A Clockwork Orange – Book Review

Blog Overlord Post #3

A Clockwork Orange is a name that is likely familiar with most of you, as it has been made famous by Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film . I personally had never seen the movie when I stumbled upon this book in a small book/music shop in Peekskill, New York called “The Bruised Apple” (if you find yourself in that town, you should go!! If not for the books then for the records or the pinball machine). I decided this book, being rather short and well known, would be “a nice easy beach read for vacation!” So I bought it and boy… nie have I made a worse assumption!

A Clockwork Orange, the book, is written with roughly 10% of its contents in the completely made up words of the fictional language “Nadsat,” which are derived from Polish/Russian slang. This language is meant to display the odd mindset of the delinquent teens who are the center of story, and builds on one tenet I personally first encountered while reading Stranger in a Strange Land, but as a class we uncovered in The Octavia butler “Speech Sounds” introduction from WES: that being the “Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis” that one’s language determines how one thinks and acts in the world.

Here’s a blurb explaining some of Nadsat and its roots (I’m sorry it’s from Wikipedia but I printed a similar list from wikipedia while reading the book to decode some of the language that I had trouble grasping. I think its a good look into it for those who haven’t read this yet!):

“these terms have the following meanings in Nadsat:

droog (друг) = friend; moloko (молоко) = milk; gulliver (голова) = head; malchick (мальчик) or malchickiwick = boy; soomka (сумка) = sack or bag; Bog = God; horrorshow (хорошо) = good; prestoopnick (преступник) = criminal; rooker (рука) = hand; cal (кал) = crap; veck (“человек”) = man or guy; litso (лицо) = face; malenky(маленький) = little

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(novel)#Use_of_slang )

The list goes on and on… The language is extensive.

As for the plot, our main character, Alex, and his “Droogs”, go about committing “ultra-violence” while under the influence of “moloko-plus” (milk with drugs) in a dystopian future version of London where adult society is cooped in their houses at night due to teenage gangs running the streets at night, until one day Alex gets arrested (I won’t say how) and his gang is busted. In jail he is selected as the first prisoner to be used in the “Ludovico Technique,” an operation that removes the urge to commit violence from the brain, but also eliminates choice from a human’s life — arguably making them inhuman. As the text puts it, “When a man cannot choose he ceases to be a man.” While the rest of the book is mostly just Dystopian Fiction, the “Ludovico Technique” element of the plot I think qualifies as sci-fi-esque at the very least. In the final chapters of the book we see how society reacts to the use of this technique, and how Alex’s life is drastically effected. We also see how Alex’s “Droogs” change over the time that he is in jail. Ultimately the book concludes with Alex regaining his ability to choose (again, I won’t say how), but you will have to read it yourself to see whether he chooses love or violence.

I thought this book was very jarring to read due to the graphic nature of violence, however the conversation it inspired between me and my friend who read it about how important choice is within human nature, and what being “a clockwork orange” means, was really engaging but I wouldn’t say fun. The books takes 3-6 hours to read I am so unsure of whether it was worth it but definitely cant say it wasn’t?  At the very most, it may be interesting to engage with the themes it brings up and to see the original text that Kubrick adapted if you have already seen the movie. However, don’t feel bad if you pass on this, and if you haven’t seen the movie don’t bother and don’t read this book if you wish to avoid work that imposes awful scenes on the reader.

This book was banned from several high schools in the 1970’s… and the Author himself wrote this of it.

“We all suffer from the popular desire to make the known notorious. The book I am best known for, or only known for, is a novel I am prepared to repudiate: written a quarter of a century ago, a jeu d’esprit knocked off for money in three weeks, it became known as the raw material for a film which seemed to glorify sex and violence. The film made it easy for readers of the book to misunderstand what it was about, and the misunderstanding will pursue me until I die. I should not have written the book because of this danger of misinterpretation.”

This being said, PLEASE do not read this if you are at all in a fragile or sad mind state. If you do read it, I suppose keep that Burgess quote in mind that he is NOT trying to glorify sex and violence, and try to get to the bottom of what his message is meant to be.

In short: I honestly couldn’t stop reading A Clockwork Orange due to wanting to know what happens to the main character in the end. I read it in two sittings, despite the fact that it was gruesome, and legitimately hard to read due to the extensive brutality throughout most scenes in this novel. It left me in a pensive but very dark mind state. Mainly I think I couldn’t stop reading because the made up language is creative and presents what I think is the only “fun” and oftentimes laugh-worthy aspect of this book. It does manage to provide humor amidst darkness, I must admit. The book also prompts philosophical discussion regarding choice and language that is worthwhile. I can’t quite recommend this but I can’t quite Dis-recommend it either. Overall: 5/10, so Toss a coin perhaps? Or just go for it if you have a draw towards the controversial and are in a good enough place to deal with 180 pages of pure evil bound together.

Welp, there you have it. A Clockwork Orange, folks!

TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THE BOOK: Murder, Sexual Assault/Rape, Police Brutality:

Before reading this book it important to know that “ultra-violence” includes Murder, and Sexual Assault, and that police brutality is present in this book. The scenes of violence are extremely graphic, excessive, and frequent.

Burgess, Anthony. “A Clockwork Orange”. 1962.

 

Daft Punk’s Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (2003)

Overlord Post #2 – Daft Punk Music Video Series

As an avid house music and electronic music fan, Daft Punk is a staple of my library, and I’m sure many of you have enjoyed daft punk in your free time or on a dance floor at some point. Famous for songs like “Around the World,” “Digital Love,” and “Harder Better Faster Stronger”, Daft Punk is one of the most iconic names in the electronic music world.

What many people don’t know about daft punk is that instead of normal music videos for their second studio Album, “Discovery,”  they produced a series of videos that forms one movie!! It runs just over an hour and I’ve attached the link here. There are no words except for the music itself and the story is an awesome animated sci-fi adventure where the members of an alien band are kidnapped and brainwashed into making music for an evil capitalist and stripped of all joy!  Seeing that this has happened, a powerful alien friend has to come rescue the band members and break them free. The story is exceptional, the music suits the visuals perfectly, and there are several sci-fi elements to both the music and the video.

Do watch this if you get the chance! It is one of my favorite musical/visual creations ever 🙂

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Qxe-QOp_-s

Flash Gordon- Movie about War

Flash Gordon the comic book first appeared in the 1930s. There were TV shows in 1954, 1979, 1982, and more, along with the 1980 film that for whatever reason was a large part of my childhood. Having not watched the movie since I was 12, there were several interesting tropes and representations I recognized in my recent most viewing. Since the original character and the film itself come from different decades, I noticed many historical influences in the movie.

The first substantial note would be the red and gold emperor, who is ruthless and all powerful. His subjects are seen with one hand raised calling “Hail Ming Hail.” The red sun reminded me of the Japanese flag, and the signal of supporters seemed reminiscent of Nazi German. Once connecting the villain of the story to the axis powers of World War II, the scene of placing Flash into a gas chamber for his execution took on different meaning. Even though Flash may be a perfect example of Aryan youth, tall blonde athlete, he has gone against the emperor and therefore must die. There is also a secret police force in the film that could be representative of the Gestapo.

The other possible representation of these secret police would be the KGB. Produced during the Cold War, the red and gold could also be that of the Soviet Flag. The theme song, “he’s for every one of us/ stand for every one of us” resembles Cold War propaganda against the red threat of Russia, urging people to stand for their country and fight with them.

Book Recommendation – Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein

Blog Overlord Post #1

So a few months ago I wandered into The Book Barn in Brunswick (2 Lincoln St) and I have just started making my way through the books I picked up there. First of all, the store is awesome! Its essentially a house that only consists of bookshelves that are packed by the man who runs the place with collectors editions of books, go check it out! The place is riddled with Sci-Fi and the owner has plenty of his own recs. Number one on his list was Dune, but having already read it, I opted for #2 — Stranger in a Strange Land (the Uncut Version) by Robert Heinlein.

The book is quite long, 525 pages to be exact, and is worth every page from the editors note through the back cover. The story of how this version came to be is fascinating and told in the editors note. In short, the version of this book that was originally published was limited to 160,000 words because the Publishers thought it would fail horribly, so Heinlein cut his 220,000 word manuscript to meet the quota. It then wins the Hugo award! But After Heinlein’s death this longer version was released and it has become an essentially  unanimous decision that this version takes the cake for being the true masterpiece.

The plot focuses “The Man From Mars,” Michael Valentine Smith, a human who was born on Mars, raised by Martians, and brought back to Earth by humans to “be with his own people.” As the heir to a massive wealth on Earth, it seems the Terran government is trying to hold Michael hostage, so his Nurse and some of her friends work to free the Man From Mars. In an epic turn of events we learn that the Martian human has powers beyond the Terran human realm of understanding, and page by page we see how he utilizes and develops these power once he is free to roam the Earthly world — including through stints in carnivals, fry kitchens, temples, and what could only be described as a nudist sex cult of infinite love and empathy. The importance of Religion, Language (Martian and English), and Sex, and the entanglement of the three are huge philosophical themes in this novel, but others remain relevant including the meanings of family, truth, and love.

One interesting component of the book is that Heinlein coins several “Martian” phrases including, most notably, the word “Grok”, which you better get used to seeing and saying if you intend on reading this novel (it will briefly work its way into your thoughts while, and immediately after you read this book). One Main tenet of the plot is that “Language itself shapes a man’s basic ideas” (212), which is used as a possible explanation for why humans struggle to find happiness, and is also essential to understanding the differences between The Man From Mars and his Earthling peers.

While I really enjoyed reading this, there are some problems with this book:

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexism, Racism, Racial Slurs/Violence, Possible Sexual Coercion, (Attempted Suicide, Cannibalism, also in the book, though not mentioned below)

There definitely is some sense of gender inequality stemming from certain characters, but I have not been able to fully Grok its place amidst a seemingly anarchist / anti-capitalist / sex positive  book. Women definitely derive power from their bodies throughout the story yet sex is de-stigmatized, making me think that from that point on it is purely character that drives attraction rather than physical traits. Nonetheless there is one character who regularly makes quips towards women that are belittling, despite the women playing significant intellectual, religious, and professional roles. I could not fully grok whether these were meant to be in jest and part of a two way banter between the sexes, or whether these were indeed sexist remarks (or perhaps they were both?). Maybe someone with more of a GSWS theory background can input after reading , or else I will just find out with more time to Grok. Michael often says in the book, “Waiting is until fullness.” For now, I wait.

Another similar problem has to do with religion. There are Jews, Christians, Cultists, Catholics, and Muslims in this book. They all work with each-other but one character frequently makes comments about his Muslim friend that I didn’t quite Grok to fullness but did make me feel a bit uncomfortable.

There is at least one instance where a woman coerces a man into having sex, asking multiple times and being told no, before the man gives in eventually. Technically the women knows the man’s real thoughts and that he is willing, and the man was admittedly being polite in regards to age customs, however, I Grok this could be read otherwise and in any non telepathic communication setting is most definitively rape.

Lastly, The N* Slur along with a suggestion of Lynching is used towards the main character in the final chapter. I thought this was unnecessary, although it is a reflection of the time of writing and a reminder of the hate acts that were occurring then and still occur to this day.

All this being said, the book was written in 1960 and was written as counter-culture sci-fi. While it is progressive in some elements in remains outdated in others. Overall I think that it is still very much worth a read for the thought that it provokes and the thoroughness, and entertainment value of the plot. Perhaps a second reader with a more critical theory lens will rip this to bits. But for me, this was a brilliant book that has, for better or for worse, aged.

Weird, Thought Provoking, Entertaining, Page Turner. And yes, probably controversial.

I give it a 9/10 and Very much recommend it.

 

 

 

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Diego Lasarte’s book review. Posted from Stephen Boe’s account because I don’t have access to the blog.

Fidelity and the Concept of Nostos in The Dispossessed

“If you evade suffering you also evade the chance of joy. Pleasure you may get, or pleasures, but you will not be fulfilled. You will not know what it is to come home.” (334) This line is from, perhaps, the most moving passage of Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed. It takes place after Shevek returns home from work during the famine, seeing his partner Takver, and their child, for the first time in four years. He is filled with emotion—sadness at missing so much time with the woman he loves and pride at the important and difficult work he has accomplished—and is forced to reckon with the, often suffocating, march of time. But instead of feeling like the time he has missed has stifled him, he feels liberation in the very sacrifice he has made. 

“Fulfillment…is a function of time. The search for pleasure is circular, repetitive, atemporal. The variety seeking of the spectator, the thrill hunter, the sexually promiscuous, always ends in the same place. It has an end. It comes to the end and has to start over. It is not a journey and return, but a closed cycle, a locked room, a cell. Outside the locked room is the landscape of time, in which the spirit may, with luck and courage, construct the fragile, makeshift, improbable roads and cities of fidelity: a language inhabitable by human beings.” (334)

I choose this passage to center my review of this book, not only because of how much it moved me but because it gets to the kernel of what Le Guin has shown in her brilliant novel about an anarchist society living on a sparse, dusty moon. She has succeeded in a rare feat: creating an admirable, realistic utopia. She has shown that a truly anarchist, communitarian society could only exist in a world with minimal resources and no surplus of wealth. In other words, she creates a society that is rough and a way of life that is difficult and prone to suffering, and she shows that, contrary to the dominant negative views of suffering in our society, suffering is a necessity for building a strong and lasting family, community or society. 

This is principally because of two ideas: the importance of fidelity in finding freedom and a distrust in the virtue of pleasure. “The promise, the pledge, the idea of fidelity, [is] essential in the complexity of freedom.” Le Guin is arguing that imposing limits on one’s self is the only way a person can truly be free. It is a complex idea, difficult to grasp because of its seeming contradiction, but it makes more sense when you understand freedom as contingent on the freedom of others. This is where the mistrust of pleasure comes in. Basic market economics harness an individual’s desire and attempt to create a society out of everyone striving to make their life pleasurable as possible. This way of structuring society encourages shortcuts and devalues hard work. More than anything, it shrinks a life down to something that is only focused on the individual. 

This is why I find Shevek’s return to Takver so indicative of the beauty of this book. He has just spent years doing something difficult and not at all pleasurable, alone without the company of his family. But, in the process he has done something deeply human: he has taken care of others. By putting the needs of the collective ahead of his own needs, he has found a deeper satisfaction. This deep satisfaction has made the love he shares with Takver even better because their love does not stem from the search for pleasure of two individuals, it stems from a common commitment to fidelity and a loyalty to the world around them. Being with her is a homecoming, a Nostos, and the only reason he gets to feel the sweetness of returning to her, is because he left her out of loyalty to the world around him.      –Diego Lasarte

Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

9639765In my junior year of high school, in an English class focusing on the formation of senses of place in the natural world, I read Tracy K. Smith’s poem anthology, Life on Mars, winning the Pulitzer Prize in 2012. The title is inspired by the David Bowie song of the same name, stylized as Life on Mars? The song itself paints a surreal picture of violence, confusion, injustice, and an ongoing battle between entertainment and ennui as the “girl with the mousy hair” watches a performance toeing the line between metaphor and reality.

The anthology serves as an elegy to Smith’s late father, a fan of David Bowie, who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope. Life on Mars serves as an homage to her father’s work as she processes the pain, confusion, and yearning of grief.  The work may be called at once transcendentalist and Afrofuturist as Smith finds paternal comfort in the vastness and potentiality of outer space. An excerpt from the poem “The Speed of Belief” reads “I didn’t want to believe/What we believe in those rooms: That we are blessed, letting go, Letting someone, anyone;/Drag open the drapes and heave us/Back into our blinding, bright lives.” In those unbelievable moments of suffocating, claustrophobic pain, the space left by her father can be used to separate her from a world that is trying to manufacture her healing.

Some poems from the anthology are easier to understand than others certainly, but if you like poetry I think that you will love this read. It is an adept fusion of poetic styles and symbolism, offering a space for healing in the potentiality of the cosmos. While drawing on the fascination that has inspired science fiction writers for the past century, her Afrofuturist lens creates an outer space that is not a frontier to be conquered and explored, but a mystic realm to which we can retreat to process and find meaning and inspiration through loss.

More reviews on Goodreads

Repulsor Lift Technology

My favorite part about science fiction is the futuristic technology within the stories and the implications it could have today. A piece of technology I’m most fascinated by is the Repulsor Lift, a machine in the Star Wars universe that can be installed on objects, vehicles, spaceships, or even cities to allow them to defy a planet’s gravity and levitate by pushing against a planet’s gravitational force. If this technology existed today, it would vastly change our lives. Commercial travel would be revolutionized by levitating cars and trains, planes wouldn’t rely on the force of lift, space exploration would become exponentially cheaper and easier, floating cities and space elevators could be developed in addition to toys like the hoverboard.

Severance – A Sci Fi Office

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been loving this new show Severance. Much of our society allows our work life to intersect with our home life. In Severance, one company named Lumon developed an alternative: a procedure that separates your home and work mind. While at work, you only remember work life. While at home, you only remember home life. The company seems to have much more sinister intentions, but I completely understand why some people would choose to work there. The show’s basic premise fits in with HG Wells’s Law of containing just one extraordinary assumption but takes this assumption to the extreme. This one simple procedure, when used mysteriously by Lumon, drives the story.

Severance is a critique of the modern office worker lifestyle. The employees at Lumon complete seemingly arbitrary work throughout the day, serving some larger purpose that is not made clear to the viewer. These employees are supposed to blindly complete tasks for the corporation and face serious consequences if they disobey.

Anyway, I highly recommend the show! The final episode of the first season came out last week, so you can watch the whole thing on Apple TV+.

Severance, created by Dan Erickson, Red Hour Productions, 2022. Apple TV.

Watch the first episode for free here: https://tv.apple.com/us/show/severance/umc.cmc.1srk2goyh2q2zdxcx605w8vtx?ctx_brand=tvs.sbd.4000&ign-itscg=MC_20000&ign-itsct=atvp_brand_omd&mttn3pid=Google%20AdWords&mttnagencyid=a5e&mttncc=US&mttnsiteid=143238&mttnsubad=OUS2019927_1-582619190592-c&mttnsubkw=133111427260__fAcU9Yov_&mttnsubplmnt=

Star Trek

Photoshopped/ digital art of different Star Trek characters.

Created using Photoshop and Procreate. Original character images found on getty images.

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its continuing mission: to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before!”

After about the fifth time my parents laughed at a reference in a movie and brushed it off as “oh it’s a reference to Star Trek,” I demanded they introduce me to the iconic show. My mom picked out her favorite episode in the Original Series, “The Trouble with Tribbles” and I was hooked. Nine years later and I’m taking a Science Fiction class as a senior in college all because of those pesky tribbles. I may not know how to speak Klingon or have a cosplay costume ready to go in my closet, but I have come to the conclusion, alongside many others, that Star Trek is the greatest science fiction franchise of all time. It continues to stand the test of time with the current Star Trek canon including eleven TV series (with more on the way) and thirteen feature films. But why is it so great?

Star Trek, to its core, embodies hope. It’s had a purposeful mission from the beginning, not only to boldly go where no one has gone before, but to show viewers that the future can be good. It portrays an optimistic vision of humanities future where the defining characteristic of humans are our curiosity. In this vision, humans are dedicated to science and exploration, of both space and themselves. Star Trek imagines an Earth without war, poverty, or pollution where technology works FOR us rather than against us. The current geopolitical tensions that rule our world’s governments are described as petty squabbles that have been solved and left behind in humanities’ dark past. Star Trek shows how peace and discussion are far more interesting than war and violence. Differences are respected and actively depicted as good. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek was invested in showing how humanities strength lies in our differences.

Star Trek has embraced diversity from the beginning, not only in the stories but in casting. In the Original Series, Nichelle Nichol’s Uhura and George Takei’s Sulu were main officers on the bridge. As the first black woman in a position of respect and power on an American television series, Uhura was unprecedented in 1966. Famous endorsements of Uhura came from Martin Luther King Jr. encouraging Nichols to continue playing the role after the first season and Whoopi Goldberg who was inspired as a nine-year-old watching the show for the first time. Ahead of its time, the 1968 kiss between the Uhura and Kirk is, among much debate, often cited as the first interracial kiss on television. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine put a black man in charge through Avery Brooke’s Sisko and the next series Star Trek: Voyager has Kate Mulgrew’s Janeway as a female captain of the crew.

The franchise came into itself on television in a time where special effects were limited and so although most of Star Trek is in space, it devotes itself to talk over action. While the more recent series and films can take advantage of incredible special effects to give viewers the space battles and martial arts scenes we want, at its core the focus is still on asking big questions. Each episode and movie explore different philosophical issues. What does it mean to be human, Klingon, Vulcan, non-corporeal, immortal or an android? With many hours to explore ideas and questions, Star Trek tackles a wide variety of themes and tells many different types of stories such as mysteries, romances, horror stories, spy stories, workplace drama, family stories, and so many more. Many episodes explore emotions. What are they, when or how do we give into them, repress them, or make use of them? Vulcans repress them through their pursuit of pure logical thinking, while Data, a perfectly logical android seeks to be more human and emotional like his friends. Star Trek: The Next Generation has two regular characters who function as therapists for the crew, Deanna Troi as ship counselor and Whoopi Goldberg’s Guinan as the wise and ageless bartender.

Something that always stood out to me was how the characters of the show are “cool” because they are intelligent and good at what they do, not because of wealth or looks. They are curious and ask questions, determined and passionate about what they do. In their pursuit of interplanetary goodwill and space exploration, they unapologetically ask “why?” and “what if?” As the resident Trekkie of the class, I wanted to share why I love it and continue to go back to it. Star Trek embraces the awe and wonder of the universe that is at the core of what science fiction means to me.

** If you want to get into the franchise but don’t want to watch eleven series and thirteen films, I recommend watching the recent trilogy that features a younger version of the original crew in a different timeline! The cinematography, special effects and music is stunning! (Star Trek, Star Trek: Into Darkness, and Star Trek: Beyond)

Sources/ inspiration for this post:

Roddenberry, Gene. Star Trek. 1966-present.

Lloyd, Robert. “’Star Trek’ Is the Greatest Sci-Fi Franchise of All. Why It’s Stood the Test of Time.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2021.