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A Clockwork Orange
 

A Clockwork Orange

by Anthony Burgess

"Anthony Burgess reads chapters of his novel A Clockwork Orange with hair-raising drive and energy. Although it is a fantasy set in an Orwellian future, this is anything but a bedtime story." -The New York Times

Told by the central character, Alex, this brilliant, hilarious, and disturbing novel creates an alarming futuristic vision of violence, high technology, and... (read more)

Top tags: fiction,  science fiction,  classic,  dystopia,  literature (all tags)

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Amazon Reviews (5)
 

Most Helpful Reviews

Liked It

2 of 2 members found this review helpful.
jmadigan
  • Rated 5 stars

“Most of you familiar with American film and popular culture will know A Clockwork Orange from Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film of the same name. I've never seen that film, mainly because it always looked like the kind of violent squirmfest that makes me curl my knees up to my chest and shriek like a little girl. Reading the book by Anthony Burgess has only affirmed that opinion, but it has also convinced me that the book and, in all likelihood, the movie are pretty good works of art.

The...”

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Didn’t Like It

Bianca D
  • Rated 1 stars

“I liked the movie but the book was horriblt to get through.”

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Community:
  • Rated 4.181554 stars
Amazon:
  • Rated 4.5 stars
  

Newest Comments

  • alexandra

    alexandra said:

    “To everybody who cries about the slang that the wonderful Burgess uses, I read this book before I was in the seventh grade and after the first one or two chapters I could easily understand most of the words he'd used. And anyway, as Madeleine said, newer editions of the book have a Nasdat/English glossary. If you make an effort it's amazing how many more things in life you can enjoy. (: And, I know that some of you find the violence and crime in the novel almost commonplace, but did you ever consider that maybe the novel is proving a point? Burgess, as far as I can see, appeared to think of his futuristic world as a nightmare for good people. So what does that say of the world as it is today? I love this book. I'd recommend it to anyone.. who I believe is mature enough to read and understand it.”

    posted Friday, August 1 2008
  • madeleine f

    madeleine f said:

    “I didn't find the language difficult at all. It's not difficult to read around unfamiliar words, or to use common sense - plus, as far as I know, most newer editions are published with a Nadsat/English dictionary, so there's no excuse. ;] For me, the most interesting thing about this book was the way that, when it was written and when the movie was made, this sort of thing was incredibly shocking and disturbing. Now, however, teen violence is old news, people accept that those who carry books around or sleep rough are likely to be targeted, and no one does anything about it. Although Burgess can't really have foreseen this, I think it's an interesting point about today's society.”

    posted Friday, August 1 2008
  • James A

    james a said:

    “Everyone needs to read this book, and people who think there is no plot development are fools. Not because I'm some sort of fanboy, but because the entire book is about Alex's development as a person. And anyone who says this book has too much violence doesn't know what they are talking about. Every attack, murder, rape, or any other act of violence defines the depravity of Alex.”

    posted Thursday, July 31 2008
  • jmadigan

    jmadigan said:

    “No character development? Going from sociopath to reprogrammed victim to mellowed young adult doesn't count as development? That was the whole point of the book.”

    posted Friday, July 18 2008
  • FreydEnd

    freydend said:

    “The writing wasn't weak, nor was the character development lacking. The ending of the movie may not give you closure that some people may need, however, the extra chapter of the book gives a deeper view of Alex's character, as well as, the changes hes gone through from beginning of the book. And the Russian slang words, do make this a more difficult read, you can easily discern their meaning from the context that they are used in.”

    posted Monday, May 26 2008
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