Did the book end satifactory?

Julia awoke at 7:15 the following morning, surprised by how good she felt. Not drinking was really refreshing. During her shower, she slowly remembered the previous night's howling. After dressing and applying mascara, she walked out behind the apartment and found the corpse of a mutilated cat, beaten with a hammer and ripped to shreds. Its intestines had been pulled from its guts with a stick, and the neck of a beer bottle was jammed into its rectum. The cat's eyes were wide open and its jaws were locked; its tongue had been riped out with a pliers (Klosterman).

So this book is getting turning into something kind of messed up. I can't really figure out why its doing this. The beginning of the book and still a majority of it is still normal but every couple of pages something like this happens. I guess the only reason I chose this was because I have no idea why the book is doing this. It's just a normal small rural town but suddenly all this crazy stuff is happening. Something gruesome has happened to both Mitch and Julia so I guess Horace is next?

Truthfully, I have not finished my book. I won't give you excesses. And I'm going to grab a passage form the end of the book to use, but I will tell you this; I can tell from where I am that this book will end satisfactory. All of the characters are very well thought out. They all share the same unique qualities that no one else in owl shares but the irony about this is that these three characters do not know one another. They have all heard of each other, of course, because they like in a extremely small town in the midwest. They all represent each age group but you don't have to be in that certain group to be able to relate the all the characters. I will admit that Mitch, the teenage, is my favorite but I don't think that is because I am the same age as him. I've been doing something that I've never done before with a book, which is that I am not looking ahead at all. That is why I am not using a passage from later on in the book. Every book I have ever read I always see how many pages there are, I calculate what percentage of the book I have already read and how much more I have to go and I also determine how many pages I should read a night in order to finish the book as soon as possible. But with this book I have done none of this and it has made it quite a bit more enjoyable. I will admit that I have been going at a rather leasherly pace but I think that is because I just don't really have time to sit down and read, because every time I do read I read a least 30 pages. So to coclude, I have not finished the book yet but I can tell from what I have gotten to so far that I will most deffinately enjoy the ending. Whenever it is that I get to it.

WHO ARE THE THOUGHT POLICE?

It was too bad the movie theater went bankrupt, thought Mitch. If the theater was still in busines, he could buy a ticket for the 7:30 showing of a Saturday-night horrow movie and slip out the rear exit during one of the scenes that were set at night, because the theater would be pitch-black and no one would notice his departure. He could then leave his car in the parking lot and cross town by foot, arriving at Laidlaw's house at 7:55. John Laidlaw was Lutheran, but his wafe was Catholic, and she always wnet to Mass on Saturday night. This would mean Laidlaw would be alone, probably watching Love Boat or Fantasy Island. Mitch could enter the house through the garage, creep into the living room through the kitchen, pounce up from behind the La-Z-Boy, throw a potato sack over Laidlaw's skull, and bash him over the head with a brick. He'd hit him twice, or maybe three times. All the blood would stay on the inside of the bag. Then. while Laidlaw was unconscious, he would drag him down the stairs and tie his (crucifixion style) to the Nautilus machine in the basement; Mitch knew the family owned a Nautilus machine because Laidlaw talked about it all the itme. He would rouse him by throwing ice water in his face...ect (Klosterman).

So... yeah. I found a bit shocking. It completely changed my out look in the character Mitch. At first he seems like this average, maybe thougtful, high school quarter back. And then... he just imagines this randomly. (Laidlaw is his football coach as well as english teacher) The book slightly hints that Mitch doesn't care too much for Laidlaw but never has it gone into such detail like this before. This part is right at then end of the chapter and when I finished it I didn't really know how to react. Theres another line that says, 'The crime would be so brutal that a boy such as himself would be above suspicion.' And that couldn't be more true. It's just so random that a kid like this would have suck a terrifically horrible thought. As soon as I was done with his chapter I wanted to read past the other two characters just so I could know what happened next. How he felt, why he wanted to kill this adult figure. I mean it does say that Laidlaw had a relationship with one of his students and Mitch does mention that that is one of the reasons he hates Laidlaw so much, but that couldn't possibly be any sort of notion to create such a day dream. I will admit that I've some bad thoughts about teachers and my mind does wonder. But never have I thought about a planned and callous murder of one of them.
So, I just thought this was really profound and intense but that's also part of the reason I like it so much. It add a whole new level to Mitches persona and it leaves me, as the reader, wanting to learn more about. I am extremely intrugued to read more chapters about Mitch. He's is probably the most interesting character right now.

Mitch

He was, however, less confident about questions regarding the book itself, as he did not comprehend anything about it. He had looked at all 106 pages that had been assigned, and his pupils had scanned across every sentence, and he understood all the individual words and all of the meaningful phrases. Yet-somehow-Mitch had ingested nothing. He could not recall the qualities of any of the characters (although their names now sounded vaguely familiar), nor could he outline any element of the book's plot (beyond feeling an abstract sense of darkness and formality). Had he forgotten to bring the book home over the weekend, he would still be in the same position he was right now. This sort of thing happened all the time. The things he did on purpose were usually no different from the mistakes he made by accident (Klosterman).

This passage, I hate to say, reminds me a lot of what it was like when we were reading Dante's Inferno and the Iliad. Like Mitch, I read everything but I didn't really absorb it (sorry ms.willians). All of the characters that Klosterman creates are always easy to relate to. i think thats probably why I like his writing so much. it just feels like I'm have this same thought train go through my head before. Anyways, I honestly don't have questions for this passage but I really enjoyed reading it. Although Mitch isn't my favorite character he would probably be my second favorite.

Horace

"Doesn't matter," said Marvin. "Doesn't matter what person Columbus was. Doesn't matter how many Indians he killed or didn't kill, or if he was or wasn't an asshole. From what I've read, Columbus probably was an asshole. He probably deserved to get hung. But heres the thing: He didn't get hung. The man climbed on a wooden watercraft and collided with North America by accident. It doesn't matter what happened afterwards or what his motives were. He found it. It happened. He's what history is. It was his destiny to be that particular man, and it was his destiny to do those specific things. But nobody at that newspaper cares about anything that happened before they were born, which is why they don't give space to things like Columbus Day. Which is why I stopped reading the newspaper in '74. After they busted Nixon, it all became bullshit and advertising" (Klosterman).

So I know the name 'Horace doesn't come up in this passage but this is one of Horace's friends talking to him. This passage reminds me of how everything is publicized. Like politics and what not. The election for instance, the media has so much to do with people's perception of everything. Democratic newspapers bash on the Republicans and visa versa. So I just thought it was interesting how Klosterman made a character in this book that, in a way, lives above the media. This passage is very true, I think, because a lot of people don't pay attention to things that aren't relevant to them or things that pertain to them. I hardly know anything about Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK and even Christopher Columbus for that matter. And like this passage says it has a lot to do with newspapers (and media) because they don't talk about things like Columbus Day. When you think about it, having the Owl newspaper push coverage of Columbus Day aside is completely absurd, without Columbus Day they wouldn't be writing ANYTHING for ANY newspaper. I chose this passage because I completely feel the point of view Marvin is convoying.

Julia

In Owl, people did not date; if you went on a date, you were dating. If you went on two dates, it was an exclusive relationship. If you went on three dates, it was a serious relationship and there was potential for marriage. You could hang out with members of the opposite sex whenever you wanted, and you could get drunk with them in public, and you could even find yourself having clandestine sex with one of them, possible on multiple occasions. But you couldn't make plans. Going on a proper, recognized date was different; when someone asked you on a date, they were actively asking if you'd be interested in a committed relastionship. When all theose curiously nicknamed men asked julia to see movies, they were really asking if she might consider sharing her life. Because-if a shared life was the life you wanted, and you wanted to share such a life without leaving Owl- there were no other options. If Julia didn't like you, no one could ever say, "Well, there's a lot of other fish in the sea." There was one fish, and it lived in a lake with no tributaries, and all the completing villagers read Field & Stream with extreme prejudice. The arrival of an unattached female teacher was a romantic race against time. And no matter how much she enjoyed her insular celebrity, (and regardless of how nicely these desperate, lonely men seemed to treat her) Julia knew that was perverse. She thought about it all the time
(Klosterman).

I chose this passage because it reminded me of Decatur. Decatur is some what the same. You can't really date someone unless you really plan on going out with them. And nobody really dates. In the beginning of every relationship you call it dating but there are never actual dates involved. There are certain steps to a Decatur relationship (and I guess an Owl relationship also). You hang out for however ling it takes, your friends begin to relise that your spending and uncanny amount of time with this one person, then your friends start asking you about it and you eventually call it dating. I guess this passage just reminded me of how Decatur really is a small town. A small town that just not in the middle of nowhere like Owl. Of course no one in Decatur High is really expecting that dating someone will lead to a life time with them but in a way thats kind of what happens. I've gone out with different people but I've only ever been on two actual dates and that relastionship lasted for about 5 or 6 months. So maybe the auther wanted Owl to seem complex (and maybe it is, and the only reason I can read between the lines is because Decatur actually is a small town) but it's not really. Everybody knows every, or has some restated impression of them, and normally that restated impression leads to how you feel about them up until you actually meet them. This related to Owl because Julia has two friends and every time one of these men asks her on a date, gets declined, and walks away, her two friends always give her the feed back on that person. Which is EMENCLY like Decatur. I just wonder why Decatur students try to act to adult, I mean all the adults in the midwest seem to be doing the exact same thing.

Mitch

"Mitch will you intercede here?"
This was Mitch's deepest source of personal pride: For reasons that had never been clearly defined, he was universally viewed as the intellectual authority on who would win an imaginary right between Grendel and Candy. It might have been because Mitch had spent more time thinking about this theoretical conflict then anyone else, or it might have been because he just seemed like the kind of person who would spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about an event that had never happened. But regardless of how this assumption came to be, Mitch loved that it was believed to be true. He loved that this was an issue that everyone had an opinion about, but-somehow- his opinion counted more. Whenever people discussed the Grendel vs. Candy Hypothetical, he never had to interject himself into the conversation; he always knew someone else would eventually ask him what he thought.
"As I have often noted int he past," began Mitch, "context is everything. If you locked Grendel and Candy in a room and said, 'Okay, start fighting,' I'm sure Candy would win. Locking him in a room would be more then enough motivation to make him go wolfshit, because he wants to die. If you locked up Candy in him kitchen and said, 'Okay, start fighting,' he would beat the shit out of the oven. That's just who he is. He's like Gordon Kahl. But we have to assume this fight would be happening for a reason. Something would have to be at stake, and it would have to be something Grendel was extremely emotional about, because he doesn't have the capacity to get pissed off intellectually. SO if this ight did happen, it would have to be because Grendel went insane. And if Grendel was insane, I don't see how anyone could stop him. Candy could hit him with a bottle. Candy could hit him in the chest with a sledgehammer. It wouldn't matter. Grendel would always win."
"I dissagree," said Curtis-Fritz.
"This conversation is over," said Drug Man. "Vanna has spoken."
(Klosterman)

I find this passage funny, mainly because the feeling that his friends are giving him is just random satifaction. He, along with his friends, don't really know why Mitch has been bubbed the most intellectual but they just know he is. Mitch is the kind of guy that doesn't really get much recognition for a lot of what he does, and when his friends just assume that he is more intellectual. Sometimes my friends think I'm just good at something and even if I'm not it just feels good to now that they think I am. I play soccer and my friends always ask me if I'm good at it,and the way they say it you can tell they assume that I am (and I'm really not). But its just satifying to know that they think I am. And I feel that Mitch has that same feeling in this passage. His friends just know that he would be best to really anylize who would win the fight, and Mitch (being the person he is) uses big words and miticulous descriptions on his opinion. Because he doesn't want his friends to realise that maybe he really isn't the most intellectual, because theres not really much else that he could excel at. Leaving him with the sense of satifation. Simple, random, satifaction.
I guess my only question would really be to ask what would happen if his friends realised that he wasn't intellectual. And how Mitch would then feel.

Final Blog

But where I itty now, O my brothers, is all on my oddy knocky, where you cannot go. Tomorrow is all like sweet flowers and the turning vonny earth and the stars and the old Luna up there and your old droog Alex all on his oddy knocky seeking like a mate. And all that cal. A terrible grahzny vonny world, really, O my brothers. And so farewell from yours little droog. And to all others in this story profound shooms of lipmusic brrrrrr. And they can kiss my sharries. But you, O my brothers, remember sometimes thy little Alex that was. Amen. And all that cal (Burgess).

Did
 the 
book 
come 
to 
a
 satisfactory
 closure
 for
 you? 
Why/not?


For me the book ended well. It was different then I thought, which I liked because it surprised me. As I've said, he becomes 'good' but not exactly. He stops doing all of the cude and horrible things because he just doens't want to do them anymore. Aside from it surprising me I also found it relateble, sometimes there are things that I love to do and then I just realize that I just don't like those things as much anymore and I just stop doing them. Alex is going up and has fazes just like everyone else and all of the bad things he did were just a part of his life that he eventually grew out of.
I also really liked the ending. No real reason I just liked how it was written. The attitude it had and how it was just peaceful in a way. Once I finished it, I sat back and it was just like I could relate, even though I couldn't really. Burgess made it seem like, if I wanted to, I probably could be friends with Alex. Which sounds odd, I mean why would I think about being friends with a fictional character, but thats why I liked this book. I wanted to relate just so I could have the peace of mind in knowing that maybe, if this person were real, I would be able friends with Alex. Burgess made him seem real. I've even found myself in certain situations wondering what Alex would do. (haha)



Old Dim

But old Dim, as soon as he's slooshied this dollop of song like a lomtick of redhot meat plonked on his plate, let off one of his vulgarities, which in this case was liptrump followed by a dog-howl followed by two fingers pronging twice at the air followed by a clown guffaw. I felt myself all of a fever and like drowning in redhot blood, slooshying and viddying Dim's vulgarity, and I said: "Bastard. Filthy drooling mannerless bastart." Then I leaned across Georgie, who was between me and horrible Dim, and fisted Dim skrry on the rot. Dim looked very surprised, his rot open, wiping the krovvy off of his goober with his rook and in tirn looking surprised at the red flowing krovvy and at me. "What for did you do that for?" he said in his ignorant wat. Not many viddied what I'd done, and those that viddied cared not. The stereo was on again and was playing a very sick electronic guitar veshch. I said:
"For being a bastard with no manners and not the fook of an idea how to comport yourself publicwaise, O my brother"(Burgess).

After I had read the introduction I thought that the last chapter, when he becomes good, would just be a sudden random change. And that's why I really like this chapter and this passage. It shows that, from an early point in the book there is already some good in him. But at the same time, the way Alex reacts to Dim is really strange, because before they got the bar they had robbed someones house, raped the wife of the house, stolen a car, and pestered a drunk old man. I guess it kind of shows that his envirornment has taken a real tole of the way he leads his life. It kind of makes me wonder, if he were a real person, if he would still be this horrible person with no senserity for mankind. Because from the way he leads his life in the book so far...it seems likes that the kind of person he is.

Joy Joy Joy Joy

"When the last movement had gone round for the second time with all the banging and creeching about Joy Joy Joy Joy, then these two young ptitsas were not acting the big lady sophisto no more. They were like waking up what was being done to their malenky persons and saying that they wanted to go home and like I was a wild beast. They looked like they had been in some big bitva, as indeed they had, and were all bruised and pouty. Well, if they would not go to school they must still have their education. And education they had had. They were creching and going ow ow ow as they put their platties on, and they were like punchipunching me with their teeny fists as I lay there dirty an nagoy and fair shagged and fagged on the bed. This young Sonietta was creeching. 'Beast and hateful animal. Filthy horror.' So I let them get their things together and should be got on me and all that cal. Then they were going down the stairs and I dropped off to sleep. still with the old Joy Joy Joy Joy crashing and howling away" (Burgess).

The main character, Alex, is what we, in our society, would most likely call a barbarian or something of the sort, but he doesn't realize that he's doing anything wrong. For Alex, dinner and raping and mugging someone fall under the same category, they are amatory acts of like. Alex is completely evil, or so he seems at this point in the book. Which I find kind of intriguing, because I know that in the last chapter he will become 'good'.
I don't understand how someone, who has lived with such a bloodcurdling society, can just change. I can understand that over time a person can look at everything their life has culminated into and realize that they don't like what they see, and I know Alex does that, but he does it so suddenly. I want to know how, when and why this change arouses in his life. Because I just don't understand how it can happen so abruptly.
But, there are a few clues that can show that this climax is going to happen. He like Beethoven. Which does not exactly fit into his rebel-esk like style.

A Clockwork Orange Resucked

I really like this Author. I can't really judge his writing because I haven't gotten far enough into the book to really judge the quality of it, but yesterday I was flipping threw the about author section and then I started reading his introduction. Not only has he written novels, verses, nonfiction and plays, he's also created symphonies, opera's and jazz. I wish I could do that. It was also interesting to know that he wasn't so into this book, he said he felt sort of trapped in it. He felt like a one hit wonder, in novel terms. A Clockwork Orange is such a famous book it over shadowed (and still does) all his other works.
The twenty-first chapter was taken out of the American version and movie, which he really didn't like. The number twenty-one symbolized something for him, about human maturity. He split it up into seven parts for a reason and he didn't want it to be changed. Yet he was broke and needed to book to be published.
It seems like Burgess knows how real people are but he also understands that fiction is called fiction for a reason. I mean its literal definition is; the class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration. He knew that this piggish, destructive character had to change. It what characters do.
My favorite part of his introduction was how he ended it. Lately I've realized that I cannot end anything I ever start writing. And his ending seemed like a good ending. It wasn't cheesy, not too 'hard', it was good.
"Readers of the twenty-first chapter must decide for themselves whether it enhances the book they presumably know or is really a discardable limb. I meant the book to end this way, but my aesthetic judgment may have been faulty. Writers are rarely their own best critics, now are critics. 'Quod scripsi scripsi' said Pontius Pilate when he made Jesus Christ the Kind of the Jews. 'What i have written I have written'. We can destroy what we have written but we cannot rewrite it. I leave what i have wrote with what Dr. Johnson called frigis indifference tot he judgement of that .00000001 of the American population which cares about suchs things. Eat this swetish segment or spit it out. You are free.

November 1986" (Introduction, pg. xv).

A Clockwork Orange

"Whats is going to be then, eh?'
There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry. The Korova Milkbar was a milk-plus mesto, and you may, O my brothers, have forgotten what these mestos were like, things changing so skorry these days and everybody very quick to forget, newspapers not being read much neither. Well, what they sold these was milk plus something else. They had no license for selling liquor, but there was no law yet against prodding some of the new veshches which they used to put into the old moloko, so you could peet it with vellocet or synthemsc or drencrom or one or two other veshches which would give you a nice quiet horrorshow fifteen minutes admiring Bog And All His Holy Angels And Saints in your left shoe with lights bursting all over your mozg. Or you could peet milk with knives in it, as we used to say, and this would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of dirty twenty-to-one, and that was what we were peeting this evening I'm starting off the story with (Burgess pg. 3).

So I haven't read much into this book yet, just a little further then this, but I have to stop every few sentences to ask myself what Burgess is actually trying to tell me. Either I have an even smaller vocabulary then I thought or he is making up words. By all means what the hell is 'peeting'? And also, I don't see what he finds appealing in milk and liquor but...to each their own.
Other then that I do find the dialect interesting and I figure that once I get used to it the book will be quiet enjoyable... Well as enjoyable as it can be. I am aware that these 'droogs' rape at will and kill for pleasure. From what I've heard, this book will be haunting, which is a bit intriguing.
I am a little excited to be inside the head of a ruthless...person

my book

is....Gravity's Rainbow