A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Brugess

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Brugess

I have seen the title of this book pop up a lot in my Religious Studies notes to do with Free Will and Determinism but I've never read it before. Every time I've seen the title, I've wanted to read it but I had no idea what it would be about. An orange? A clock? Nope. Neither. But then it was next on my reading list from school so I felt I had to read it.

It was not an easy read for the first 50 odd pages as the lexis was half made up possibly to show how uneducated the main character Alex was. I thought he used language in such a way that no other author had, that I've read. William S. Burroughs said "I do not know of any other writer who has done as much with language." I wanted to give it up but I couldn't because of all the sub conscious pressure. I felt ashamed that this seemingly short book was taking me so long to read. I'm so glad I stuck at it though because it was one of the best books I've ever read.

"Is it better for a man to have chosen evil than to have good imposed upon him?"

As this quote suggests virtue has to be something someone chooses to be respected as opposed to have forced upon you. Then you respect it more. How do you decipher what is morally good and not evil. Surely we have free will to make these choices? We should do anyway and not do it out of guilt. 

Why did it keep on coming up in my RS notes? The book explores the idea of free will. Do people do crimes because of their upbringing? Is it determined? Can it be prevented? The book explores John B. Watson's argument that behaviour can be predicated and controlled as we live in a determined universe. Therefore can people be conditioned to act in a certain way? In the book, Alex is shown the worst things humanity has done to one another, during a psychological test, to prevent him from doing bad crimes. Is that morally right? Will it work? 

It starts off with the boy that everyone knows in their village, town or city. The ones who do drugs, threaten people and physically hurt others. The people you always cross the street to avoid. Alex and his friends, known as the 'droogs' hunt for these thrills at the cost of others. Alex has no respect for his parents who do not respect him either for going out and doing terrible crimes. 

However one night he is caught and sent to prison for what he has done only then to be part of psychological experiments that will shorten his prison sentence. 

Throughout the book, Alex calls cigarettes 'cancer' which every time it's read, does not loose meaning. Every time it makes you stop and think just like the rest of the book.

Thank you for checking out this blog and I'll be back soon with another one. 

Do androids dream of electric sheep? By Philip K. Dick

Do androids dream of electric sheep? By Philip K. Dick

What a weird book! Yes it's as weird as the title suggests. Do android dream of electric sheep? I don't know. Do they? Does anyone? I've never really thought of answering let alone coming up with that question before. What is the difference between an android and a human? Is there a difference? Can androids dream and have feelings even though they're machines? I didn't question the title and read it anyway, thinking it may be like Oryx and Crake. Kind of as if it's a dystopia about created animals. Imagine Humans, the Channel 4 TV series, but from the killers' point of view and with more of a focus on the animal machines. It's a very short book but it was on my A2 reading lit from school. I'm not sure why though. 

Most animals have become extinct due to killing them for food, products, clothes and everything that we're doing right now. I suppose it raises the questions no one ever thinks about when we're all eating our roast dinners as we expect chickens to never become extinct. What if they did? Would we eat alternatives until they became extinct or would everyone go vegetarian? In this dystopian book, they have built mechanical animals but many still desire real animals. One of the main characters has an electric sheep. Normal. I know. It's weird how quickly you accept weird concepts in a book. The main character wants to earn money to buy more proper animals. 

Rick Deckhard and some of the other main characters have stayed on earth whilst others have escaped to Mars. Rick has a job to do and an electric sheep to look after. Priorities. 

It is the first book that I've read in a long time that actually has pictures in. Bit weird really as you become so used to reading books without cartoons. However, when I was younger I remember refusing to read a book without pictures- shouldn't really admit to that as a literature student. 

Something that has propped up in some shape or form in the books I have read lately, is the idea that emotions can be predicted and controlled. For example, when one is feeling angry they can set their machine to peace and it will be eradicated. Interesting.

Thanks for reading and I'll let you know what my next book is like soon. 

The Killables by Gemma Malley

The Killables by Gemma Malley

This book sounds really depressing but it's really not. It's amazing! Of course it's another dystopia but I'd love to see in made into a film. I really love dystopians but surprisingly I haven't read one like this before. 

"Evil must be identified"

As I read this book, I thought it expressed the extremes that everyone prejudges religion to be about- when it's not. The book is about this city where they believe they have eradicated evil. In order to eradicate evil, they believe it is a physical part of the brain that everyone has removed when entering the city. In reality this seems unrealistic and impossible to be able to remove an evil part of your brain but in this book, it becomes realistic. 

Within the city there are rules and regulations which enforce being virtuous and morally good. But what is good? Goodness is subjective and what is good for one person may not e good for another. The people are good because they fear what would happen if they were not and banished from the city. 

The system is graded in terms of how virtuous a person is (helps with my Ethics revision). A is the best whereas D is the worst. However, K is the worst of the worst which is the "Killables." The "Killables" are those who cannot be ridden of evil and are therefore taken out of society. Despite this, no one knows where they go or what happens to them. What they do know is that they're never seen again. 

Evie, the main character, has grown up in the walls on the city and has had an arranged marriage set up for her with a boy called Lucas. However, Evie has been friends with Lucas' brother Raffy since they were young and they have fallen in love. Despite the rules and regulations, Evie and Raffy meet every night in a tree but will they ever get caught? 

Evie also keeps on having a weird dream which she fears is the evil trying to enter her body. She fears that people may find this out and she'll lose her job and become a K. Both her parents and The Brother (the King like being in the city) are worried but reassure her it is ok if she can ignore these thoughts.

This is a really interesting book and I definitely recommend it! 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

To kill a mockingbird by Harper Lee

"But this a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men"

I've always wanted to read this, probably because my mum used to teach it at GCSE so I always assumed it was an easy but respected read. It was a lot longer than I thought it'd be and it took me a lot longer as I had to look up quite a few things that would have made sense at the time but no longer does. 

When I bought it up at the dinner table, I got a a lecture on the themes, history and context of the book from both my parents. I wish I hadn't bought it up but afterwards I realised how much more sense the book made with the added knowledge. It was written at a time of the civil rights movement about 1930s America. Racism is the biggest theme in this book and it encapsulates how people were perceived just because of their skin colour. 

It is written from the narrative of Scout who for some reason I thought was a boy at the beginning. I've learnt not to mention this name in front of my mum because she wants a dog called Scout. Scout (she) is accompanied by her older brother Jem of whom I also confused the gender. I wanted to refer to him as her. Sorry. They both want to make friends with Boo Radley, a neighbour who never leaves his house. 

Atticus, their father, is a lawyer who becomes the talk of the town because he defends a black person in court which was unheard of before. 

"They don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."

Why mockingbird? I've always wanted to call them mockingjays but  maybe that's the inner Hunger Games fan in me. A mockingbird is a common bird in America that creates such a peaceful sound that's it's a sin to kill them which erupts Scout and Jem's own thoughts about what sin is. 

Although at times it was boring, it was interesting as it reminded me that racial inequality once existed and it was not that long ago. Everyone assumes it was a lot longer ago than it actually was because we are ashamed but this book shows the steady change which only needed a few people to start. 

Thank you. I hope you all enjoyed this one.