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Disturbing book; disturbing movie.

Another equally disturbing book that employs a made-up language is Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban. He posits a post-nuclear Britain in which society has reverted to semi-savagery on the half-remembered ruins of history and language.

The first-person narration is told entirely in post-apocalyptic English. The first chapter is almost impossible to decipher, then you get the hang of it and read on to the end.

Wow - a year old now. I'd read pretty much anything Dalrymple wrote anyway but this particular novel is one of the more stimulating I've read with respect to its insights into youth culture.

What has changed, I think, is the glorification of youth that has taken place since the late 60's that does not take into effect its shallowness or unjustified self-assurance. That change may be what Burgess was sensing; it already was well in place by 1962. Whether it was a manifestation of a generation whose youth was lost in a world war attempting to reclaim that through its Boomer progeny is a topic too large for this particular venue but it was undeniable. It is reflected in Hollywood - contrast Breakfast at Tiffany's with, say, Pulp Fiction - popular music - the callow innocence of Teenager in Love with Whole Lotta Love - and other instances of popular culture such as comics and popular literature. Burgess had caught the edge of a tidal wave.

Having glorified youth with all its blemishes it behooves the adult to follow Alex's path and release those things in favor of something deeper and more lasting, but that is precisely what too many adults besotted with popular culture fail to do. One lusts, I suppose, after past glories even if they be false ones. In doing so one misses the present.

For the violence itself there is the remedy of law enforcement and, in the U.S. at least, the prospect that the victim, although less physically capable, may be armed. The biggest motivator for continued violence is getting away with it in the first place and like other addictions one needs stronger and stronger doses to effect the same rush. That's bad news for the fellow on the receiving end.

Great stuff and I'll bump this for further comment. Thanks for finding it.