Rating: 
Summary: ***A Remarkable Story that Works for Me!!
Review: =====>This book (first published in 1962) has three parts. The first part introduces us to the teenager named Alex who is the narrator of the book. He is the leader of a small gang in futuristic England until he gets caught for doing the ultimate crime. The second part has Alex or rather prisoner 6655321 in jail. In prison, he undergoes an experimental procedure that cures him of his violence. Part three details what happens to the cured Alex after he gets out of prison. A streak of grotesque surrealism runs through this book especially in part one. For example, as the gang of hoodlums drive to their "surprise visit," they run over a big, snarling toothy thing that screems and squelches, and as they drive back they run over "odd squealing things" all the way. The most fascinating aspect of this book is the invented vocabulary or futuristic, teenage slang -- it has the effect of putting you in another world. Alex thinks and talks in this slang. A doctor in this book explains it: "Odd bits of old rhyming slang. A bit of gypsy talk, too. But most of the roots are Slav [or Russian] propaganda." Alex as he narrates translates some of this slang. I found that it is best to compile a running glossary so as to make later reading easier. At first the vocabulary seems incomprehensible: "you could peet it with vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom or one or two other veshches." Then, the reader discovers that some of the meaning is clear from context: "to tolchock some old veck in an alley and viddy him swim in his own blood" or "I kicked the chelloveck in the yarbles and he began to platch." The meaning of other words become known after a second context. For example, when Alex kicks someone in the "gulliver" it might be any part of the body, but when a glass of beer is served with a gulliver, we then can deduce this word's meaning. The meaning of other words becomes obvious as the reader progresses through the book. Another fascinating thing about this book is its contrasts. For example, violence is connected with symphonic music especially the music of "Ludwig van." This book is packed with various themes. The prison charlie or chaplain exposes the central theme of the book in a series of questions to prestoopnick or prisoner 6655321: "What does God want? Does God want goodness or choice of goodness? Is the man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than the man who has the good imposed on him?" Stanley Kubrick's movie of the same name catches the book's essence. However, the movie does not entirely get across the futuristic, nadsat or teenage slang so evident in the book. In conclusion, this is a new kind of book. I can't say I've read another like it. But I can say that this book contains *** a zammechat razkazz that works for me!! (For a translation, refer to the title of this review.) <=====>
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: A Clockwork Orange is the rare book that combines ingenious writing with an important theme, neither being sacrificed to the other. The teenage Alex and his band of "droogs" or friends roam around a futuristic, dystopian city, beating and robbing people with no remorse. When Alex is imprisoned he is chosen for an experimental procedure that will "cure" him of his violence, but also of his passion and creativity. I like this book because no one is spared--both authoritarianism and anarchy are skewered. Burgess clearly believes it is a "sin" to force man to be good, but he does not think man is incapable of being redeemed. In an odd way, this book turns out to show a rather old-fashioned morality. The book is 21 chapters long, but the original American edition left off the last chapter. This edition adds the final chapter, which changes the meaning and lessons of the book RADICALLY. If you have only seen the movie, which is adapted from the original American edition, you have not learned Alex's whole story! I am not sure if I prefer the book with the added chapter or without; you can decide for yourself which is more realistic. Although much of Alex's speech is invented slang, adapted from Russian, we learn the meaning of the words quickly. However, despite the excitement and relative brevity of the book I had to take several breaks in reading, simply because pausing to decipher all the slang words gave me a headache. So don't expect to finish the book all in one sitting even if you are really enraptured by it. Definitely read it, though.
Rating:
Summary: good read
Review: I decided to read this because I loved the movie so much, and Burgess didn't disappoint. The language was a lot of fun and the story was very exciting again, even though I knew it well. It's a great book to read and will give you hours of good enjoyment.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Before reading this novel I saw the movie, and I do not reccondmend doing so. By watching the movie I was unable to capture the imagery in this wonderful, wonderful book. The nadast language that is used throughout the novel was easy to pick up on after about the second chapter. At first I thought the book was just all fun and games but after Alex got sent jail I started noticing deep insite. The book is talking about choice, and how if you cannot choose what you want, then you are nothing. Sure, Alex was "cured alright" but he was still as sick and demented as he was before getting treated. I'm sure you have all heard this before but why not say it again, eh?
Rating:
Summary: A Clockwork Orange Review
Review: I first heard about this book from my best friend. He said the movie and book were both unbelievable, so i decided to give it a try. I loved the book. It is one of the few books that i love, and not one of the many that I like. It is unique in its style, and content. I loved the use of language by Anthony Burgess; it made me think about each event even more. The story line was great, and i felt it had a positive message, even after all the violence that was incorporated into the book. It tells of growing up and how being your own person is important. I would recommend this book to anybody, preferably over the age of 14 because of the violence and use of language. But i feel the message portrayed is important for people of all ages, and especially teenagers. i rate it a five.
Rating:
Summary: If you liked the movie, you'll LOVE this book.
Review: I don't read all that much, a lot of times books will bore me and I'll find myself putting them down for a few days at a time before reading more... but not this. Kept my attention the whole way through. Great book!
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant, but leave the "Orwell" comparisons behind
Review: Has anyone read "Animal Farm"? That book is the worst anti-socialism propaganda ever written. It was as anti-capitalist as it was anti-communist and it appeared to make a point. Burgess tells a tale that is anti-facism, anti-capitalism, andti-communism... anti-ism!! One of the more amazing novels written in the twentieth century, the fact that it is short and still brutally effective is its most amazing attribute. What Burgess has done with this novel is actually change the idea of what literature can be. He dances on the edge of de-construction without crossing over the line. The language is incredibly anguishing to read, but at the end of the first few chapters, you realize that the effect of this "translating" that you have to do, you begin to think exactly like Alex. You feel complete empathy with his feelings. Its actually rather chilling when you think about it. Anyone who enjoyed the way in which this novel was written should pick up "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs.
Rating:
Summary: Great Literature
Review: I am an avid reader, a student of literature, and believe that "A Clockwork Orange" should be required reading for any person interested in english, philosophy, psychology, and maybe even linguistics (Burgess' language is terrific). This version also includes the original ending that was cut from the American publication; I haven't decided if I like it more or less (assuming that Burgess believes that free choice, for better or worse, is more important than imposed morality, isn't the ending stronger when we don't know what Alex eventually decides?), but, in either case, this novel should be read by everybody.
Rating:
Summary: Unique and Affecting
Review: "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess is in that special class of 20th century literature that effectively and powerfully exists both in its own world of (science?) ficition and the very real world of the the reader. The film, also a powerful work of art, should not dissuade anyone from reading this book. In fact, if you've seen the film, you owe it to yourself to read the book and explore the themes and arguments further. Additionally, the book contains a final chapter, not originally available to american readers, that, by its very dissonance with the film, should make anyone interested in either the film or the subject of criminal justice rush to finish the novel. Finally, the nadsat - the mixture of russian and british slang that Alex speaks in - is almost reason enough to read the book for purely aesthetic reasons. Through nadsat and the careful use of language Burgess creates one of the most affecting, troubling and tangible worlds in 20th century fiction.
Rating:
Summary: Dark, Comic Violence
Review: It's to Burgess' credit that he makes the protaganist of Clockwork Orange an unsympathetic character and the state's attempt to "adjust" him an almost worthwhile achievement. Burgess makes the typical black and white judgements more difficult for us. But Clockwork Orange's genius is more than this. Burgess injects Russian words into his gang of toughs creating a lower class dialect . Knowing Russian makes the book much easier to read yet defeats the authors purpose- he wants the reader to determine the word meanings by context. Clockwork Orange is a darkly comic work that stands as one of the best books of the twentieth century.
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