Clockwork orange

I read the Clockwork Orange by Anthongy Burgess yesterday.
Very powerful book, especially if read in one breath from the beginning till the end. I came back from work planning to go to gym or jogging. Instead i played saxophone for 20 minutes and then thought i just read a page or two. Didn't finish until the end.

The book tries to show how wrong it is to try to change a person's behaviour, by making something (which he initially likes) utterly discusting by associating it with negative feelings. It definetely has a point. Being a liberal, i've always opposed government action aimed at protecting a person from himself. Still, i also believe that the society was made better off by eliminating Alex's will for violence. Controversial indeed.

I read the book in Estonian translation which seemed very odd and annoying in the beginning but once i got used to it, it appeared to be an excellent translation. It managed to channel the full power of the book right into me. I now realise why the movie by Kubrick was banned for years in UK. At the same time, i do not yet feel that i would like to kill someone, just because i can...

I strongly recommend the book as well as the movie.