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Summary: 20th Century masterpiece
Review: Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange is a true classic of modern English letters and one of the greatest works of the 20th century. In a nighmarish future society every bit as scary as 1984 (and much more plausible, it now seems today), Burgess thrusts us into the world of Alex and his three "droogs": a world of ultra-violence, shockingly base acts of treachery, and pure sadism. However, as anyone who cares to dig deeper into the book knows, what appears, on the surface, to be a mere feathers-ruffling shocker, is actually a book that poses forcefully insightful philosophical questions. The notion of crime and punishment - as well as more practical side issues, such as the overcrowding of prisons - have been perenially debated, but what about some of some of Burgess's more troubling points: if we can, some day, some how, condition criminals to refrain from violent acts by quite literally depriving them of the free will to act, are we in the right? Do we now have a harmless, perfectly good citizen - a true good Samaratin - or do we have a mindless stooge who cannot even defend himself? If we take away a persons's choice, even the choice to do evil, are we left with something less than a man? And, even more thought-provoking - is a person who does not do evil only because they are physically not able to any better than a person who does do it by their own free choice? Burgess tackles these and other issues with a sheer abandon, brilliance of writing, and a truly original vernacular rarely seen in 20th century literature. As ground-breaking as the movie was and is, the book is even better. A must-read.
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Summary: One to read over and over again
Review: This book is one of those books that once read can be read over and over again. This story of what is good and bad, right and wrong, innocent and evil shows the world through the eyes of Alex, a teenager in a futuristic world. This book raises ideas that many have never thought of or questioned. Burgess's use of inventive words conveys his meaning even clearer and in a way that will have you accidently using them in eveyday language. This book is real horrorshow as Alex would put it.
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Summary: Anthony Burgess', "A Clockwork Orange"
Review: If you no longer are able to make a moral choice for yourself then you stop being human. To be saved, change must come from within, it can't be forced upon you. You have to grow up on your own. If you lose your free will, then you are no longer human and thus can not love or dream. You become in a way a living mechanical thing, or, "A Clockwork Orange". Anthony Burgess' novel is wonderful, and touches upon several issues with the criminal justice system which still exist today. Should prisons be used to punish, or to reform? If they are used to punish then does the prisoner become a victim? What about the victims? Should they be allowed to have their revenge? Also, what can be done about overcrowding? The book was also full of lots of irony. In having the main character facing many of his old victims in the later chapters, I thought it seemed very much like a Frank Capra type of movie. However, instead of seeing how much worse life would have been like for all his friends and family if he had not been born, (like it was in "It's a Wonderful Life"), you get to see how badly the main character had affected all of his victims by coming into their lives. This particular novel contains a controversial last chapter which differs from the version which Stanley Kubrick used to base his movie upon. It seems that the last chapter was originally cut out of the United States version of the novel, and only the British novels had the last one. Now it has been added back in. I can't picture the movie having been any better by having added this extra chapter back into it, but it was good to read the novel the way the author had intended, and it works well in the book form. After seeing the movie I was surprised to see how short the novel was (less than two hundred pages), but it was packed with excitement. One of the best books I ever read.
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Summary: One two many of them funny cigarettes
Review: This book typifies the struggling angst of the lost generations of the 50s and 60s come of age.
It does for 70s literature what Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath did for music.
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Summary: Nothing Quite Like it
Review: This book is a genuinely unique literary experience. Having read some of Burgess other novels, I can only fathom what sort of talent he must have had to completely step outside his own norm in order to adopt a completely unorthodox presentation; focusing strongly on language, humanism, and plot. His other works, Such As "The Doctor Is Sick" showcase his style of using alternate spelling of words to make them sound phoenetically like a certain dialect, where he even "spelled" out lisps in characters who spoke with them, almost as otomotopeia. In "A Clockwork Orange" this device is altered and taken to an extreme; here the words are all new, all unique derivatives of Russian and English syllables combined to form an intuitive language that the reader comes to understand while moving through the novella. Burgess rationalizes the slang in his introduction of this book, stating that it was meant to make the almost overly-shocking or pornographic nature of it's content seem more acceptable, if that were possible. The slang is very hard to explain and very abstract at first, but once you settle in and get used to Alex's use of it, his words become second nature. That if nothing else is true testament to Burgess' skill in crafting this "nasty little shocker." To summarize the plot in a few sentences, The story focuses on Alex, a teenager who lives in the near future where the streets are ravaged at night by violence and deviant teenagers. Alex, the main character of the book, is such a teenager, and routinely commits acts of "ultraviolence," including beatings, rapings, burglary, you get the picture. He finally pushes his luck too far and commits an act, and then is incarcerated.
This is just the beginning few events in the novella, and I don't want to ruin the experience should you decide to read it. This book brings several issues to the reader's attention in terms of how we percieve our own inalienable rights as humans. One of the most important questions this book asks whether we cease to be human when we are stripped of free choice. I'll go no further than this, though I'm only grazing the surface here. Like I said I don't want to ruin the experience for you. I treasure this book; it is by far one of my favorite three pieces of literature simply because it is daring, psychological, and completely unique in that it teaches a lesson in the most unlikely way imaginable. If you aren't faint of heart, give this one a try, and you may be impressed. And once you get about 3 quarters of the way through the book, ask yourself if you feel sorry for poor old Alex. You may be surprised at yourself....
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Summary: Just Brilliant..
Review: Please read this version as it has the oft-omitted 21st chapter which gives the book a different tone,in other words it doesn't condone violence as much as the movie seemed too(at least on the surface) Also,don't be put off by the "Nadsat" slang used by Alex and his peers: there's a very good website that has translations. Just read this book, whether you love it or hate it,you'll probably never forget it..
Rating:
Summary: Nothing else like it
Review: If you are a sci-fi fan, love social commentary or think Kubrick's translation of this book was stunning but have never read the book . . . read it. I've never come across anything else like it. The style, voice and character of Alex, the narrator and main character, is more than enough to keep the pages turning - and this is just one of the dozens of reasons to pick this up.
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Summary: quite disturbing yet amazing
Review: all i hear is people talking about how this book is some sort of political satire. They seem to put it in the same category as 1984 and brave new world and books like that. Fro me this book was closer to The catcher in the ryre or lor dof the flies than it was to those books. I actually dont see this as a political novel at all so much as a novel about youth and growing older and how adults will want to change you when your a teenager. Thats what it was about to me. Aside from that, this book has alot of symbolism i think the entire novel could also be seen as a metaphor for how christian missionaries used to convert indians to christianity and then send them back to theyre country,changed forever. It is a very good, provocative read. WARNING: if you dont like books that contain violence,crude language and graphic sexual content, dont read it
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Summary: Very disturbing, but a modern classic
Review: The inspiration of a movie that was banned in Europe until just recently, A Clockwork Orange has been a long standing classic of modern literature. Set in a futuristic world where "malchicks" spend their nights prowling for unsuspecting victims to mutilate and/or torture, the story revolves around a young man named Alex and his "droogs". The gang of teenagers begins the evening with a milk-plus at the Korova milkbar, followed by a thirst for violence which is satisfied by breaking into houses and beating the inhabitants to near-death while destroying everything tangible, or "tolchocking" a starry (old) veck (man) or two that they may come across on the dark city streets. But, as is suspected, all is not well in Alex's world. The self-proclaimed leader of his gang, whose faith in him is failing, eventually causes a revolt of sorts. Alex is left, at the scene of one of their crimes, to be caught by the police.
Alex is locked up after being given the usual brutality, and soon is carrying a long sentence with him. After some trouble in the cell which he shares with five other men, Alex is yet again fed to the wolves, so to speak, when he is blamed for the death of an inmate. At this point he is brought forth as a candidate for the experimental "Ludovico's Technique," and it is at this point that the motive of the story surfaces. In the battle between good and evil, to what extent should the willingness to do good be imposed upon the members of society? At what cost should the government interfere with it's citizens' urges and desires? In the end, it all comes down to a moral standpoint, and the question of whether a man without free will is really a man at all.
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Summary: awesome book but disturbing
Review: this book is very good although also very disturbing. the book gives u the feeling of isolation and it really puts the meaning of being alone from the rest of the world into perspective. If you like a lot of violence and a tough read then this is the book for you. If you can get past the weird slang (which i found awesome) then you can pretty much understand the basic meaning of the book. i think a constitution can be written from reading this book. well this book ranks among my favorites including fight club and hannibal. so if you like those books, i'm positive you'll like this one
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