How This Relates To The Real World

I think Alex is very similar to a lot of people in the world today. Alex is 'power hungry' and just cares about being in charge. He wants people to listen to them and feels ignored if people follow someone else's ideas and not his. I think a lot of people are like this. They have to have people listening to them and people have to follow their ideas, and if they don't then they feel ignored and get angry. People don't want everyone to have an equal say, they want everyone to listen to them and do what they say. Also, when Alex's power is threatened, he gets very enraged and uncomfortable. I think a lot of people can relate to this and feel like this when their power is threatened. Although, Alex gets in a big fight and beats people up, and I don't think most people get that intense of feelings when their power is threatened. But, I do think people can hurt someone else's feelings when they get angry about their power getting threatened. One difference I do note is that Alex keeps continuing on with his droogs and keeps 'working' with them. I feel like most people start to refuse to work with people who threaten their power and don't cooperate them, whether it's on a small level, like a group during class, or a large level, like a conflict between two countries. I think A Clockwork Orange relates to our world in many ways, and this is just one of them.

Update On A Clockwork Orange

A Clockwork Orange is getting very interesting. My previous prediction that Alex's group of droogs would threaten his power was correct. Georgie, Pete, and Dim didn't like how Alex was always in charge and how they never had a say in things. I think this is shown when the author writes:

"'No offence, Alex,' said Pete, 'but we wanted to have things more democratic like. Not like you like saying what to do and what not all the time. But no offence.' Georgie said: 'Offence is neither here nor elsewhere. It's a matter of who has ideas. What ideas had he had?' And he kept his very bold glazzies turned full on me. 'It's all the small stuff, malenky vesches like last night. We're growing up, brothers.'" -Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange pg. 56

In this quote, I think that Georgie is calling Alex childish for always wanting the power and not letting anyone be in charge. This is shown when he says, "We're growing up, brothers." He is saying that they have to be more mature about the division of power. Also, Pete is saying that they should all have a say in their group when he says, "We wanted to have things more democratic like." They don't want Alex to be in charge because he is not a good leader, and they want some of the power too. After this, they all got in a fight and Alex ended up winning, so he is still the leader. I now predict that they will threaten his power again, but they will actually succeed in 'overthrowing' Alex.

Teenagers in A Clockwork Orange

So far, I have noticed that teenagers in A Clockwork Orange are very different from the teenagers of our generation. It is normal for the teenagers in A Clockwork Orange to dress up fancy and look really nice, which is almost the opposite of how the average teenager dresses today. Teenagers now usually dress comfortably, not normally wearing dress pants and a dress shirt every day. Also, the 'popular' music in A Clockwork Orange is classical music. I think this is very interesting because pop music now is very upbeat and has electric instruments, but classical is the opposite. Lastly, the teenagers in A Clockwork Orange act very sophisticated like it is a normal thing. Most teenagers now try to act 'cool' and are immature. I think it is very interesting how the author made the teenagers in his book so different. I wonder why he did this.

A Clockwork Orange- Book Recommendation

So far, I really like like A Clockwork Orange. It is about a group of crime-committing teenagers(droogs) in the future, led by a fifteen year old named Alex. The criminals take over the town at night. A Clockwork Orange is science fiction because it takes place in the future. If you want to be more specific, you could call it dystopian because it is in a corrupted, futuristic society. It is very exciting, right from the beginning. Alex and his droogs are always doing something, so there is a lot of action and suspense. I enjoy reading books with a lot of action because it makes it more exciting when there is so much going on at once. So far, I give this book four out of five stars. I think the author's writing is very good, besides the fact that he uses a lot of the same words. I think the characterization is good too, because the characters are very developed. I think this book is targeted towards young adults/adults because it has a lot of advanced writing and the plot is kind of mature. So far, I really enjoy the book and I think it will only get better!

Setting

The setting of A Clockwork Orange is around New York City, but it is not modern New York City, it is in the future. I like how the setting is an actual, real city, but it is different because it's in the future. I also like how the author uses current things in New York City, like they will stay there for many years. For example, the subways in New York City are the major form of transportation in the book. I think this is cool because this city is famous for its subways, and the author kept them there. I wonder if there will be more things like this. Also, the author uses different names for things. In the book, they call Times Square the "Center" because it's the main part of the city. I think this is really interesting and I want to see what other current parts of New York City are used in this book.

A Clockwork Orange- Characters

The characters in this book are very interesting. I am not very far into the book, but I already feel like some of the characters are dectenly developed and you already know their personalities. Alex, the main character, is very smart and he seems like the smarted one of his group, which is probably why he is the leader. His droogs just seem to follow him and do what he tells them to do without question, but I feel like this will change later in the book. Alex likes being in charge and I can tell that if someone threatens his leadership, he will not olike it and will cause a big conflict. But, he doesn't interact with the other droogs like he is better than them, even though it seems like he would. He acts like he is better than the victims of their crimes, though. Another one of the droogs is named Dim. As you can tell by his name, he is not the brightest droog of the four. It seems like the only reason he is in the group is because he can fight well. Alex, Georgie, and Pete seem to leave him out a lot of the time, though. So far, I think the characters personalities fit with the story and I am excited to see if any of them change!

Likes and Dislikes so far

So far, overall, I like A Clockwork Orange. It is told in first person and I like reading books told in first person because you get to see things from a characters perspective and you know what the character is thinking. Also, I like how the author uses slang in the book, because normally authors stay away from that. I like trying to figure out what these words mean, since it's an old book and I have never heard a lot of these words before. One thing I don't like about the author's vocabulary so far is that it is very repetetive. He uses the same words a lot, when there are lots of other words and adjectives he could be using. I also think the setting isn't very clear sometimes, but maybe that's because I can't understand some of the words he uses. Other than those two things, I am really enjoying the book and it is very engaging and hard to put down. The author describes the characters well and their personalities are interesting. It's an intriguing book because it's a futuristic society and I like reading books about what could happen in the future. I like how even though this book was written in 1963, it can still apply to us today.

A Clockwork Orange- Reading Skills

The first book I am reading this year is A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. So far, I am only 24 pages into the book. The book is about a boy named Alex and his group of droogs, or criminals. The droogs 'take over' the town at night. This book takes place in a futuristic world, and is supposedly Anthony Burgess' vision of the future. Do you think Anthony Burgess actually thought society would be like this in the future? It's weird to think that people have so many different visions of the future. It seems like Alex's group has a 'rival' group of droogs, led by another boy who they call 'Billyboy.' I predict Alex's group will get in some sort of conflict with this group, like maybe one group turns in the other group to the police. Even if Billyboy's droogs don't turn them in, I think the police will somehow get involved with Alex and his group. I also predict a conflict will arise within Alex's group of droogs, like maybe them wanting to kick him out, even though he's the leader of the group. The language and slang used in this book was a little hard to understand at first, but I am starting to get used to it. I wonder where this slang comes from, if these words were actually used when the book was written or if the author made them up. I like reading it because it makes it seem like you actually are in a different world or time period since it's not common language that we use today. Alex's group and Billygoat's group got into a fight, and it reminded me of the rumble in The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton, because they were all beating each other up and fighting. Alex is very smart and can think of all these plans for what they are going to do at night and what crimes they will commit, and it reminds me of things you see in the news about how criminals have these huge crimes that they spend months planning. So far, this book seems good. I had it recommended it to me by a friend, so I have high expectations for it and I am excited to read it!