A Clockwork Orange: Orange You Glad It's Not Herland?

A Clockwork Orange will make Herland look like Great Expectations; a book that any class of 2008 member will tell you was the epitome of terrible literature, as we were forced to read it freshman year. Herland was not an interesting read in my point of view; it failed to keep my attention with its sorry excuse of a plotline. After reading up on Clockwork Orange, it only took a few sentences of summary to ease my mind, as I realized I am about to begin a book that will be much better than Herland. This story, from what I have discovered so far, follows the life of a 15 year old kid named Alex in a futuristic society overrun by hoodlums and moral lacking citizens. Not that I myself am a hoodlum like Alex and his cronies, but this novel already reaches out to me more than Herland ever could. There is no mythical all woman society that can bore any reader to tears, instead Clockwork revolves around teenagers close to my age that I can actually relate to. From simply reading the summary provided by Sparknotes, I am already intrigued by the story line. I can't wait to read a novel set in a vaguely Socialist future (roughly, the late seventies or early eighties) -- a dreary, routinized England that roving gangs of teen-age thugs terrorize at night instead of one taking place in a an all woman environment. Upon further review of the summary of A Clockwork Orange, the plot just seems to entice me. This fifteen year old boy, Alex, is sentenced to fourteen years in jail after one of his rape victims has died. I would much rather discover how that turns out opposed to finding out if a group of three men will have a good time in feminist land. I hope and expect A Clockwork Orange to excel past Herland in any and ever aspect, then again, most books can do that in my point of view. It will surely be an interesting read; my only fear is that I am hyping it up too much in mind and it will not live up to its reputation. I'll be back in a couple days to analyze the early goings of the novel.

Herland: What a Joke

Charlotte Gilman's "Herland" is a book that I did not even care to finish. For me, it was hard to look past all the unreal explanations and happenings of this ridiculously impossible novel long enough to enjoy what I was reading. To start off, a society made of only women is just dumb. It could not happen, as the society would not be able to sustain itself. Now this is not a chauvinistic comment, but let's be realistic; it just wouldn't happen. On top of this, when there is an explanation made about how this male-less society came about, the ridiculously unbelievable claim is accepted by the three adventurous men. Apparently, there was a woman with Virgin Mary-like powers who is able to self reproduce. Yeah, that's how this disgrace to American literature accounts for a civilization of nothing but women. Assuming the woman was not an asexual insect that can reproduce with no male partner, and considering she wasn't Godzilla, the ferocious creature that has haunted Japanese and New York streets for years who can also independently spawn offspring, Gilman has given a random girl the powers that only the Mother of God should possess. Way to go Gilman, now your pissing off your biblically enthusiastic readers. Pretty soon, you'll be down to no fans. And just a quick side note Gilman; How much thought did you actually put into developing the three characters who visit Herland? It seems you drew a blank and resorted to picking three of the most stereotypical male-like personalities out of a hat. The characters just happen to represent the three most typical reactions to a society full of women. Terry possesses the male dominance personality of women as objects and nonsense like that. We get it Gilman, your a feminist. Congratulations, yet I bet you still let your date pay for everything. Hypocrite. And then there was Jeff; this softy represents the type of man who idealizes women and worships the very ground they walk. He is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum as Terry. And then Gilman could not resist bridging these two opposing personalities with a perfect middle man; Van is the one who does not really have a set in stone opinion, but is "willing to entertain new and even radical ideas." On your next go around, I'd recommend you put at least a couple minutes of effort into your characterization. One more thing Gilman, and this one really gets me. In a world where every nook and cranny of land has been mapped out, every attempt of a civilization has nothing short of a textbook written about it, and every living person is intimately known by the government, the idea that this society can exist in secret for over 2000 years is unfathomable. Gilman insults the reader with her explanation of certain aspects of this novel, hoping that we will just accept what ever she spit out onto the page. We as a people who desire good and sensible literature do not appreciate this joke of a novel. If Gilman put any thought into the unrealistic characteristics of this novel, maybe it would be a bearable and enjoyable read. 

Herland; Good Amount Read

Herland is a tale of three adventurous friends who decide to voyage into an unknown territory in search of a land that supposedly only contains women. Vandyck, Terry, and Jeff leave their search group and use Terry's airplane to find this mysterious place where it seems the women are evidently technologically advanced. When reading this book, I can't help but think of the "lost generation," an idea that frequents many of Earnest Hemingway's short stories. I am not sure if this book takes place during the same time, but the similarities are striking. The Lost Generation refers to "the generation of young people coming of age in the United States during and shortly after World War I" (Wikipedia.com). Prevalent mainly in Europe, these post war young men decided to roam and live a nomad like lifestyle. When I first read that these three men were going on this adventure into Herland, that is the first correlation I made. There is no discussion of women at home or any obligations for these men; they are just three friends who decide to act on their ambition and take this journey. Not one of the three men know what lies ahead, but as in the spirit of members from the Lost Generation,, they venture out anyway. Because I am a youth in current society, I relate most books I have to read to movies or some other aspect of pop culure. The connection that I made was to a movie called Without a Paddle. This tale also follows the journey of three men who explore deep in the back woods of America; in their case, they are searching for money. In both stories, a treasure is being searched for, whether it be a financial gain, as in Without a Paddle, or the discovery of a new culture unknown by man. This book has been interesting so far; I yearn to find out why they're are no men in the society because I am not buying the idea that the women can self-reproduce, as some claim. I look forward to finding out the answers to the questions I seek and until then, I will keep you all posted on what this book means to me.