a clockwork orange by anthony burgess

pardon me if i would once again use the word interesting for this one. i mean, it really was interesting. the language itself is enough to prove that point. and even if the language, at first, could fool one into thinking that if he went on reading the book he wouldn't understand a single thing, actually becomes comprehensible once you get used to it. it's really nothing like anything i've read. politically-charged and really cool at the same time. the ending made me think: is badness just some phase we all go through as kids? is it true that eventually we get tired of it and start thinking of a better future? because that, i think, was what the ending implied. and i think alex is really cool. a genuine music freak with an astute mind but decided to channel his brilliance through violent means. he just happened to really be interested in violence and all those bad things people associate the youth nowadays with. he may be the embodiment of everything negative about the world's perception of the youth. and the issue about the free will, i think that yes, free will had essentially been taken away from him. he may have had a choice to inflict harm upon others, but then again, something was already implanted in his mind that compelled him to be actually be innocuous. it's like using torture in interrogation. it's like the interrogator will ask a person questions, and the former will then insist that the latter has the option whether to answer or not. but when the person does not answer, his ass will then become a hapless victim to belligerence. so yeah, i find it absurd that some people think alex had free will.

also, this book is trying to forward the message that we are natural, like oranges (coincidentally, i also found out that orang means human in malay), and therefore we shouldn't be treated as robots or mere subjects that can be controlled. treating us like mechanical creatures is something truly inexcusable. at least that's what this book, i think, is trying to say. the reason why i thought of that is because the ludovico method, in the end, didn't even work. alex was able to overcome the artificial hatred toward violence. and afterward, he naturally got tired of violence. he grew up, so to speak. i think what this is trying to say is that people do change. it's a natural process and it will only work that way. you yourself, and not anybody else, should be the catalyst.

but then again, i think there is a controversial side to this story. it makes me think of the issue of freedom choice vs. security. i mean, was it really ultimately wrong that his will was taken away from him, given the fact that he was a true blue scoundrel who was always out there doing God-knows-what? it's really somewhat debatable, too. i think in the end, in the context of a formal debate, the government's move can actually be justified. but for me, i think it's really bad to take away someone's will. it's like incinerating a God's greatest gift. haha.

so yeah. i really, really like this story :) the language is cool. and i like alex!