How to enjoy a clockwork orange

Sometimes I shy away from BIG books with BIG statements. Think dystopian classics like 1984, Brave New World and The Handmaiden's Tale.  How can I enjoy a book that isn't meant for pure entertainment?  

I've found dystopian novels daunting in the past because they aren't meant for pure entertainment like so many books.  I've had to learn to slow down my consumption of entertainment in order to unlock pleasure in expanding my perspective.  

I read A Clockwork Orange.  I would like to make one thing clear before I continue: It is written amazingly.  I did enjoy it immensely as a piece of great writing aside from its content.  

And then when you add the story and themes...  Well.  Even as an anti-hero, main character Alex was still someone I could empathise with.  Through his journey I experienced a journey of learning too.

Expanded consciousness

I'm unsure if this reading experience changed my mind or if what it prompted in me was rather the ability to hold onto several different ideas without having to settle for one "true" one.  My understanding of notions like free will and freedom was certainly challenged.  Through Alex I gained insight into a perspective that resonated with me.

What then remained was for me to engage in reflection, link and connect these ideas with things around me - things I saw on tv and read in other books - and thus employ this expanded consciousness in my life.  

Damaging self-doubt

When I started reading A Clockwork Orange, I worried that my "enjoyment" would be damaged by the pressure of having to gain something from the reading.  If it's provoked so much debate over the decades, there's surely some deep stuff in there I need to understand, I reasoned.  I was daunted by the thought that I wouldn't be able to glean anything from it, and therefore be less of a reader.  

As it turned out, learning was the part I enjoyed THE MOST 

I misplaced my fears as I fell into step with the great writing.  Because I was immersed in the reading of a story, the BIG ideas that I was so daunted by came naturally to me.  This taste of learning was invigorating.

When I finished reading, I felt a deep sense of achievement.  There is something fantastic about reading a book that teaches new ideas, as if it was more than a book.  My experience was like walking out of an optometrist with new glasses - what I saw was the same old, but my perception was clearer, more informed, more vibrant.  

This thrill is something I am becoming addicted to.


Reading A Clockwork Orange was an exercise in enjoying the process of learning.  The expanded consciousness I gained within its pages has made me excited to seek new ideas and perspectives.  

To Me. From Me

This week I discovered the amazing, two-storey Dymocks Bookstore in the city.  I spent an hour thoroughly losing myself amongst the shelves, poring over the titles and gulping deep breaths of that book smell that I so miss when I buy books online.  

Obviously, it was useless to resist the store's charms and I ended up buying three books.  

The first one I started reading straight away on the train home.  But the other two, I wrapped in gift paper with a note attached and addressed to myself in the future.  

These two books, gift-wrapped on my bookshelf, are going to be a present to myself when I finish my first year of university.  I'm only six weeks away from accomplishing this incredible milestone.  

Because I've been through so much this year, I thought that the best and truest way for me to celebrate would be to give myself something.  That something is permission to be very proud and happy.  

As great as it is to receive congratulations from my family, it isn't a substitute for telling myself that I'm proud.  I'm the person who I most need to hear that from.  

After all the exhaustive effort that I wrung out of myself to survive this year of study, I just need to admit to myself that 'I did good'.  That I am indefatigable and invincible.  That I can be beaten to the ground and still get back up.  

To me.  From me.  For everything I've been through.  For everything I am yet to dream of doing.  I just need to give myself permission to have this moment of happiness because I deserve it.  No one can take what I've learnt away from me.

15 Books all Children Should Read

I thought I would challenge myself to come up with my top 15 children's books.  It's no mean feat deciding the order of these books since I love them all so much, but I'll give it a go.  This list could easily be pushed to a top 50 in the future, but I think this is a good start for now.  

15.  The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

This book is a riotous adventure, and one of the great American novels.  It features many misadventures, all of which are extremely memorable and tinged with humour.  

14.  Black Beauty by Anna Sewell

Told by Black Beauty himself, this story is sad but very sweet.  

13.  Watership Down by Richard Adams

Richard Adams once said that he wanted to write a "proper adult book" for children.  This book is an adrenaline-filled adventure, full of gut-wrenching ups and downs.  The maturity of its storytelling would be best appreciated by older readers.  

12.  A Series of Unfortunate Events  by Lemony Snicket

These books are famous for featuring the very unfortunate lives of the Baudelaire orphans.  However, they are not entirely grim and gloomy.  The Baudelaires themselves are endearing heroes that you will cheer for through every misfortune that they encounter in the series.  Also, this adventure is made even more memorable by the cunningly creative narrative voice of Snicket.  

11.  The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

This is my favourite book by E.B. White.  Although it hasn't received the level of fame of Charlotte's Web or Stuart Little, it is equally heartwarming.  Louis has the virtues to make him a truly memorable hero.  

10.  James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

This is my favourite Roald Dahl book.  It's short enough to read in a couple of days, and yet the adventure it offers is big enough to enjoy for a lifetime.  Like all books by Roald Dahl, you will love it for its quirkiness and endless creativity.  

9.  Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Aside from its remarkably imaginative storyline and characters, this book is also beautifully written.  It's descriptions and moving reflections make it so much more than the familiar Disney rendition.  This book is much, much more magical.  

8.  National Velvet by Enid Bagnold

This book has a delightfully eccentric feel.  The home of the dysfunctional Brown family is a great place to escape as each character is quirky and full of life.  I adore it for it's many memorable misadventures.   

7.  The Animals of Farthing Wood by Colin Dann

For many years, this was my favourite book.  It has always inspired me with its show of the strength of friendship and courage in the face of huge difficulty.  

6.  The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

From page 1, this book is immediately captivating.  There are moments for crying in mourning and moments for shouting in triumph.  It is an exhaustingly epic tale that you mustn't miss!  Obviously this one is for older readers.  

5.  The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle by Hugh Lofting

I never want this adventure to end.  With unbeatable heroes from the minuscule Jabizri beetle to the marvellous Doctor himself, it is easy to feel like the characters are family.  It's many plot twists and escapades make it a riveting read.  

4.  The Enchanted Castle by E. Nesbit

This magical adventure is so fresh and original, I never cease to be surprised and amazed by the plot.  E. Nesbit's imagination is boundless.  If you like this, you'll also love her Psammead Trilogy.  

3.  Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

I received this book on my first birthday and so my battered copy contains many memories for me.  Anne is one of my best friends and role models.  Her story is timeless and wonderful.  

2.  The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Even though I'm new to the world of Harry Potter, it's already affected me so deeply in the short amount of time that it's been a part of my life.  It is the ultimate adventure and every person deserves to be enriched by taking a part in it.  

1.  The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis

My favourite series of all times.  I read and re-read these books every year without fail and the characters continue to be some of my closest friends and fellow adventurers.  

So there you have it.  My top 15 children's books.  This may change slightly over the years, but I'm confident that my love for these books will never fade.  

As I look back over this list, I realise how much these books have affected my life, and most importantly, the sort of person that I am today.  The amount of times I've turned to these books for solace, courage, friendship, and a home-away-from-home astounds me.  I believe it wholeheartedly when I say that the reading you do as a child is the most important reading you do in your whole life.  

The Monster in the Mirror

I have often enthused about the writer's immense power to make a great point.  This point is frequently hidden inside allegory, which allows the writer's message to be heard by a huge audience without being repulsed by readers, or seen as socially unacceptable.  

Bram Stoker's Dracula is an astonishingly profound allegory for the strict sexual codes of the Victorian era.  

The exceptional poignancy and power of Stoker's metaphor really blew me away.  It was only through further research that I learned the story and purpose behind this Gothic novel.  

Unknowingly, I was doing the same thing as the Victorians had done - I was reading and enjoying it for its entertainment, without seeing the underlying message.  Now that I know what is really going on, I am astounded.  I can hardly believe how Stoker got away with this brazenly controversial statement!  

VAMPIRES AS A STATEMENT ON SEXUALITY

I am going to delve into the metaphor presently, trying my best to explain it succinctly so that you can glean the benefit from it without reading dozens of articles like me (unfortunately I have a research essay to write, too!).  But, also, I am obligated to make a quick disclaimer.

Due to the following sexual references, readers under the age of 15 are advised to exercise discretion.  

Alright, so let's begin at the beginning, by taking a quick look at Victorian society.  It was strictly patriarchal (controlled by men), and therefore, men were permitted freedoms and pleasures and given excuses for "natural" carnal instincts.  Women, on the other hand, represented purity, vulnerability, weakness and naive innocence.  A key point to understand is that for women, (or indeed homosexual males), expression of sexual desire was "unnatural".  "Unnatural" was seen, by extension, as "evil" and therefore "Satanic" or "ungodly".  

Another important context to understand is the link Victorians made between semen and blood.  They understood that both could pass disease, i.e. "bad blood" and "STDs".  While it may be a big stretch for our imaginations, Stoker used this link as the basis for his metaphor.  The process of a vampire penetrating another being and sucking their blood was code for sexual intercourse.  

I'm hoping that now you can begin to piece together the idea represented here.


THE THREE 'PERVERSIONS'

Stoker, a homosexual in a society where 'sexual inversion' was punishable by law, used the concept of vampirism to create three images for readers' consideration:

1.  the potential for women (represented by the three 'weird sisters' who threaten to penetrate and suck the blood of the femininely passive protagonist, Jonathan Harker) to disrupt gender roles and begin to be more sexually aggressive, an idea that terrified the patriarchal Victorian society

2. the potential to see the ordinary heterosexual man (dominant and powerful with untameable carnal urges) as a monster, (Dracula, representing this man, forcefully penetrates an abject female victim - symbolic of rape)

3. the potential for homosexual desires between men, (Dracula is especially excited by the sight of Jonathan Harker's blood).  This image was particularly perverse to Victorian society.


THE MONSTER IN THE MIRROR

This is an aspect that particularly amazed me.  Throughout the story, Stoker makes comparisons between the supposed villain, Count Dracula, and the supposed hero, Van Helsing.  Both are depicted invasively penetrating female protagonist, Lucy, (one with teeth, the other with hypodermic needles), in acts of arrogance and assertion.  While religion and society condemned those who violated sexual codes (homosexuality, sexually active women, rape, etcetera), those in the medical profession licensed the power to penetrate.

The aim was to make the reader unsure about their perception of good and evil, light and dark.  If that's not enough, have a think about this metaphor.

In the opening chapters, Jonathan Harker is using his mirror to shave when Count Dracula approaches him from behind.  Dracula has no reflection in this mirror.  It can be argued, that his presence in the reflection would be redundant when a monster's presence has already been established.  The monster is no one, "except myself".

House of Dracula - Nosferatu

Bibliography:

• Craft, C. (1984) Kiss Me with those Red Lips: Gender and Inversion in Bram Stoker's Dracula.  Representations 8.  p107 -133.  
• Podonsky, A. M. (2010).   Bram Stoker’s Dracula: a reflection and rebuke of Victorian Society.  Vol.2 No.2 p1-3.  Retrieved from < http://bouquets-of-sharpened-pencils.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/the-monster-in-mirror.html>

Drowning in a Flood of Thoughts

And so it was when anyone tried to speak: their minds become tangled in remembrance.  Words became floods of thoughts with no beginning or end, and would drown the speaker before he could reach the life raft of the point he was trying to make.  It was impossible to remember what one meant, what, after all of the words, was intended.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, 2002.

I haven't done much blogging, or even all that much reading, but in the final chapers of this book, I was hit by the short passage.  That is such an incredibly poignant anology of drowning in thoughts before reaching the life raft of the point one is trying to make.  I feel that I have experienced this myself, and perhaps you will have too.  It always astounds me when someone can explain the feeling of something I've felt, but could never explain. 

I've been thinking a lot about deep and meaningful things, perhaps prematurely.  Thoughts about the reality of growing old and either getting to do the things I wanted to do with my life or missing those oppertunities; the idea of bringing up a child of my own, obviously very much in the future, but how can one bring up a child so they're not messed up; living a life upon choices made by others, but trying to still work out my own dreams or writing my own books and reading stories; am I doing the right thing going along with my parent's plan of my becoming a teacher?; the ability to even express what my doubts are in intelligible form; the concept of love and loving the idea of something and someone; plans to go to France; how can I be a person that people would actually want to love?; what are my talents for and how do I work with them to create something?; will I ever come up with an idea for a book that I can actually work with?; what is inspiration and creativity?; what sort of writer will I be?; the thought that perhaps I will never get to read to anyone other than my dad; what is it that I actually want? 

What are you thinking about?