A Clockwork Orange - CIA Conspiracy
(Edit: bloody hell, it came out long, warning)

I worked in a bunch of libraries for a local government, most of which were in some pretty rough areas with a lot of gang violence. Like a lot of London areas, the rich live right next to the poor, so on the fringes of this particular borough was a rather nice little library in an oh so posh neighbourhood.

I got to work there one day.

It was nice to get out of the crazy big libraries, I say crazy in the mental capacity as libraries often attract nutjobs. So it was refreshing to have the Economist and Independant as the most sought after periodical.

One old dear, who was quick to mention that she used to be a barrister and threw in some high profile name drops for garnish, caught my attention quite early in the day. She pointed out that I was new and proceeded to quiz me on my political beliefs, reading choices etc, as old people tend to do.

I said I was re-reading A Clockwork Orange and her eyes just lit up.

She leaned in close, which was rather difficult as she was so small and the counter so high (purposly, to intimidate people into paying off fines) and whispered she knew that Anthony Burgess didn't write that book.

I said "bollocks". Politely. "He was a linguist, writing in that Russian/English style was just the kind of thing he'd do."

She corrected me, it was Serbian and Russian, and it wasn't British English, but American.

"Huh wha?" I thought, but she had examples to confirm her theory, things like names of places were parts of Arizona and Nevada. Agent names whose ranches where mentioned in the text. Supposedly if you followed them on a map it lead you to somewhere cool.

The Serbian was because the writer was from ... Serbia, then Yugoslavia. A Russian Agent of some kind who was doing something that would get him shot by both sides.

And the other writer, yes, there were two writers, was communicating information to the other through a complicated description of top security stuff. Some how in the form of a book, ah I don't know, it sounded convincing when she told it.

I couldn't really argue, you know when it's just pointless to even search for opposing points 'cos you don't really care as much, you haven't got the motivation to search through together for examples - there are ink stamps to refill.

"What about the name?" She pointed to the cover of my book. "Don't you know what it means, a clockwork orange?"

"Yeah...something like orange means man, another linguist trait, but I think it's derived from something Russian, maybe..."

"Serbian," she was quick to correct.

"And the clockwork bit relates to the free will."

Far too obvious, apparently.

"It is all hidden in the code of the book. Why would the Soviets and Americans be communicating under the guise of Anthony Burgess? It's all there, I have spent much time researching, asking questions. My house has been raided twice, my work sabotaged, all because of my probing for the truth.

"A Clockwork Orange is the world and the book forshadows the end of it all. The Orange is the world and the Clockwork is the machine which will ruin it."

I stepped back a moment, letting it all sink in. To be fair to her, she could pull a better yarn with the story than I can and I was almost ready to be convinced. She had a thesis on in, saved on a usb, which she could print and show to me.

I though why the fuck not? What if there was something to it?

So I booked her a computer. Genuinly interested in what might come my way, I sat at the counter and stroked my date-stamp.

Until...until she sat at the computer, pulled out her umbrella, and hid under it while she did her password.

I didn't even read it.
(MrTeapot hasn't played with himself since, Sat 3 Dec 2011, 0:39, 2 replies)

I found this
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clockwork_Orange_(plot)
( Moon Girl Technologies horrendous beanbag, Sat 3 Dec 2011, 0:47, closed)

Ooh this interests me
as I love Anthony Burgess and have read a lot about him.

Burgess always thought that Clockwork Orange was far from his best book. I can't see him as a tool of the authorities though, the guy was (as well as a talented, talented man) a piss artist of the first order. He was also - amusingly enough - constantly pissed off for being confused with Guy Burgess, the Soviet spy.

I think this theory would have amused him greatly. His favourite book "Finnegan's Wake" was after all taken off him at customs as they believed it was written in code.

And I think "Clockwork Orange" is similar to the phrase "bent as a nine bob note" i.e. something incongruously wrong.
(TheImmortalJenkins, Sat 3 Dec 2011, 11:39, closed)