The "I Didn't Comment in Another Thread" Thread

[prabe]

I creeched louder still, creeching: 'Am I just to be like a clockwork orange?' It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem real when you hear them with the ol' Billy Tell.

Twenty chapters or twenty-one?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Twenty chapters or twenty-one?

(I wrote a very long paper on this in college. The answer is simply that the difference results in completely different messages. Which version you "prefer" is much more a reflection of how you view humanity.)

 

[prabe]

(I wrote a very long paper on this in college. The answer is simply that the difference results in completely different messages. Which version you "prefer" is much more a reflection of how you view humanity.)

I'm going to phrase this basically as it comes to me, please do not take it as an attack: What do (or perhaps did) you think it says about my view of humanity that I prefer the story with the 21st chapter? Does it change your thinking that my reason (that I was most aware of) was because that's the version Burgess preferred?

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I'm going to phrase this basically as it comes to me, please do not take it as an attack: What do (or perhaps did) you think it says about my view of humanity that I prefer the story with the 21st chapter? Does it change your thinking that my reason (that I was most aware of) was because that's the version Burgess preferred?

Personal preferences are a heckuva thing. People ... well, they like what they like. I think that there are a number of people who like the 21 chapter version because others are unfamiliar with it, so it has the dual imprimatur of being "cool" (like a band that other people don't know about) as well as being the "intended meaning" of the author. But a lot of people genuinely prefer it for the message.

...but the story comes with an even more complicated twist. Yes, the book originally was written with 21 chapters. And yes, Burgess later complained about the "American cut." But later letters show that Burgess was actually more ambivalent about the American cut than he publicly let on. The inclusion of the 21st chapter doesn't make the story better; instead, it takes away the power of the story in exchange for a force-fed pabulum ending. "Hey reader- free will is good. Maturity matters." IMO.

I came to this opinion over time, and a LOT of reading of the book and viewing of the movie. The inclusion of the 21st chapter makes the overall work ... worse. I appreciate his reasoning (and yes, 21 = age, 21 = 3x7, etc.), but the editor did an unqualified good to the world in excising that chapter. The book should end with, "I was cured all right." Providing easy answers ... make the book worse.

But I respect that others think differently.

 

[prabe]

Personal preferences are a heckuva thing. People ... well, they like what they like. I think that there are a number of people who like the 21 chapter version because others are unfamiliar with it, so it has the dual imprimatur of being "cool" (like a band that other people don't know about) as well as being the "intended meaning" of the author. But a lot of people genuinely prefer it for the message.

...but the story comes with an even more complicated twist. Yes, the book originally was written with 21 chapters. And yes, Burgess later complained about the "American cut." But later letters show that Burgess was actually more ambivalent about the American cut than he publicly let on. The inclusion of the 21st chapter doesn't make the story better; instead, it takes away the power of the story in exchange for a force-fed pabulum ending. "Hey reader- free will is good. Maturity matters." IMO.

I came to this opinion over time, and a LOT of reading of the book and viewing of the movie. The inclusion of the 21st chapter makes the overall work ... worse. I appreciate his reasoning (and yes, 21 = age, 21 = 3x7, etc.), but the editor did an unqualified good to the world in excising that chapter. The book should end with, "I was cured all right." Providing easy answers ... make the book worse.

But I respect that others think differently.

Endings are ... difficult, and often arbitrary. There is (or seems from here to be) consistency between your thoughts on irony and ambiguity and your thoughts on the "easy answers" in the 21st chapter.

But that's enough serious talk and deep thinking. Let's have a gif!

 

[prabe]

@Snarf Zagyg Also, thanks for the serious answer.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Endings are ... difficult, and often arbitrary. There is (or seems from here to be) consistency between your thoughts on irony and ambiguity and your thoughts on the "easy answers" in the 21st chapter.

But that's enough serious talk and deep thinking. Let's have a gif!

 

[prabe]

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

...

Look! It's no thread on enworld, ever!

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

awesome,​

adjective.
awe·some | \ ˈȯ-səm

Definition of awesome​

1a: inspiring awe an awesome task/responsibility a place of awesome beauty
b informal : terrific, extraordinary had an awesome time at the concert

2: expressive of awe awesome tribute
3: totally devoid of pineapple.