force him into making good decisions and making him a positive edition to society. He cannot choose to react by thinking violently without sickness crippling him. He is no longer free to choose his own response.

This is the part of the novel I truly loved, as it focused so much on those kinds of moral dilemmas. If we could reform violent criminals so that they could never have another violent thought, should we? Is it right to manipulate their brains and thought processes so they no longer have that kind of freedom? I like that Burgess brought that kind idea forward as we continued to read about Alex's adjustment to being unable to make decisions as he reentered the world as a free man.

Burgess actually made me sympathize with Alex as he struggles to find his place. Since the movies he watched were full of classical music, he can't listen to anything by Mozart, or Beethoven, or any of the others without feeling sick. Because in addition to suppressing his violent urges, they took away one of the only things that made him truly happy-listening to music and feeling it. I actually had to explain the whole thing to Matt so I wouldn't feel guilty about feeling bad for Alex.

At the end, the government who was responsible for the changes made in Alex is challenged, and he is healed-finally giving him back the power of choice in his own life. I was moved by it, and confused about how I felt. Like I said, I hated Alex at the beginning because of the things he did, but by the end...I felt for him.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to read this again. It was so violent and powerful I don't think it requires a second read. There are passages and bits that I don't think I'll forget, and others I would like to.

“That's what it's going to be then, brothers, as I come to the like end of this tale. You have been everywhere with your little droog Alex, suffering with him, and you have viddied some of the most grahzny bratchnies old Bog ever made, all on to your old droog Alex. And all it was was that I was young. But now as I end this story, brothers, I am not young, not no longer, oh no. Alex like groweth up, oh yes.

But where I itty now, O my brothers, is all on my oddy knocky, where you cannot go. Tomorrow is all like sweet flowers and the turning young earth and the stars and the old Luna up there and your old droog Alex all on his oddy knocky seeking like a mate. And all that cal. A terrible grahzny vonny world, really, O my brothers. And so farewell from your little droog. And to all others in this story profound shooms of lipmusic brrrrrr. And they can kiss my sharries. But you, O my brothers, remember sometimes thy little Alex that was. Amen. And all that call.”

*Finishing this one means one book down for the Magical March Reading Event!*

Weekly Wrap-up for March 18, 2012.

I am surrounded by piles of essays on Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (96 to be exact), so I know I will need to cut my blogging time down this morning. While it isn't possible to finish all those essays today, I do need to get through a full class set by Tuesday morning. But after just a few, my mind wanders in a million directions and I see images of Lennie and George everywhere.

School is finally starting to settle into a routine. My body is still adjusting to the sleeping schedule, as well as being a little more intense in my actions each day. After being off work for 3 1/2 months, it is a little tough to be mentally "with" it. I know it is just a phase and once I am used to everything, it'll be fine. I'm sure that transition will be this week. It also didn't help that in my first two weeks we had conferences twice, as well as all the state testing. Another teacher said that the weather is throwing everyone off. We've had a week of 60 and 70 degree weather, making it feel like May. It has made the teachers and students anxious...even though we have months of school left. :)

In my classes, I did a project all week with my junior English class on Night. It was a preparatory step for their essay they are starting tomorrow, so I hope it helped them think about theme. My sophomores spent the first three days of the week revising their essays. THAT was a fun experience. I met with each of them for a few minutes to talk about some of their issues, so I HOPE that this pile of essays are improved from what I saw.

And my elective class started the unit on The Hunger Games. We read Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" as a way to get into the idea of utopia vs. dystopia. They really liked the creepiness of the story, so that was good. We also spent a day discussing the background of the novel-setting, main characters, etc. as a way to get them used to some of the ides. We started it on Monday and they have to have part 1 finished by tomorrow's class, as they have a quiz. They're enjoying it so far. I have a few who are hesitant about it, but I think my own excitement about teaching it is inspiring them at least a little. We also started the game I created on Friday, so I will make sure to share a bit more about it later this week.

So, with all that school stuff going on, I haven't had much time for reading OR blogging. I think I logged into blogspot twice all week because I simply didn't have time. Now that things are calming down, I'm going to reinforce the idea of having balance to get back into blogging and reading on my own on a regular basis. That being said, if you have an awesome post from this past week, please link it for me below so I make sure to go visit. My reader is a little insane with the number of posts to read!

I did manage to finish A Clockwork Orange on Friday night (my thoughts will be up tomorrow), and I started Verne's A Journey to the Center of the Earth yesterday morning. I'm really liking it, but I figured I would since I loved 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea so darn much. I've set aside Nicholas Nickleby for a couple months. I don't have the focus to get back into it, so I think picking it back up in May or June is a better idea.

Lastly, I announced two big events taking place. One, the Clarissa readalong, it coming up rather soon. If you missed the post, you can read it here. Basically, Jillian, Adam, and myself are going to try reading the entire novel in the month of April (thus why I am putting off the Dickens title). We have a few other people who might be joining in as well.

The other big event is "A Victorian Celebration," taking place in June and July. I know it was early to announce, but I was a bit excited about it, so I wanted to spring it on everyone early. :) I have great plans for stuff during the event, as well as some prizes, etc. There is no minimum number of books to read for it, so if you are thinking of tackling a Bronte, or Trollope, or Collins, that is the time to do it!

I am also joining in on an event hosted by O at Delaisse. We e-mailed a bit over the last week or so, and she announced this week a readathon of Joyce's Ulysses this Bloomsday (June 16). She is far more eloquent than I could hope to be in her explanation of the event, so traipse over to her blog if you are curious about the event. Basically we will be attempting to read all of Ulysses that day in celebration of Joyce.

This week my plans are merely to finish the Verne title, as well as starting one of the other novels I had selected for Adam's Magical March Event. I'm leaning towards the Wells, simply because I haven't read something by him in a long time, but I might change my mind. ;)

Happy reading everyone!

A Victorian Celebration Sign-up Post!

Welcome to the sign-up post for A Victorian Celebration, an event taking place this June and July! I'm really excited about this event, especially because I have been planning it for months. The Victorians are very near and dear to my heart. Some of my very favorite writers come from the era, and I still have many others to discover. During the months of June and July, I'm only going to be reading titles from this time period. I hope you'll decide to join me for a text or two.

The Victorian era in literature refers to the time that Queen Victoria was ruling in Britain (1837-1901). It was a time period of great peace and prosperity for Britain and allowed for a lot of artistic and literary expression. Generally speaking, Victorians are only the British authors who published during this time period. However, some like to group American writers and others into the mix since their work can be closely tied together.

To give you an idea of what writers I am talking about, some of the most well-known Victorian writers include: Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Wilkie Collins, William Makepeace Thackeray, Anthony Trollope, and the Bronte sisters. Others include Lewis Carroll, Robert Louis Stevenson, Anna Sewell, and the Brownings. There are countless more, but these are the big hitters and those most commonly referred to as Victorians.

For this event, the goal is to read as many Victorian pieces as you wish during the months of June and July. I will have posts going up throughout the event on different authors, as well as my own reviews on Victorian pieces and biographies of writers. There will also be prizes (lots of them) that will go up throughout the two month event. If you are going to participate, you can read a novel from the era, a biography on a writer or Queen Victoria herself, or anything else pertaining to the era. All posts will help you qualify for prizes, which I'll explain as we get closer to the event's starting line!

(Important: I will allow you to read books by non-British writers if they were written during the time period of the Victorians, but for certain prizes those books won't count-more on that as the starting date appears).

To sign up, all you need to do is comment below with your intentions. :) Then, feel free to grab a button, spread the word, and help me get bloggers signed up. Events like this are more fun with more participants!

If you sign up by May 1, 2012, you will be entered to win YOUR CHOICE of the following (Victorian) Penguin Clothbound books:

• Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
• A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings by Charles Dickens
• Bleak House by Charles Dickens
• Hard Times by Charles Dickens
• Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
•  A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• Middlemarch by George Eliot
• Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
• Tess of D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

You can still sign up after May 1, but you won't be entered to win one of those titles (don't worry, plenty more prizes during the event!). The book will be shipped via The Book Depository, so as long as they deliver to your country, you will qualify to win the sign-up prize!

I hope you'll consider joining, and I look forward to lots of reading come June and July!

*I am looking for bloggers interested in writing guest posts or hosting a giveaway related to the event. If you are interested, please e-mail me at aliteraryodyssey (at) gmail.com so I can talk it over with you!*

Book 139: On First Impressions and Imagery.

I finally began to sit down with A Clockwork Orange after mulling over your comments on my book stats post. I was a little frightened when some of you suggested printing a glossary or familiarizing myself with "nadsat," the slang of the characters within the novel.

I decided against it, after thinking about how often I have to rely on context clues when I read high fantasy. I figured one or two words wouldn't throw me completely off.

Are you laughing at me yet?

I had to reread the first chapter a couple of times to get into the flow of the novel, and I find myself concentrating very hard on what I am reading. But as I am moving forward in the novel, I find that the slang gets easier to understand as my mind begins to make connections between the words Burgess uses and my own English word to replace it. And my idea about using context clues? Hehe. When a sentence is comprised of mainly slang, context clues are essentially no good.

Let me show you what I mean. Here is the first portion of the novel taken from chapter 1:

"'What's it going to be then, eh?'

There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry. The Korova Milkbar was a milk-plus mesto, and you may, O my brothers, have forgotten what these mestos were like, things changing so skorry these days and everybody very quick to forget, newspapers not being read much neither," (3).

See what I mean?

But once you get into the flow of how young Alex talks, it becomes easier and easier to understand. It is just getting over that hump of understanding what the heck is trying to say.

The beginning of the book transitions from beautiful descriptions and detail, to horrible violence and pain. I get what Burgess is trying to show me-that youth can be insane and violent and misunderstood-but that it has consequences, and I know those consequences are coming for Alex.

Very early on in the novel, Alex and his droogs are out on the town and commit multiple acts of violence towards the people they come across. They rip up a professor's books and break into a couple's home-beating them both and gang raping the wife. It is violent and angry and gives the reader the impression that these boys cannot be human to do these things to others. I had to set the book down for a moment after the rape scene. It was disturbing and something I wanted to avoid thinking about.

But what drew me back to the book was the writing. Because as crazy and as insane as the boys are, they're people.

There is a passage that I absolutely loved. I actually posted it on my Facebook Sunday afternoon because I was blown away by the power of the imagery and the words....

“Oh it was gorgeousness and gorgeosity made flesh. The trombones crunched redgold under my bed, and behind my gulliver the trumpets three-wise silverflamed, and there by the door the timps rolling through my guts and out again crunched like candy thunder. Oh, it was wonder of wonders. And then, a bird of like rarest spun heavenmetal, or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship, gravity all nonsense now, came the violin solo above all the other strings, and those strings were like a cage of silk round my bed. Then flute and oboe bored, like worms of like platinum, into the thick thick toffee gold and silver. I was in such bliss, my brothers," (37).

In that passage, I could almost be Alex. As someone who plays an instrument (trumpet), I know how it feels to be in the midst of classical music. There is something so powerful and wondrous about music written centuries before. It captures the same sense of human emotion that we feel today-love, power, loss, and yes, violence. And I love that Burgess shows that while Alex has a crazy yearning for violence, he can feel that power in things other than himself, like music.

I can't wait to keep reading-to see where Burgess takes Alex-and whether Alex will redeem himself and grow up.

I think I'm going to love this when I finish.

Announcing Clarissa in April: A Readalong and Sign-ups.

I'm happy to finally announce "Clarissa in April," a group readalong hosted by myself, Jillian, and Adam for the month of April.

Jillian and I have been talking about Clarissa by Samuel Richardson for months, so I am glad we're finally nearing the month we decided to read it. I think we made our plans last October! We recruited Adam in our evil plan a couple months ago, so the three of us are set and primed to dive into one of the English language's longest books.

At close to a million words, nothing else really comes that close to this chunky brick of a book. And what better challenge for ourselves than to dive in and read it in 30 days?

You know that I'm always game for a challenge!

All three of us have the Penguin paperback edition (Seen at left). Our graphic for the event, above, was taken from the cover as inspiration (the image is the 1740 painted called "Sir Edward and Lady Turner"). The book is massive at 1499 pages (1533 with notes) and pretty tiny print. When my book was shipped to me, my packing slip told me it was over 5 pounds.

This is going to be fun. :)

We want to extend an invitation to anyone who wants to join in on the fun. We're going to approach this in a very low-key manner. After talking about it, we don't want to have a posting or reading schedule, which will give us the freedom to go at our own pace and post as we wish to (If you do want a strict schedule, it works out to reading 50 pages a day, or 350 pages a week).

If you feel like joining in, feel free to grab the graphic and post about it. The more the merrier! :)

And if 30 days is a bit too much for you, there is a year-long group read of the book taking place with Lakeside Musing and Tip of the Iceberg.

See you in April!