Never in a million years would 7-year-old me believe that I would eventually enjoy reading a 450 page book. When I was young, I had a really difficult time learning to read. I would have a hard time processing what I read; I would say the words but not actually know what I was saying. I would have to read slow to process, and I’d still miss stuff in between. Throughout elementary and middle school, I would get really frustrated with myself because of this, and I came to detest reading.
Although something began to click in high school. As I read more (because of required reading) and as I became older, my comprehension began to improve. What was most pivotal was that we began reading good books: Fahrenheit 451, Frankenstein, The Great Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22. I began to understand and visualize what was happening in these books. I could see, smell, taste, sense, hear, feel. Reading became a form of getting away from the real world, immersing in a new world. But the book that pushed it over the edge for me was Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novel, A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is an extremely complex book with symbolism running rampant and suspense that causes brain aneurysms. The plot is extremely enticing every step of the way.
I won’t get too deep into the plot, but the portion I found most enticing was the Ludovico technique. Alex, the protagonist that lives in dystopian England where the youth overtake society with violence each night, is taken to jail and selected for this Ludovico technique. For this “technique”, Alex is forced to view videos of violence and sex while injected with a poisonous substance, conditioning Alex to correlate being sick with acting immorally. After all the scenes of violence and rape that are performed by Alex and his gang, these scenes where Alex is forced to watch these videos feels the most gruesome yet. This ties into the concept that Alex is also the narrator, and he cleverly convinces his audience to root for him despite the horrible deeds that he commits. Afterwards, the technique works, and Alex becomes sick every time that he thinks of committing an immoral act. This then dives into the question of being human and the concept of a clockwork orange: to be human means free will to choose both bad and good, being only good or only bad would no longer make us human. I just found this whole portion of the book to be extremely tantalizing, making me really ponder my own humanity and excited to find out what happens next.
But this novel is so much more than just the plot. Symbolism and easter eggs are planted throughout the novel. There are so many that I can’t cover all of them, but I figured I’d talk about the ones I love the most.
First and foremost, the novel inside of a novel just astounds me. During his prime in raiding houses and causing mischief, Alex and his gang raids the house of an author, named F. Alexander, of a book named A Clockwork Orange. Yes, the book is inside a book. And yes, the author has a similar name to the narrator, Alec, of the actual novel. The contents of the book inside the book are never truly revealed except for a definition of a clockwork orange. This suggestion of some connection between the two characters is never fully answered, leaving great ambiguity for the reader to interpret. I found this to be mind boggling, leading the reader to want more and drive deeper into analysis and debate.
Oh yeah, there is also essentially a whole new language, called Nadsat, within the novel. Nadsat is a slang used among the mischievous youth in the novel. This adds a layer of disorientation for the reader at the beginning of the novel, but the reader comes to learn this language. This is much more convoluted than it seems. The concept of Nadsat is used as a motif throughout the novel, adding a dimension of character identity and establishing new means for both character divisions and connections. In learning the language, the reader is further connected with the narrator Alex because this slag gives us a way to understand and think like Alex. Not to mention the language also adds a layer of comedy, as the people who speak in Nadsat sound ridiculous.
All this only brushes the surface of the amazing aspects of this book. For a book of such magnitude (in terms of content), there are years and years’ worth of analysis that go into fully depicting the novel’s entirety. A Clockwork Orange is a thrill ride on acid. Once you start reading it, you’ll constantly be thinking about it, debating what you just read and wanting to read more.
Reading is amazing, there is so much that can be depicted through the written word. Whole new worlds can be comprised within a novel. Books can be anything you want them to be and there is so much variety that you can choose what fits you best. Anything from learning history to contemplating philosophical life questions. Reading allows us to indulge in the human condition and understand everything that we face in humanity. Although it may take some, like me, more time to adjust than other, I think everyone can come to appreciate literature at some point.
