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A Clockwork Orange Nov 28, 2001 (203 of 213 found this helpful)
After reading the many reviews that have been posted here, I'm afraid mine will not be as eloquent, nor will it be a long and detailed description of the book. However, I might be able to express the importance of this book, and perhaps you'll even want to read it when you've finished my review.
I may have started out reading A Clockwork Orange because my friend told me how good it was. And then I continued to read it because it was engaging, disturbing, and thought provoking. Even though the book was written over 30 years ago, I believe it is still as powerful today as it was back then; perhaps even more so. Alex, the protagonist, is almost innocently committing violent crimes with his friends; for he isn't -trying- to be bad, he just is. He likes violence, and that's the way he is.
When Alex's friends gang up on him and leave him to be arrested by the police, Alex is sentenced to 14 years in prison. But then the opportunity to change presents itself to Alex, and he can't help but take the offer. Without ruining the story as so many previous reviewers have already done, I can say that when everything is said and done, important questions arise: is being good truly good if it is not by choice? Is it good to be bad, if that is what one chooses?
The book first came out in the 60s, and the American version lacked the last and 21st chapter from the original story. When it was republished, the book had the 21st chapter. Depending on which copy you read, with the last chapter or without it, the book will have an entirely different feel to it. The old copy represents the horrible realization that bad minds are always bad; the newer version leaves the reader with hope. Hope for Alex, and hope for oneself. Change is possible, the book says, no matter what sort of person you are.
A Clockwork Orange is truly a great work, one that will appeal to people for different reasons; and affect them in completely different ways. But it will affect them.
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And all that cal May 28, 2004 (13 of 13 found this helpful)
A Clockwork Orange is the story of good and evil and the value of choice. The main character, is a 15 year old lad named Alex whose life consists of crime, cruelty, and recklessness. After being betrayed by an accomplice, he is sentenced to prison where he volunteers for a program that corrects the seemingly uncorrectable. Only then does he being to suffer the consequences of his crash and burn lifestyle.
A Clockwork Orange is what I believe to be a fabulous novel. It may confuse a reader at the start because of the language, but its not that hard to understand the slang dialect if you have a firm grasp on English and are a few pages into the book. Also, one must be patient when reading it because the main ideas aren't revealed until later in the novel. There is a lot of building up the characters before hand, which is valuable information but may bore those who are already have a distaste for the book's violent nature. I also highly recommend that you read the British version because the last or 21st chapter is quite important.
Anyways, the book is more oriented those who can see past the gore and sex and can grasp the main ideas the author is trying to convey through a clockwork orange.
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Darkly funny and satirical masterpiece Jul 25, 2002 (17 of 19 found this helpful)
I have tried to write a review of this book at least ten times, but I can never seem to find the right way to describe it. This is mainly because I consider A Clockwork Orange to be one of the most painful, brilliant, and disturbing stories ever to be put down on paper. The invented slang used by Alex and his "droogs" is one of the best parts of the book. You'd think that the slang would make it confusing to read, but it doesn't! In fact, it's strangely catchy. They call it "nadsat" and it's a kind of Russified English. And I don't even speak Russian. (Burgess later invented "caveman speak" in Quest For Fire.)
The basic plot follows Alex and his gang of sadistic young punks as they run amok, beating, raping, and murdering with gleeful abandon in the London of the near-future. They then retire to a bar to drink drug-enhanced milk and plot their next crime. Eventually, Alex gets caught and is subjected to the will of the State. He's forcibly deprogrammed with the "Ludovico Technique" in which he's strapped to a chair, his eyelids held open by metal clamps, and forced to watch a long movie of non-stop murder, rape, torture, and other horrible violence until he gets physically ill at the mere thought of such acts. Then he is thrown back on the streets, a declawed kitten at the mercy of his former victims. The American re-edition is published with the controversial twenty-first chapter not included in Kubrick's film, plus an introduction by the author called "A Clockwork Orange Resucked."
Unfortunately, it's a sad reflection on society in that Alex was shunned because of his violence, and when caught, had violence inflicted on him in order to make him stop. This extremely graphic novel received mixed reactions, either hailed as genius or dismissed as violent pornography. I would recommend the movie as well; it's visually inventive and a must-see from one of the world's greatest directors.
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Not as difficult as you have heard Aug 24, 2005 (42 of 52 found this helpful)
I knew about this book way before I actually went out and bought it (of course there was a gap between buying it and reading it, but that's another, utterly irrelevant, story), being aware of most of the basic facts about it, the general plot and so forth. I've never seen the movie, although I've heard it's rather ultraviolent, which seems to be appropriate. The thing that both attracted me and made me shy away from the novel though was the prose itself . . . for those who aren't already aware, Burgess sprinkles the novel liberally with a made-up slang that the main character uses. I had seen a few pages at my local library and thought, "Crap, this isn't going to make any sense to me at all". But it does, somehow. There might actually be some editions floating out there with a glossary of sorts, giving you a clue as to what the more obscure slang terms might mean but you don't really need it. Reading the novel, it's very easy to figure out what's going on and the text isn't impenetrable at all. Most of the slang you can figure out via context and for the linguistically agile among you, I believe most of it is derived from Russian, mixed with some Britishisms and other stuff that I'm not smart enough to figure out. The end result of this is that it gives the book a weird sort of driving rhythm, half the words seem made up but it flows anyway and I never had any trouble figuring out what was going on at any given point (not that you don't have to read carefully, but it's not Finnegans Wake or anything). So that's that. But what is it about? The story is narrated by Alex, a teenager who inhabits a future Britain that has fallen into dingy decay, gangs walk the streets at night committing all sorts of violent acts, there hardly seems to be any hope and the government has become rather oppressive. But Alex doesn't care because he's quite enjoying himself. The book is a lot funnier than you might think and the violence (it's ample but not graphic) is almost slapstick. Alex and his pals spend the first third of the book (it details a typical night) basically walking around and beating up everyone they see, the narration makes it clear that Alex is intelligent enough to know what he's doing but he likes it and would like to keep doing it. One incident lands him in prison and while there and serving a long sentence, he's given a chance to get out early. All he has to do is submit to a new procedure that will make him nonviolent and he can go back into society. That procedure and its consequences drive the rest of the book, showing how things can seem to get better while actually getting worse. It's a testament to Burgess' skill that he manages to make Alex a nearly sympathetic character, to the point where I started to feel bad for him, especially in the scenes where he's denied the joy of his beloved classical music. The moral dilemma he poses is an interesting one, questioning whether society really becomes better if you take away free will. The edition I have (and most recent editions, I'm sure) restores the previously "lost" final chapter . . . it was cut from the American edition for various reasons and it and the actual final chapter end the story on two utterly different notes. I prefer the real final chapter, I think it closes the book on a reflective note, rather than the implied middle finger of the prior chapter, and I think it's more faithful to Burgess' intent. But your milage may vary and if you really disagree just stop before you get to the end. I don't know if it's the best Burgess book but it's certainly the most famous and quite the reading experience for those who prefer more experimental prose styles. It was published forty years ago but still feels contemporary and it certainly worth reading even today, in a future that Burgress might not have imagined but may be closer to his than we suspect.
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A Journey into places you dare not look... Jul 25, 2000 (19 of 22 found this helpful)
A Clockwork Orange is by far the best book i have ever read. even if you have seen the movie, read the book. It takes place in london in the not-so-distant future. The main character, Alex, is the leader of a gang of four teenagers, who run a muck, breaking into people's houses, beating people up, etc. alex runs into trouble, and is thrown in jail, where the government gives him horrific punishment.... anyway, enough of the plot. alex and his "droogs" speak a kind of Russified english, which they called "Nadsat" (russian for "teen"). The novel has no glossary, although nadsat is laced thickly throughout the entire book. this was not a problem for me because i speak russian, but i imagine that this book would be a very difficult read for someone who does not. but hey, if you cant, you can download a "nadsat translator". overall, a clockwork orange is a visciously bizzarre, violent, hilarious, intruiging book that asks the reader "is a person who does not have the option of evil really good?". a clockwork orange is the best book ever written because it breaks free of ordinary book structure. the main character is not very heroic, and is actually very dispicable. the book has very unexpected twists in it, so reader never knows what to expect. anyway, read it- it is not something you will soon forget.