Literature - Ressurected (Fair warning of spoilers)

[Labyrinth]

I did one of these threads way back, around about the same time as I started The Artist thread. While our Art is going strong, the literature has dropped back into the murky depths and I've elected to restart rather than dredge it up.

So here goes.

This is a place for the discussion of books. Any books. I'm talking short semi-reviews and critical thinking about what happens in the books. Spamming "GARH HATE HATE HATE TWILIGHT GAHHH" is not critical thinking, so none of that thanks. If you offer a genuine overview of why you dislike the books it's closer to the point of this thread. Any discussion pertaining to the significance of literature is also very welcome here. Authors too.

As ever there is fair warning that spoilers may be present here due to plot and character analysis.

Spoiler: A Clockwork Orange plot. Spoilers!

A Clockwork Orange is a like horrorshow classic written by Anthony Burgess to offer a viddy into the rassoodock of a 15-year-old malchick in a dystopian world of ultraviolence and nadsat. Our Humble Narrator Alex leads the reader through his experience as a malchick dodging school, drinking milk-plus and tollchoking any starry chellovek he comes across alongside droogs Dim, Pete and George.

Alex winds up in prison for making the red red krovvy run too far from one particular devotchka which laid her like dead. After two sorry years inside he turns to a Ludivico technique for a quick release which removes Our Humble Narrator's capacity to commit ultraviolence against anyone because it makes him feel so very sick. Once released, Alex is set upon by previous victims of the ultraviolence including a group of starry people in a library, some of his old droogs and a writer he tollchoked and did the old in out in out upon the wife of.

The run-in with the writer begins with Alex being taken in like horrorshow because the writer is stringently against the Ludivico technique as it removes the human capacity to rassoodock for oneself. At first the writer doesn't viddy who Alex is, though eventually realisation dawns and he traps Our Humble Narrator in a second-floor room. A piece of music Alex had loved before it was turned with the same sickness as ultraviolence is played and in his anguished state Alex throws himself out of the window.

Consciousness dawns all like bright and hospitalised with a real horrorshow nurse for Alex. While in a skorry coma his head has been 'fixed', returned to the state it was in before and leaving Alex to continue his malchick habits once out of hospital. Strange enough this wears thin because the older Humble Narrator sees like little point in it any more.

A spectacular read with quirky, imaginative language and haunting themes. The book isn't intended as something to support violence but instead something to represent the importance of free will even when it is used to perform violent acts. Funnily enough Burgess mourns that it is his most celebrated work, considering himself to have written other, better things which were never as well received.

 

[Anachronism]

Good thread; I can see this lasting quite a while. I really need to get round to reading Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?, not that that has anything to do with anything.

I started reading Terry Pratchett's stuff last summer, and it has to be said, since then he's become one of my favourite authors. I've read something like 12 of his books already, and they've all been brilliant; I plan to pick some more up before this summer. I do particularly like the ones about the Watch, though. Detritus is hilarious.

Favourite one so far, though, would be Going Postal. Obviously there's social satire in all of his books, but the satire in this one particularly appealed to me, since it was anti-text message and anti-email, as am I (to a certain extent, at least). Like he says in the book, it's just way too impersonal. It's convenient, but there are much more preferable ways of communicating.

 

[Labyrinth]

I started reading Terry Pratchett's stuff last summer, and it has to be said, since then he's become one of my favourite authors. I've read something like 12 of his books already, and they've all been brilliant; I plan to pick some more up before this summer. I do particularly like the ones about the Watch, though. Detritus is hilarious.

Favourite one so far, though, would be Going Postal. Obviously there's social satire in all of his books, but the satire in this one particularly appealed to me, since it was anti-text message and anti-email, as am I (to a certain extent, at least). Like he says in the book, it's just way too impersonal. It's convenient, but there are much more preferable ways of communicating.

To be honest I don't enjoy his Moist von Lipwig books quite so much as the older Discworld ones. It feels like that groove's become a little worn. Branching out from Discworld seems to be his current mission and the result in Nation is spectacular, as with the Diggers and Wings pair. Diggers in particular is great because it's Plato's Cave on so many levels. A pity he has Alzheimer's really.

 

[Lord George]

I loved A clockwork Orange and did my A level coursework on it, a fascinating tale examining the very core of morality. Shame the film was made from the wrong version of the book and ended up portraying Alex as a complete psychopath when in truth he was just young and reckless.

I've been reading Wicked:the life and times of the wicked witch of the west. Its basically the wizard of Oz from the Witches point of view but Very very very Dark and evil, it looks at themes such as racism, political scapegoats, the true nature of evil. The distinction between man and beast and gay tigers. I encourage anyone to read it. Its also what the muscial Wicked was based off.

 

[Galletea]

A Clockwork Orange, one of many many books on the To-Read list.
At the moment, I'm working my way through the many stories of Sherlock Holmes, which I heartily recommend. I don't think I need divulge much by way of plot, since Holmes is such a well known figure, but there is enough intrigue and wit in these stories to keep one occupied for hours, and the narration through Watson makes for a well structured collection of tales with an accessible style.

I am very fond of literature as a whole and try to read from a variety of genres. Personally I find reading far more enjoyable than watching a film, as the images you get are your interpretation of the author's words, and I'd rather be an active participant in the story than having it fed to my brain by pictures.

 

[More Fun To Compute]

I have never read the Clockwork Orange book but have seen the film. The only Burgess novel that I have read is The Wanting Seed and I have to say that it was more disturbing than the Clockwork Orange. It deals with classic British dystopian themes like overpopulation and the food chain in a fairly shocking way.

 

[Anachronism]

To be honest I don't enjoy his Moist von Lipwig books quite so much as the older Discworld ones. It feels like that groove's become a little worn. Branching out from Discworld seems to be his current mission and the result in Nation is spectacular, as with the Diggers and Wings pair. Diggers in particular is great because it's Plato's Cave on so many levels. A pity he has Alzheimer's really.

I really need to get round to reading Nation; I've heard nothing but good things about it. It does really suck that he has Alzheimer's, though. He seems alright at the moment, and he even did a TV series about the disease, but it's only a matter of time, I guess. I just hope he manages to write a few more books before the unthinkable happens.

In other news, what's the general opinion on the sixth Hitchhiker's Guide book? I, for one, am a die-hard fan of the others, but I'm sceptical about the sixth one, to say the least. Frankly, I think they should just leave well enough alone; I know a lot of people didn't particularly like Mostly Harmless, but I thought it was the perfect way to end the series. My problems with the fact that they're making a sixth one are that I don't see how they'll continue the story, and the fact that Eoin Colfer's writing it. Don't get me wrong, he's a very good writer in his own right, but he's just not Douglas Adams.

 

[NewGeekPhilosopher]

I have read Junchiro Tanazaki's Quicksand, which is about a young married woman who narrates her story of fall from grace to a nameless writer, in a sort of fractured narrative sort of way. Somehow it works, you can see glimpses of the sort of style Alan Moore uses in the "Under the Hood" parts of Watchmen.

Also, have any of you guys read the book "Train Man"? Even if you don't like Japanese anime it's a novel comprised of real life internet posts from 2Channel concerning the true story of an otaku who falls in love with a girl on a train after rescuing her from a drunkard there. Being a lonely single guy in my teens this was the shiz for me growing into a man and maturing into asking out real women instead of gawking at anime girls all day, even if the real girls continued to reject me.

As for non-Japanese stuff has anyone read The Stolen Child by Keith Donahue? Really powerful coming of age story even though it's an urban fantasy book about Changelings. The baby stealing Faerie kind.

I highly recommend the James Bond series by Ian Fleming as well, ooh, I get all gushy when it comes to recommending books, oh my!

 

[Juan Regular]

I hated Clockwork Orange. All my friends loathe me for saying that, but man I hated it.
Right now I'm reading a very pleasant little love story called "Gut gegen Nordwind" by Daniel Glattauer and after that it'll be "Pigmy", the new Chuck Palahniuk. Can't wait.

 

[Tech Team FTW!]

I'll bookmark this and post a mini-review when I finally get done reading War and Peace.

 

[edinflames]

I started reading Terry Pratchett's stuff last summer, and it has to be said, since then he's become one of my favourite authors. I've read something like 12 of his books already, and they've all been brilliant; I plan to pick some more up before this summer. I do particularly like the ones about the Watch, though. Detritus is hilarious.

Favourite one so far, though, would be Going Postal. Obviously there's social satire in all of his books, but the satire in this one particularly appealed to me, since it was anti-text message and anti-email, as am I (to a certain extent, at least). Like he says in the book, it's just way too impersonal. It's convenient, but there are much more preferable ways of communicating.

To be honest I don't enjoy his Moist von Lipwig books quite so much as the older Discworld ones. It feels like that groove's become a little worn. Branching out from Discworld seems to be his current mission and the result in Nation is spectacular, as with the Diggers and Wings pair. Diggers in particular is great because it's Plato's Cave on so many levels. A pity he has Alzheimer's really.

Much as I love the early Discworld novels (Rincewind & the early Night Watch are awesome) I think Pratchett is best suited to children's fiction. He has a gift for taking big ideas and making them digestible for young minds. Truckers, Diggers and Wings helped to make me into the avid reader I am today.

Clockwork Orange is fantastic, got me reading Burgess's other works. One I highly recommend is 'Kingdom of the Wicked'; which focuses on the lives of several of the disciples as well as other interesting characters after Jesus's (supposed) ascension, written from the perspective of a Roman historian. A truly engrossing novel.

 

[JanatUrlich]

Read Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z. Brite. THAT SHIT IS AWESOME.

I hated 1984. I found it extremely boring, the only interesting bit being the torture in the Ministry of Love. Completely over rated. Animal Farm was alright though, but possibly because I have some crazy fascination with Trotsky

 

[Labyrinth]

I loved A clockwork Orange and did my A level coursework on it, a fascinating tale examining the very core of morality. Shame the film was made from the wrong version of the book and ended up portraying Alex as a complete psychopath when in truth he was just young and reckless.

That's why the final part of the book is so pivotal. When Alex realises that what he really wants now that he's grown up a bit is a son and a wife, he also realises that the cycle of violence will repeat in the son. It reflects back on the father character's helplessness in the face of Alex's habits.

 

[Anachronism]

Herodotus is the best read I've found in ages. Well written and almost funny, it gives you fascinating lore in bite-size chunks and seems to go on forever in a haze of totally entertaining stories/histories. I know that the book's style is - by implication - unpolished and a bit vertical, and of course i'm aware that my reading the translated-to-english version is terrible, but it's honestly a book anyone who takes themselves seriously in the realm of classical history should read.

Oh sure, you like Herodotus now, but you haven't had to read the Histories in the original Greek.

To be fair to the guy, the stories he has to tell are pretty entertaining, but the problem I now have with him is the same as I have with the Iliad: I associate it with work. Having to study Herodotus just about sucked all the joy out of it, which is a pity, because I would probably have quite enjoyed it otherwise.

 

[Galletea]

I found 1984 to be rather good. The vision of dystopia has fascinated me for a long time though, and this one certainly captured my interest with its structured hierarchy and intriguing history and rules system.
In a somewhat similar vein, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood is also worth a read. Atwood is a feminist writer, which is rather obvious in her works, documenting the female struggle, and this novel continues this theme, but against the background of a post nuclear patriarchal society. It's an interesting story with plenty of tension and plot twists.

 

[Trivun]

I started reading Terry Pratchett's stuff last summer, and it has to be said, since then he's become one of my favourite authors. I've read something like 12 of his books already, and they've all been brilliant; I plan to pick some more up before this summer. I do particularly like the ones about the Watch, though. Detritus is hilarious.

Favourite one so far, though, would be Going Postal. Obviously there's social satire in all of his books, but the satire in this one particularly appealed to me, since it was anti-text message and anti-email, as am I (to a certain extent, at least). Like he says in the book, it's just way too impersonal. It's convenient, but there are much more preferable ways of communicating.

To be honest I don't enjoy his Moist von Lipwig books quite so much as the older Discworld ones. It feels like that groove's become a little worn. Branching out from Discworld seems to be his current mission and the result in Nation is spectacular, as with the Diggers and Wings pair. Diggers in particular is great because it's Plato's Cave on so many levels. A pity he has Alzheimer's really.

Personally I haven't really read any of Pratchett's non-Discworld stuff, but the later Discworld novels are my favourites. Anything after Jingo, really, with the better ones for me being the later few, especially Moist von Lipwig. I just feel that the stories there are the best ones I've personally read, apart from the Watch books, of course. Sam Vimes is easily the most well developed character overall...

Has anybody else here read Ian Irvine's Three Worlds Cycle? It consists of a quartet (The View from the Mirror), a second quartet set 200 years later (The Well of Echoes), and a trilogy ten years after that (The Song of the Tears). Very well written, Irvine (from New South Wales, Australia) was doing a Phd in Marine Biology when he got bored of some essay he had to do and created a series of maps of a fantasy world instead, which ended up over the next ten years being developed into the first quartet. The first in the series got released in 1998 and he's currently working on a further trilogy to add to the eleven books already. Well worth a look, Irvine's writing really draws the reader in and makes you care about the characters to the point that when several major characters die at various points over the Cycle, you really do feel for them and feel a sense of loss. The plots are completely original, which is more than I can say for most fantasy fiction I've read, and despite the fantasy setting, situations and characters are made as realistic as possible which really adds to the sense of engagement in the books. Basically, Irvine has a unique writing style that makes you want to carry on reading regardless of anything else, and his novels are definitely worth reading. Take a look, you won't be disappointed.

(I say that because very few people here, who I've asked in the past, have even heard of Ian Irvine, let alone read his books...)

 

[traceur_]

My favourite book of all time is Angels and demons, it's midnight here and I'm tired so I'll do a mini review when I'm fully conscious.

 

[iain62a]

I'll bookmark this and post a mini-review when I finally get done reading War and Peace.

Heh, I'm about to read that too, just after I finish The Satanic Verses.

But anyway, The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie.

I won't give the plot away, but I'll give a quick summary. Two Indian Muslims, Gibreel Farishta and Saladin Chamcha, fall from an aeroplane that was blown up by terrorists, and they fall into the English Channel, washing up on a beach in England. Their survival is nothing short of a miracle, but it's a very ambiguous miracle. Saladin's legs grow hairier, his feet becoming hooves, and growing horns on his temples. On the other hand, Gibreel gets a halo. They've been chosen by somebody as opponents in the battle between Good and Evil. However, we're not sure which is the good one, and which is the evil one.

It's an incredibly surreal book, and reads more like a stream of consciousness instead of a conventional novel. There are alternating sequences of reality and dreams.

It was hugely controversial on release - the Ayatollah Khomeini declaring a fatwa on Salman Rushdie, as well as anyone else involved in its writing, printing and publishing. Three people involved with the book have been killed, and 37 people were killed in the attempted assasination of the man who translated the book into Turkish. Salman Rushdie had to go into hiding after the publishing of the book, and only came out of it fairly recently. The fatwa is still standing against him though, and his life is still in danger.

However, Salman Rushdie himself said that the novel wasn't about Islam, "but about migration, metamorphosis, divided selves, love, death, London and Bombay."

It's a seriously great novel, and a thought provoking one.

You should all read it.