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Summary: A Malenky Masterwork From The Juicy Lips Of Bog Himself
Review: I never associated the word "genius" with writers or artists in general. "Master" seems more appropriate and Burgess was (is) one of the true masters of the 20th Century. In Nadsat terms, he is Bog Himself and Clockwork is one of his juiciest creations. Burgess combined the best qualities of linguist, philosopher and literary craftsman. Clockwork is a rare hybrid: a novel that is simultaneously plot-driven and language-driven. Burgess was a scholar of the non-boring variety,a disciple of the great Irish linguistic Ubermensch, James Joyce, absorbing the best of Joyce, his language, while discarding Joyce's over-scholastic and deadly dull plotlessness. Clockwork Orange is a hard book to put down. I've read it dozens of times and learned a new language in the process. Burgess himself later disdained this book as obviously polemical; I think this is its strength as well as its weakness. The actual plot has been described elsewhere. I just want to toss in my malenky peice: Clockwork is near-perfection, one of the most symmetrical, tightly-plotted novels I've ever read. Strange that a Christian message should be wrapped in such a horrowshow. Strange and sad that most people these days know Clockwork only through the movie, a plodding, but relatively faithful reproduction. Everyone's very skorry to forget these days, newspapers not being read much either. If you want to appreciate A Clockwork Orange, you HAVE TO READ THE BOOK. Put a strain on your gray matter for a change - you'll find it's not that much of a strain. Personally, I recommend finding the earlier Ballantine edition minus the last chapter and plus a Nadsat glossary. Nadsat, a brilliant mating of English, Russian, gypsy slang, and Joycean puns and alliterations, has a small vocabulary, easy to learn, which I find creeping into my everyday conversation to the bafflement of illiterate coworkers and friends. In conclusion, because I am one of the 0.000001 per cent of the population who cares about such things (see AB's intro to the new "restored" Clockwork Orange), I have to say that the American editors were correct in dropping the original final chapter in which Little Alex undergoes his obligatory "growth". I found the entire chapter contrived and ridiculous. The idea that Little Alex would suddenly go all warm and fuzzy over little babies, to the point of carrying a photograph of a baby in his pocket, and that one of his former droogies had graduated from the old in-out-in-out to contented married life, playing cards on his night off, makes me smeck out loud. Nothing in the book suggests that they are capable of such transformation and the last chapter should have been fed into a shredder long ago. That is the opinion of your humble narrator. If you are so dim as to disagree, it's a bolshy tolchock in the yarbles for you, gratzhny bratchny.
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Summary: A Clockwork Orange has timeless social connections...
Review: In a horrific, futuristic view of the world, Anthony Burgess takes us on a turbulent ride through the mind of a seemingly psychopathic teenager. But is he really a psychopath? This is the question that Burgess poses to his readers. Is he so far off from what everyone begins as? Is he just the manifestation of the thoughts which run through all teenagers before they are taken over by the system? Alex, the main character, goes through a complete metamorphosis from his violent, gang ways to being a "good little boy" after going through prison and experimentation due to his murdering an innocent woman. Watch what happens when something so full of the juice of life is turned into a machine - when he is turned into a clockwork orange.I recommend this book to anyone willing to read. But be prepared to think, because that's what this book forces you to do.
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Summary: illuminates the central dilemma of man's existence
Review: Alex is a 15 year old hooligan in a nightmarish England of the future. He and his droogs (fellow delinquents) roam the streets at night performing acts of untraviolence and the old in-out, then retire to milk bars and listen to classical music. Eventually Alex is captured by the authorities and undergoes Ludovico's Technique, a form of brainwashing that makes him ill when he considers violence. The most original feature of this book is, of course, the language that Burgess created for his characters. It's sort of a bastardized Slavic slang. It makes it hard to orient yourself at first, but most of the vocabulary can be gleaned from context. What makes the book great, is it's recognition of the central dilemma of man's existence--"Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has good imposed upon him?" Burgess concludes, as I think one must, that it is better to have the choice of good or evil, than to have a society which controls its citizens so completely that "good behavior" is imposed from without. GRADE: A
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Summary: Very horrorshow, my malenky droogies
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is definitely not for the easily offended, especially the first thirty or forty pages, which include beatings, rapings, and robberies, all done without any guilt felt by the criminals. But if you can get past this, then you will see that this is almost a perfect book. It's central theme, which is that it is better to have the choice to act immorally and to do so than it is to act morally without choice, is weaved masterfully throughout the entire novel. I also loved the invented "nadsat" slang that is used by Alex and his friends. I reccomend that you go online and download the nadsat translator or print out the fifteen pages of definitions from your computer-- this helped me immensely. This really is one of the best books I have read, and I would reccomend it to anyone with an open mind.
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Summary: And Yet Another Sybolic Masterpiece
Review: If you've seen any of my other reviews, youve noticed that I'm always discussing symbolism or political allegories. That's right, this is such a book. Even if all the symbolism and hype was removed from this book and it's name, it would still be an excellent book. It moves with action and makes you sympathize with the anti-hero. I can't think of any other book where I found myself rooting for the salvation of a rumbling, raping, vicious thug. On a deeper level,(uh-oh, here comes the philosophy), this book represents a myriad of things. In example, the tendency of human nature to be violent and unruly until age makes it's effect and gives knowledge and understanding; or an overall mellowing out. Furthermore, the book is representative of cold war tactics used by both superpowers. This book makes it onto my list as one of my highest recommended books
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Summary: This is undoubtebly a classic
Review: ONE: This book is violent. TWO: This book is sexually explicit. THREE: The language takes a while to understand. FOUR: This is one of the most exciting and innovative books to come from any author in the last century! Anthony Burgess has achieved something extraordinary; a book with class and style, and a centre character you would love to hate...but you can't! If you look at the movie (Stanley Kubrick) it plays like a direct opposite to "Full Metal Jacket", with the first half showing total and utter mayhem and the second half a sickeningly controlled enviroment where Alex our "Poor and humble narrator" has his write to freedom taken away. While reading the book you may be disgusted and put the book down but you'll end up picking it up again and questioning yourself how the hell did I put this down? The answer is that this novel is so intriguing and so inventive that if the violence and sex is a bit too much you can forgive it because it is needed and necerssary! The language he has created "nadsat" is a stroke of genius and before long you'll be speaking the lingo in your normal conversation without knowing it. Absolute class. If you have a taste for contraversy and innovative thinking you'll love this. If you have a small mind and don't look beyond the norm than you'll hate it and be disgusted but for the people who aren't delve into the world of Alex and his droogs and viddie how propper horrorshow this novel is! (Just ignore the old "Ultra violence" and the "Old in-out in-out") Forget the film, read the book...you won't be dissapointed!
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Summary: Horrific Stunning, and Great Book
Review: I've read "A Clockwork Orange" about 5 times now, and I'm yet to find a book with such great use of language as Anthony Burgess has done here. The tale of neighborhood punks that drink milk laced with drugs, and go into the night ("Shopcrasting" as Alex DeLarge says)raping, brutally abusing, and even killing people. This is a great outlook onto the future that Mr. Burgess has done with this novel. I would recommend this novel to anyone over the age of 13, because of the extreme violence.
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Summary: The Greatest Horrorshow Ever Told
Review: This book is amazing. It is the epitamy of the symbolic, comical, and frightening book of the era in which it was written, hinting communism and fascism (after the Cold War, and during Vietnam) through the single idea of such a treatment that Alex undergoes. Anthony Burgess somehow also made him a sympathetic character, since Alex' rage blossoms through a gentle neglect his parents offer, and the absurd conformity around him. This is definitely one of the finest pieces of literature ever written in the world, and it should be read by every generation who is ever interested in the views of authors who, for a moment, were bleeding hearts as well.
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Summary: Stunning, errr . . . bloody horrorshow
Review: Great use of language, social critique, political awareness, stunning presentation, color images, this text has it all. Deep philosophy without a hint of (well maybe a little) didacticism. One of the greatest works of all time. Stay with it at all costs, the language will grow on you by chapter three. Viddy well!
Rating: 
Summary: great book
Review: Great book, well worth the read... the movie does it no justice..
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