A Clockwork Orange

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View books by Anthony Burgess.

Must Read... - Rated
Written with relentless honesty and ferociousness, boldly questioning choice and morality. The film would not have been the same if it was ended with the excluded final chapter of the book; an ending I will not spoil.

This reading should be mandatory reading because the book opens the readers eye to mans will to dominate (or force the eye open if you will), and the nature of the beast. It amazes me how this book was written more than four decades ago. How much of Burgess' fiction became reality? Too much.

If you like deciphering fiction the Nadsat language is hilarious and disturbingly childlike. Apparently, Burgess hated the movie. It is clear why he hated the movie, even though the visual representation was spot on.

A Clockwork Orange - Rated
A Clockwork Orange is a very good book in terms of credibility and originality. I saw the movie before I read the book, and straight after I viewed the film, I needed to read the book because I don't understood everything.
When I started reading this book I was startled by the strange language it's written in, the principal person Alex, who narrates the story speaks in his own lingo all the way through the novel and that makes the book difficult in the begin.
For me has Anthony Burgess written this very well and drugs, graphic violence & torture are just some of the things included in this novel, but for me is this absolutely the best English book I have ever read.
But it is very hard to read in parts, because of the language. I would give it a 8 on 10.

Ultra-fab, a must read - Rated
I am studying 'A Clockwork Orange' for my degree and it has become my favourite book. We view 15 year old Alex's life through his eyes and despite being shocked by his tales of rape and violence, Burgess manages to give Alex a likeable edge and I found myself laughing at the black humour in the novel, then instantly feeling uneasy that I was finding rape humourous. But, I realised that it is not the controversial issues in the book that are portrayed as amusing, it is the absurd way that ultra-violence is contrasted with something as innocent and pure as beethoven's ninth. Alex is not a straight-forward character, there is depth and culture amongst the inhuman brutality and this is what makes the book interesting. The best aspect of the book for me is the language Nadsat. The language baffled me at first, but by the end of the book I was reading it as easily as English.

Definately read this book! I have seen the film and enjoyed it, but I found that the humour of the book was lost in the film and the violence seemed to take over. Try and read the book before you see the film, that worked for me.

In short: WOW! - Rated
It's been quite a while since a book has impressed me so much. I didn't want to read it at first - it is, alongside Kubrick's film, infamous for its depiction of violence and brutality. Not really my sort of thing. But I picked it up idly one day and when I started reading, found I couldn't stop!

The novel is set in a strange, dystopian future and focusses on the character of Alex, its 15 year old anti-hero, who spends his free time indulging in ultra-violence, theft, rape and listening ecstatically to classical music. What's amazing about the novel is that Burgess gradually manages to make the reader become so sympathetic to him throughout the book - Alex is bright, witty, defiant; openly confiding his thoughts and feelings to his audience - his "brothers". When the state fiinally catches up with him, locks him, and then starts altering him with the morally dodgy "Ludovico Technique" one can't help but side with him against his 'doctors'.

Part of the book's genius is the fact it's written so beautifully and laid out. Burgess's surreal use of language is incredibly ingenious. He creates the wonderful 'nadsat' slang spoken by Alex and his friends (or 'droogs') through a combination of Russian and different styles of English. As a student of Russian, part of the fun was deciphering the words and sentences, working out the book and storyline as I went along. If at first the book doesn't make sense then just persevere - gradually things will become more coherant and the language suddenly gells and makes sense.

Ultimately, this thought-provoking novel left me with lots to muse about. Questions on morality, society and, most importantly, an individual's free choice are brought up and it's left with the reader to ultimately decide what s/he thinks. The book jacket described this novel as 'one that every generation should read'. I really couldn't agree more!

Tricky - Rated
The kind of book you hear about, the kind of book you believe you really ought to make sure you have read. No problem with that.

However, for many people this book will present itself as very difficult to get a grasp of, it its tricky to make it flow and its certainly not the kind of book to read at night with tired eyes.

Readers of classics will undoubtedly be more suited to getting the most out of this as they will be more adept at drawing out the meaning of the language. The younger reader may well find difficulty in turning the Russian, English and plain invented language into the story.

I enjoyed it, as a read, though the story is hard to enjoy. Its dark and deep and it in no way hides these facts. Its a story that stands out there tall and proud and shouts "Read me if you dare, seek me if you are foolish".

I wont go into the story, as I believe other reviewers have done a fine job.

All that is left to say is that, despite seeming that way, there was no chance this would have a happy ending, too much had gone before and too many things stick in the mind to close on a high note.

An important piece of writing.