Book

Some (Admittedly Late) Summer Reading (etc.)

Aug 30th

Posted by Alex in Book

1 comment

Recently, after finding myself with rather more booktokens than I would usually know what to do with, I’ve been reading quite a few books recently- and thought that I’d post my latest reading list here:

  1. Battle royale by Koushun Takami. While graphically violent, it definitely served the plot very well and proved to be a most excellent and gripping novel and was impossible to put down- the dystopian backstory certainly adds to the plot.
  2. Flow, My Tears, the Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick, a true science-fiction masterwork; and definitely a story with several more reads in it for me. I also purchased Dr. Bloodmoney- but have misplaced that when coming back from Cornwall.
  3. Python in a Nutshell from the O’Reilly press; a very fast paced book about python which Timothéus picked up for me at GUADEC for a happily reduced price.
  4. Not strictly reading, but for some music I wholeheartedly recommend Peter Gabriel’s 3, 4 and Still Growing Up Live (DVD).

A Clockwork Orange- Independents Banned Books Series

Feb 25th

Posted by Alex in Book

3 comments

Cover of A clockwork orangeThe Independent are publishing their own hardback editions of 25 banned books- starting yesterday with the classic of “A Clockwork Orange.”

This book has really emphasised the morality of choice to me although at times the use of ‘nadsat’ can make the book slightly confusing (although most of the time I did not need to consult the glossary for definitions).

The book discusses the theme on the wrongs of removing someones choice to be evil from them; it has an interesting undertone of a beggining of totalitarianism- with comments about political prisoners needing prison room.

The edition used here is the European one- and I feel this concludes the story in a better way than the American on (the one used in Kubricks movie adaptation).