#30 A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

When I first dug in to this book I thought it might be a bit difficult to get thru. It is written in the first person narrative style - the main character speaking directly to the reader.  Alex speaks to you using that futuristic cockney slang that Malcolm McDowell so brilliantly brought to horrorshow life in Stanley Kubrick's film.   You do soon get used to all the listos and glazies and such, O My Brother, so it is not that bad after all.

There is an introduction before the edition that I read that gives the impression that Burgess isn't as fond of this work as everyone else is. If I remember right, Kubrick wasn't all that proud of the film version either.  Perhaps bringing to life a character as horrible as young Alex puts you off a bit.

And Alex is thoroughly awful. Believe it or not, Kubrick changed some things to clean him up a little bit. Burgess' Alex is absolutely detestable.. and he attempts to ingratiate himself to the reader by referring to himself as "You Humble Narrator" and your "Friend". Ugh - barf.

Normally, in a philosophical work such as this, the deeper message is more nebulous.. something you are forced to ponder and piece together.. but not here.  Burgess comes right out and tells you the precise meaning and explains the metaphor - right in the book - of the "clockwork orange".  He spends pages explicitly detailing the meaning of what he is saying about human nature and crime and punishment. I guess I am used to some more obscurity for things of this nature.

The book is divided up into three sections, each begins with Alex being asked "What's it going to be then, eh?"  This particular line gets to the heart of the major philosophical issue in the book: CHOICE. Alex chooses to be who he is (evil) and the justice system takes away his ability to choose.  I suppose he should be locked up for life because he only chooses to hurt people for his own gain, but I suppose he should not have his humanity stripped from him even if he is a shitty human.

P44
They don't go into what is the cause of goodness, so why the other shop? If lewdies are good that's because they like it, and I wouldn't ever interfere with their pleasure, and so of the other shop. And I was patronizing the other shop. More, badness is of the self, the one, the you or me on our oddy knockies, and that self is made by the old Bog or God and is his great pride and radosty. But the not-self cannot have the bad, meaning they of the government and the judges and the schools cannot allow the bad because they cannot allow the self. And is not our modern history, my brothers, the story of brave malenky selves fighting with these big machines? I am serious with you, brothers, over this. But what I do I do because I like to do.

#42 the Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

When I first picked it up, I was thinking I might be overdosing on King Arthur.  My level of interest quickly heightened when I saw that it was the Arthurian legends from the FEMALE perspective.  And naturally it was quite good.

All of the characters, no matter how strong their convictions or how powerful they are, show a lot of insecurities and have a very high capacity for self doubt.  I found it interesting on how quickly all of the women flowed back and forth between jealousy - almost to the point of hostility - and supportive sisterhood.  Viviane, Igraine and Morguase have a sisterly relationship that is based on equal parts love and resentment; magical power and subjected duty; guilt and sacrifice.. and pride.
Gwenhwyfar and Morgaine constantly stab and forgive each other. Each feels like the other one got what she should have had. They are horribly envious of each other, but somewhat comfortable in the knowledge that the other doesn't have it that good either. They accuse and forgive - several times - within the span of just a few breaths.
It is tragic, but beautiful.   ..why the "but"?..  It is tragic AND beautiful.
Perhaps this is somewhat of a glimpse of what goes on in a woman's mind all of the time.. if so.. yikes.

p48
They had reached the door of their lodging; Gorlois his face turning dark with wrath, pushed her angrily within. "You will not speak to me in that voice, lady, or I shall beat you in earnest."
Igraine realized that she had actually bared her teeth like a hunting cat, and her voice hissed as she said "Touch me at your peril, Gorlois, or I shall teach you that a daughter of the holy isle is no man's slave or servant!"

p726
"Why should we all meet in one afterlife? Why should there not be many paths, the Saxons to follow their own, we follow ours, the followers of Christ to worship him if they choose, without restraining the worship of others?"
Kevin shook his head. " My dear, I do not know. There seems to be a deep change in the way men look at the world, as if one truth should drive out another - as if whatever is not in their truth, must be a falsehood."
"But life is not as simple as that," Morgaine said. 
"I know that, you know that, and in the fullness of time, Morgaine, even the priests will find it out."
"But if they have driven all other truths from the world, it will be too late." Morgaine said.

p758
There is no sorrow like the memory of love and the knowledge that it is gone forever. 

#47 The Once and Future King by T H White

This is the the first real book that I have read about King Arthur.  I  have seen several movies, but no books. The first 1/3 of this book is Disney's The Sword in the Stone.  Almost exactly. Young Arthur, called Wart, is tutored by Merlin and squires for Kay until he pulls the sword from the stone. Classic tale of the orphan kid who is secretly the heir to the throne.. kinda ruined by having seen it before.  I found it a bit hard to get into.
The middle part of the book mainly follows Lancelot and his adventures and his relationship with Guinevere.  There are a few throw away chapters about a really colorful and lovable character called King Pellinore. He is a great character - very Don Quixote like - but his story was a little out of place in this book I thought.
The final part covers the tragic end of the Arthur, Lance, Gwen love triangle.  I felt that was very well done.  It really pushes how great of a king Arthur was ( and will be?).  He did the best he could in his time, but the world was just not quite ready for that much justice.

I think White was going for a collection of stories of the rest of Arthur's life.  He references other authors works directly and says to look there for a recount of the main big conquests of King Arthur and the KORT. Perhaps some of the things that I found odd here (Pellinore) will make more sense once I do read the rest of the stories..
I am reading Mists of Avalon by Bradley next, so we shall see.

p312
It is the tragedy.. of sin coming home to roost... He did not know he was [sinning].. but it seems, in tragedy, that innocence is not enough.

p432
The king sat looking at his fingers, and they waited while the old thoughts ran sideways across his hands like crabs.

p517
An enormous eagle owl... opened his eyes when the bells rang. Before he had opened them he might have been a stuffed owl, a dowdy bundle of feathers. The moment they had dawned, he was a creature form Edgar Alan Poe. You hardly liked to look at him. They were red eyes, homicidal and terrific.  Seeming to actually give out light. They were like rubies filled with flame.  He was called the Grand Duke.  

#58 The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R Donaldson

Lord Foul's Bane (book one of three)
I was thrown off by the story starting in the modern mundane world for the first two chapters.  As a plot device, it was very well done in that it gave you a real feel for the hero (anti-hero) and where he was coming from. Covenant is so resistant to his fate, so afraid of loosing his bitterly constructed defenses that he does his heroic ( and villainous) deeds because he HAS to... not at all because he wants to.
Here is a man coming from the cruel and painful normal world who is thrust into a beautiful, ideal world. This wondrous would is troubled and he helps only in spite of himself. His main goal is to make it back to the world that treats him so badly still in one piece with his sanity intact.   He suddenly finds himself in a much better place, but he rejects it because he is so used to having to be tough and fight to survive. It is a far cry from the humble, tragic heroes struggling against a controlling Orwellian dystopia or the proud, honor-bound fantasy heroes following their fate.

p331  a funeral song.
Death reaps the beauty of the world - bundles old crops to hasten new.
Be still heart: hold peace.
Growing is better than decay: I hear the blade that severs life from life.
Be still, peace: hold heart.
Death is passing on- the making way of life and time for life.
Hate dying and killing, not death.
Be still, heart: make no expostulation.
Hold peace and grief and be still.

I could have sworn I made a post after finishing the Illearth War (book two), but it sure does not appear to be here..

The Power That Preserves (book three)
Mr. Covenant is more resigned to his interaction with The Land and has more control over things overall. He is still a jerk, but on his third trip he is softened a bit. He knows what to expect from The Land and the people therein.. which makes is a bit predictable for the reader as well. The same formula kinda looses some steam the third time around.  There is still some epic awesomeness - kick ass battle scenes.. a siege.. crossing a river of lava.. slaying creepy not-main-villain-but-still-bad-guy.  Old characters come back and play out their tragedies.  Others suffer and die (much to Covenant's dismay) so that he can accomplish what he needs to. He sorely hates that there is all of this blood on his hands, but there is nothing he can do about it. This all contributes to Covenant's spiral of self loathing and I really did end up pitying him in the end.

p272
Dreams roiled in his unconsciousness giving him no consolation.  Again and again he relived the double-fisted blow with which he had stabbed Pitten. But now he dealt that fierce blow to other hearts - Llaura, Manethrall Rue, Elena, Joan, the woman who had been killed protecting him at the battle of Soaring Woodhelven - why had he never asked anyone her name? In dreams he slew them all. They lay around him with gleams of light shining keenly out of their wounds like notes in an alien melody.  The song tugged at him, urged - but before he could hear it, another figure hove across his vision, listing like a crippled frigate. The man was dressed in misery and violence. He had blood on his hands and love of murder in his eyes but Covenant could not make out his face. Again he raised the knife, again he drove it with all his might into that vulnerable breast.  Only then did he see that the man was himself.

p334
The turbulent wind seemed to snatch the sound to pieces, tatter it instantly. In a place where echoes were common, his call disappeared without resonance or answer; the wind tore it away as if to undo his purpose, make him unheard. Nevertheless he summoned his trust, pried himself up the hillside to stand waiting on the vantage of the test. A suspense like the either / or of despair filled him, but he faced the western mountains as if he know neither distrust nor fear.

#19 Slaughterhouse- five by Kurt Vonnegut

Vonnegut is a CRAZY m-f'er.  Holy scatterbrain, batman. I suppose random hopping around in the timeline of the story is a really useful device in a book about someone who comes unstuck in time.  I hadn't realized before that twice an many people died in the firebombing of Dresden as in the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.  So it goes.

p167
Trout, incidentally, had written a book about a money tree.  It had twenty-dollar bills for leaves.  Its flowers were government bonds.  Its fruit was diamonds.  It attracted human beings who killed each other around its roots and made very good fertilizer.  So it goes.

#13 Animal Farm by George Orwell

After plodding through the last book over the course of several months, this one went by in the blink of an eye.  141 pages, but feels shorter.  I'm left not quite knowing what Orwell feels about communism, but sure doesn't like people in power.  He seems to extol the virtues of a society where all are equal and everyone works for the common good to the best of his abilities, but any form of government can be perverted from it's ideals and corrupted by certain individuals.
It made me really hungry for bacon..

#64 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

I was actually looking for more by Arthur C. when I found Susanna.  This was a slow book.  It took me quite a wile to get through it.  It was very interesting, but not exciting.  There is very little action, but it was not dull.  I enjoyed reading it, but was not eager to jump back into it after putting it down.  It is a very different kind of story altogether. Set in the early 1800's, it is based upon the two magicians in the title of the book trying to bring Magic back to England.  

Norrell is a real wizard type.  Very bookish, reserved, quiet.. cowardly and narcissistic too.  He is a real jerk through most of the book.   

Strange is more the Sorcerer type. He has a much better feel for the magic as opposed to Norrell's knowledge.  Since he did start out as Norrell's apprentice (later nemesis), he has plenty of knowledge too.  He is WAY more charismatic and downright dashing at times.  

Stephen and the Fairy are have a great dynamic, as do Childermas and Viniculus.  I think Viniculus is my favorite character, but I wish there was more about him.

It is odd that neither of the main characters in the title of the book are involved in the ultimate climax of the story.  

p469

It may be laid down as a general rule that if a man begins to sing, no one will take any notice of his song except his fellow human beings.  This is true even if the song is surpassingly beautiful.  Other men may be in raptures at his skill, but the rest of creation, by and large, unmoved.  Perhaps a cat or a dog may look at him; his horse, if it is an exceptionally intelligent beast, may pause in cropping the grass, but that is the extent of it.  But when the fairy sang, the whole world listened to him.  Stephen felt the clouds pause in their passing; he felt the sleeping hills shift and murmur; he felt the cold mists dance.  he understood for the first time that the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands.  In the fairy's song the earth recognized the names by which it called itself.

ooOOooohh... that's good.