A Clockwork Orange

I have quite a number of books on my “to read” list, some making it to the list as recommendations from friends and most from the ‘top 100 books’ lists I constantly keep looking up on the net. A Clockwork Orange was one from the latter category of online recommendations and I should have known that like most other books that miraculously make it to the top one hundred books to read before you die (!!!) lists, this too wouldn’t be worthy of making it to my personal list.

A Clockwork Orange is Anthony Burgess’s magnum opus which was later adapted into a film that came to be critically acclaimed. The book was published in 1962. 

The author has been quoted to have been ready to repudiate his book. He resents the fact that out of all the books that he’s written, this is the only book of his which is known. He has also gone on to call the film a damned nuisance. The book was apparently written in 3 weeks.

The book is partially written in a Russian influenced Argot (secret language used by groups to prevent others from understanding their conversation) called Nadsat and that is my biggest problem with this book. Well, the author has clearly succeeded in preventing me from understanding the book. One does get a hang of it after some time but I found it annoying. There’s a Glossary of Nadsat Language towards the end which I spotted ONLY after I completed the book. Here are a few examples : Appy polly loggy –apology, Bezoomny – mad, Bog – God, Choodesny – wonderful, Krovvy – blood, Oobivat – to kill, Prestoopnick – criminal, Pretty Polly – money.

If y’all wormsies got your noogies in em books for majority of the rotation of the limbs of the timepiece, you’d understand my consternation. Yours truly picked up the kindle and after 15 clicks felt the urge to tonker the lightweight into smithereens.  Oh, the style of writing and the choice of glued letters of Anglais have left me with lesser strands on my cerebrum cage. (Imagine having to read an entire book written like this).

The book is narrated by Alex, a teenager who with his gang members, wreaks havoc in the neighbourhood by beating up old defenceless people, robbing homes, raping women all under the influence of milk laced with drugs. One such burglary attempt goes awry and Alex ends up in prison. In prison, he’s chosen to participate in an experiment that seeks to modify the behaviour of violent criminals by making them watch violent pictures while simultaneously force feeding them medication that induces nausea. Alex is now gripped by nausea at the slightest hint of violence around him. Satisfied with the effectiveness of this experiment, Alex is released from prison. What follows this is Alex’s attempt to escape what he now considers a meaningless life. However, his actions from the past catch up. Will Alex truly reform? To know that, read the book at your own risk!

I have somehow made the book sound “thrilling”. It isn’t!

I find it difficult to be objective when the language of the book itself left me frustrated! When Alex’s father first makes his appearance in the book and I got to read the first coherent paragraph, I had tears of joy which sadly lasted for only a page or two.

As for the storyline, I fail to understand what all the hoo-haa was about.  The latter half of the book reminded me of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (another book that I didn’t enjoy reading). If you enjoyed OFOTCN, you may probably tolerate this book.

The book gained popularity mostly amongst teenagers for its representation of rebellion against suppression of free will. The author was also accused of glorifying sex and violence as crime rates went up especially after the release of the film.

I have no issues with the content of the book (but that could also be because I failed to understand half of what was happening in the book). If you go knock the tooth off of an old person after reading this book, the problem lies within you and not the book.

The only commendable quality in the story was the manner in which the author subtly condemns subjugation by State and stresses on the importance of free will.

Please do leave a comment below if this book is on your list of top100 books!

I started to watch the movie and then promptly deleted it after the first 5 minutes. I trust LP’s judgement who said the movie was far worse.

STREE- PET MEIN DARD HOGA

Image Source - IMDB

An invite to view wedding photos graduated to a sleep over and culminated with a late night movie. That is how I ended up watching Stree with a crazy bunch of girls.

When I had first watched the teasers of this film, I was eagerly awaiting its release, but somehow the trailers didn’t look impressive enough. But the plan had been made and we all proceeded to Rex Theatre.

 Those from Karnataka, may be well aware of the urban legend that had people scrawling “Naale Ba (come tomorrow)” on the walls of their homes. The writing on the walls apparently warded off the evil spirit who turned back on seeing the instruction to return the next day and then the next and the next...... . This movie as stated in its poster is “based on this ridiculously true phenomenon”.

PLOT: A small village in India is haunted by an angry spirit (Stree) who returns every year during the time of a festival to abduct the men at night, leaving their clothes behind. To protect themselves from her, the villagers have “O Stree, kal aana (Oh woman, come tomorrow)” written on their walls.

Vicky (Rajkummar Rao), a non believer of this myth is the local tailor who falls in love with a mysterious woman (Shraddha Kapoor) who comes to the village once a year during the period of The Festival. The woman requests Vicky to stitch a special lehenga for her and in the process, also requests him to collect a random selection of items like the hair from a white cat, eyeball of a lizard, nail from a rooster’s claw etc. (I may have gotten some of these items wrong). Strange things begin to happen after Vicky meets this woman, whose name he doesn’t even know. Vicky’s friends suspect this woman to be Stree. Vicky’s friend gets abducted and Vicky too has begun to have his suspicions on this elusive woman.

Vicky, with the help of his friends, takes it upon himself to find his missing friend and to protect his village from Stree.

Is this mysterious woman, Stree herself? Why does Stree haunt this village and abduct only the men? Will Vicky be able to save his village from Stree? Will the villagers have to continue writing on their walls?

Archie, there you go. I haven’t divulged too many details in the plot else it would end up with spoilers.

The genre of this movie is Horror-Comedy. We forced T to watch this movie with us saying it would be comical and not scary. The film is scary (not for the faint hearted) but these scenes are almost always followed by a comical scene that slows down your fast beating heart.

Rajkummar is his usual brilliant self and is supported by a wonderful cast of actors. The dialogues are hilarious (though I would presume, at times a bit difficult for the non-Hindi speaking folks to follow). If not jumping from our seats in fright, the scenes have us rolling in laughter. Probably the first in this genre of Bollywood films that combined Horror with Comedy and I applaud the Director (Amar Kaushik) for not reducing the film to a mere slapstick comedy in an attempt to appeal to the masses. (Know any other Bollywood films that fall in this genre? Please mention them in the comments section below). Speaking of which, Archie felt the presence of the “Item Number” unnecessary but Shugu and I thought otherwise.

The film is also a satire on the Indian society and its treatment of women and manages to convey a social message without coming across as preachy.

The ending was a bit disappointing as I felt the movie ended on a cliff-hanger. Aali and I wracked our brains and came up with an alternate ending that would have been perfect but I now read that a sequel is in the making. If that is the case, the ending makes sense.

Do watch this film even if you don’t like watching Horror films!