Genre: Classic Dystopian Thriller
Rating: 5 Soda Caps
I actually have a shirt for this one! I love the psychological depth of this book with its unique language, realistic depiction of Alex, and the almost comical way the government and it's psychologist puppets step in. The over all theme is a particular favorite of mine, being somewhere along the lines of "it's better to be a monster than to not be yourself" but with a touch of "there's no rest for the wicked".
Nadsat for some reason is one of my favorite languages. There's this humor behind almost every slang word that makes my day. A language that highlights select words like friends, mouth, face, sex, violence, etc... The repetition puts emphasis on the intricacy of the connection between the boys and the fact that it's not a full language (therfore just slang) gives it that gang quality. If Alex was actually as big as Jesus like he feels, maybe it could be a full language. Yet, alas, his power is all in his head.
That ego is another part that drew me in. Alex truly believes that he's king amongst his "drugess" like a hipster would, thinking he's leagues more intelligent and cultured them. He sees himself above them and he sees himself above the law too, leaving him as the definition of a narcissistic sociopath. Still, Alex is portrayed as a victim to a corrupt system.
The totalitarianism of the mental institution features behavioral conditioning like a small scale Brave New World. Though it is exaggerated it highlights the very real fact that our reformation institutions are flawed, as is our government. It doesn't take a genius to see that the American (and many others) government has an obscene amount of corruption.
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