A Clockwork Orange

Rating:
Summary: A Must-own...
Review: ...for more than one reason. I'm sure many people who own this book decided to buy it because of it's 'classic' status. Those people are missing out on one of the best books I've read.

What you'll find in this classic is a story about the youth of the future, teenagers intent on causing violence and chaos. Full of characters who live to cause pain and death you can't help but feel a connection to these boys. Even with their despicable traits they seem to be extreme manifestations of your impulses as a little child, the impulses that made you kick over the sandcastle your brother built, or mess up the hair on your sisters dolls.

That is part of the beauty of Mr. Burgess' writing. If you met Alex and his gang in real life you wouldn't want to be around them, but in the context of the book they are just friends doing what boys do. Instead of just giving gory details of their actions Mr. Burgess gives us more of a look into the personality of Alex, he gives us more than a violent youth, he gives us a person. He gives us examples of the slang used by Alex and his buddies, a slang called Nadsat. It all comes together to create an atmotsphere that really draws you into the book.

The book has a good pace, although there are some slow spots at the beginning and middle. It really deserves 4.5 stars, but Amazon doesn't have fractions...

Anybody who enjoys a good book should really pick up this horrorshow (nadsat for great) read.

Rating:
Summary: A Dark and Brilliant Novel
Review: Anthony Burgess warns us of what the future holds in his outstanding book "A Clockwork Orange." This book became a classic when it was first published over thirty years ago. The movie, which starred Malcolm McDowell and was directed by the late Stanley Kubrick, has developed a cult following.

Alex, the protagonist, is the leader of a small gang in his town. He lives in a world where the hell-raising kids take over the night, while the adults are at home glued to their TVs. He steals, vandalizes, rapes 10-year-olds, and much more. He gets caught eventually and is sent to prison for murder, where he hears about a new rehabilitation program which he is eager to join. However, rehab is far from what he expected, and has some serious side-effects.

Probably the most brilliant thing about this novel is it's language. Burgess invented a slang which Alex and his friends (or "droogs") use. It's called Nadsat (which means "teen"), and is widely based on Russian. It takes a while to pick up, but it's not all that difficult (there's an unofficial Nadsat/English dictionary at clockworkorange.com).

The problem is, a lot of people dismiss both the book and the movie and put them in the "violent, tasteless, shocking and corrupting" category. These people have to see beyond the violence and realize this is clearly a work of art. This edition of the book includes the 21st chapter which has a different (surprising, perhaps) ending (different from the first American release and the movie).

I truly recommend this book to anyone. It's better than that Harry Potter junk anyway.

Rating:
Summary: a true classic
Review: i do not understand how people can call this "frustrating" after page three it all makes sense. and as for "glorifies violence" i suppose you did not read the last and final chapter, wich is all about young alex changing his ways and chosingly stopping all his violent acts so he may start a new life and have a son. even though i knew certain parts in advance (the films alex is forced to watch) it was still very interesting to hear the way it was described. and as for "if anyone else had written this it would be considered pornography" Burgess was actually not that famous when the book was published, it was this book that made him famous. I hope one day someone will make a film more like the book than stanley kubricks version (all the main charactors in the film look 30 as opposed to 14) all in all this is a great book and i believe that everyone should read this at least once in their lives.

Rating:
Summary: A Clockwork Orange
Review: I read Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. I enjoyed the book very much. The story is will developed, and it is written in a creative way. Anthony Burgess uses many words pulled from other languages to replace ordinary everyday English words. For example he uses the word "krovvy" to replace the word blood. There is a Glossary of Nadsat Language in the back of the book. At first the words make it difficult to comprehend what is happening. The first couple of chapters I had to keep flipping back to the Glossary. Then I got the hang of the words. Not only do the different words make it an interesting read, but he also has a creative style of writing.
The story is the first person view of a young boy named Alex. It is about how he and his friends, droogies, like to walk the streets and beat people up. Unfortunately for Alex all the trouble comes back on him. Anthony Burgess uses Alex's story to get across many points depending upon how much one wants to reads into the story. Burgess refers to the change in times and how the police abuse their powers by cracking down too hard. The story is violent, but does not go into details too much to gross someone out. I am not one who likes to read a lot, but I certainly liked this book. I would recommend this book more to males even if they do not like to read.

Rating:
Summary: Surprisingly Worthwhile
Review: I have to admit, I was actually afraid to read this book. I have never seen the movie but had heard many awful things about it. I was expecting a book without a purpose (as many described the movie to me) that graphically described countless horrific crimes and then ended. I knew it couldn't be as bad as people described and still be so popular so I decided I would read it for myself. I am happy to report that this book is nothing like what I expected.

The slang language used by the main characters of this novel serves two purposes to me. First, it transports the reader directly to Burgess' futuristic world that quickly becomes frighteningly real while at the same time provides a sort of buffer that allows the reader, for some unknown reason, to still like Alex despite his tendencies toward terrible, violent crimes. It is for this same unknown reason that I found myself appalled at the "cure" Alex was given in order to be released from prison.

This novel poses several very intriguing questions. I found the prison chaplain's view especially interesting. "It may be horrible to be good." Is it better to choose to be bad or to be forced to be good? Being good, or in this case, not doing bad things, doesn't make a person good when their inner thoughts are still bad. The closest Alex gets to being good is not when he is physically kept from committing violent crimes but when he realizes, through his own reasoning, that there is more to life than violence and crime.

There is much more to this book than graphic violence and crime, or even what I have briefly mentioned here. The language of this book makes it one of a kind and the thought provoking questions it raises make it definitely worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: And all that cal
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: interesting disutopic sci-fi book
Review: An interesting disutopic sci-fi book on alienation, violence and misogyny. It was even more interesting when I read that it had been published with different endings.

I wasn't as impressed with Burgess' using non-English words, because I speak Russian and that's all the "slang" really was. (Example, the Russian word for Friend is Droog; Hand is Ryka; Milk is Moloko). Therefore it was immediately apparent to me though I liked the mixing of the two languages it reminded me of how I talk at home using both languages interchangeably. In a way I wish I could've read the book as most people did (who didn't use the glossary) and try to figure out the words through context.

Rating:
Summary: Some People Are Nuts
Review: Quote "I found this book tiring because it was so wordy and I found no real attachment to any of the characters because the only ones described in depth were cold and violent."
That is the review of someone who 1. Doesn't seem to like reading, and 2. Only wants to read about people like herself. This book is good on so many levels. Read it. You many not care for the characters, their actions, or the subject matter, but there is no denying the thought prevoking aspects of this novel.

Rating:
Summary: Best book that has ever been written
Review: The title of my review should sum it up nicely....ive read lot of books and i still find myself reading this book over and over and over again, and the funny thing is , i have yet to see the movie.

This story deals with one of the biggest problems in our society, Crime and Punishment.The way the story depicts the charecters and what happens to them is amazing.Alex has got to be one of the greatest characters ever written.

This book owns...buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Clockwork Orange
Review: I did not enjoy reading Clockwork Orange, although understand the book became easier through the chapters. The main character, Alex, is a naive and immature boy who experiences harsh consequences to his actions, but they are well deserved. Even though his crimes were out of fun, not meaning to kill anyone, they did, and he showed no sign of remorse. He doesn't learn from his mistakes and his true feelings are masked by his inability to perform violent acts.

The language used in the book is difficult at first to understand, but with repitition, I got used to it and could understand the plot. I like the fact that the language is unique, but I don't think the book has any other great values. There is no significant difference between Alex at the beginning of the book and at the end. Like all his actions, he has no real reason to start a family. He acts on sporadic instincts and doesn't think about the things that he does. Weeks of physical torture could not keep him from his violent thoughts, and the idea of growing up most likely won't either.

I found this book tiring because it was so wordy and I found no real attachment to any of the characters because the only ones described in depth were cold and violent.