Chapters 1-2

So I found what "horrorshow" means- "good, well, wonderful, excellent"(http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:A_Clockwork_Orange) I find it funny that horrorshow, a word I associate with a haunted house in Salem, or a crime scene out of an episode of Dexter, rather than something "excellent." Also the way Burgess uses horrorshow is interesting, it's used in almost the same way we old say "like" but it adds, tome at least, a weird, almost psychopathic twist in the narrative: "Pete and Georgie had good sharp nozhes (knives), but I for my own part had a fine starry horrorshow cut-throat britva (razor)which, at the time I could flash and shine artistic." (From top of page 16) This whole scene involving the fightbetween Alex and his friends against a rival gang lead by a "fat stinking" guy named Billyboy was just oddto read. The way it was written was this weird blend of humor, gore, and a strange essence of romanticized violence. I kind of wanted to laugh at how over the top it was, and the fact that that the boys' actions were my definitions of a horrorshow.

Also, just interested in what anyone has to think about the page with "A CLOCKWORK ORANGE" on it, found on the desk of the man who's house they broke into. The section that Alex read aloud: "The attempt to impose upon man, a creature of growth and capable of growth and capable of of sweetness, to ooze juicily at the last round the bearded lips of God, to attempt to impose, I say, laws and conditions appropriate to a mechanical creation, against this I raise my sword-pen--" (from page 21-22) It took a while for me to process this and all of what it meant during reading, but now it seems to me that this alludes the theme of the novel which could be human nature- whether we are inherently good- and what happens to society/people when we apply too many rules and restrictions. (This is just my first take on it, I'm most likely wrong and will change my mind by the next chapter.) From this I get the idea that the world that Alex lives in is subject to too many rules and regulations "appropriate to a mechanical creation," I wonder kind of government is in power, something following the idea of Big Brother in 1984? Or one that controls what people can read like in Fahrenheit 451?

Pages 1 - 24

While reading the opening of A Clockwork Orange, I was particularly struck by the tone in which Anthony Burgess describes the gore and violence of the boys. Because the book is written so informally and with a stream of consciousness narrative, and the violence is described with such nonchalance, it is easy to almost read through the violence without internalizing it. On page 19, they "saw one young malchick with his sharp, lubbilubbing under a tree, so we stopped and cheered at them, then we bashed into them both with a couple of half-hearted tolchocks, making them cry, and on we went."In describing his encounter with an opposing gang, Alex says "and there I was dancing about my brivta like I might be a barber on board a ship on a very rough sea...it was real satisfaction to see me waltz - left two three, right two three - and carve left cheeky and right cheeky, so that like two curtains of blood seemed to pour out as the same time." (17) Burgess has an extremely unique tone - utilizing Russian slang, fragments and run-ons, and strange catch phrases (ie. horrorshow, O my brothers, etc). Coupled with the emotionless narration of Alex, the criminal violent behavior of the gang seems understated, a routine way to pass time and have a few laughs.
I also found Burgess's use of slang fascinating. The first chapter of the book was nearly impossible to understand for me - I couldn't tell what the boys were actually doing, nor did I have a clear understanding as to the setting of the conflict or the source of the violence. Upon reading the subsequent chapter, however, the definitions of particular words became less relevant and the overall meaning much clearer. The word girl alone had countless representations in Burgess's language - devotchka, ptitsa, soomka, sooka, baboochka, cheena. I think it's incredible that Burgess was able to create a narrative in which entire sentences don't have a clear meaning, but the storytelling still remains in tact and the reader is able to understand.