A Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess

[bouquin]

I'm currently on chapter 6 and am completely blown away! The nadsat vesch is so clever the lingo is almost Shakespearean sometimes! And the way Alex can shift from it to sweet polite language and "gentlemanly" manners... brilliant!

[Vincent Black]

I found the language to be extremely difficult to get used to at first, but I think that's part of what makes it such a good novel.

[cipherdecoy]

I think a lot of American republications feature the additional chapter. A relatively good novel, but the last chapter wasn't worth keeping in, in my opinion.

I disagree, why do you think so?

"There are twenty-one chapters in all: twenty-one is the age at which children traditionally become adult, and it is in the twenty-first chapter that Alex sees the light and puts the errors of youth behind him Burgess would also have been struck by the aptness, in a novel about growing up, of there being seven chapters in each section: an implicit allusion to Shakespeare's seven ages of man. As all this suggests, A Clockwork Orange is the most carefully constructed of novels"
- Excerpt from Blake Morrison's introduction to the novel

While I think it is presumptuous to claim that it is "the most carefully constructed of novels", I feel that the last chapter is indispensable and crucial to the construction of the novel as a whole.

[bouquin]

I found the language to be extremely difficult to get used to at first, but I think that's part of what makes it such a good novel.

I got the hang of it after a few pages. I started by noting down the strange words and subsequently came up with a horrorshow glossary.

[Sir Bartholomew]

I got the hang of it after a few pages. I started by noting down the strange words and subsequently came up with a horrorshow glossary.

i love how he describes his slippers "comfy wooly toofles" it sounds so good you can almost eat it

[bouquin]

I think a lot of American republications feature the additional chapter. A relatively good novel, but the last chapter wasn't worth keeping in, in my opinion.

It does seem unconvincing to me how, in Chapter 21, Alex <<<SPOILERS>>> at the age of 18 already appears to be mellowing down. I would imagine that folks of the same "persuasion" as he at that age would still be at the "peak of their powers," so to speak. The last chapter lends a sort of B-movie-type ending to the book, I'm afraid. In my opinion, it could have concluded with more of a bang if it had stopped at Chapter 20.

[Aiculík]

It does seem unconvincing to me how, in Chapter 21, Alex <<<SPOILERS>>> at the age of 18 already appears to be mellowing down. I would imagine that folks of the same "persuasion" as he at that age would still be at the "peak of their powers," so to speak. The last chapter lends a sort of B-movie-type ending to the book, I'm afraid. In my opinion, it could have concluded with more of a bang if it had stopped at Chapter 20.

I think without the final chapter, the book would be pointless - interesting story but nothing more. Only with it, the contrast between forced good and natural decision to change one's life is shown.
SPOILERS
Though Alex doesn't decide to change his life because he repents his former crimes, but rather because he's bored. His "droogs" are new, but the places they go to and things they do are the same as he did before; they meet same persons (like those women that are saying how good boys they are because they expect a drink again). There's nothing new or interesting in that, there's no challenge in it any more.
Also, he can see how Pete changed and he's impressed. He realizes how childish he must seem compared to Pete. One thing that 18 years old doesn't want is to seem childish and immature.
I don't think it so unrealistic - I also know few people who were "wild" during their teens, but were forced to become mature and serious when they had earn their own living... perhaps they did not change because of "right" reasons(or rather, reasons that other people would consider "right"), but they did change...
And that's also why I like the book. It does not idealise Alex, he is not "converted" to a saint, he just realizes that he cannot live like crazy droog forever - and at the same time, he's fully aware that next generations will be just as violent (or even more) as he and his droogs...

And one more thing - the 21st chapter is not "additional", or "new". It was always part of the novel, only USA publisher insisted in omitting it, though Burgess did not like it and thought it degrades the novel into simple story about violent teen. Besides, it ruined the structure of the novel - Burgess wanted it to have exactly 21 chapters in 3 sections of 7 chapters - numbers and symbols are very important for him. Even the name of the novel ifself is a symbol.

Here's what Burgess himself said about the novel:
"What I had tried to write was, as well as a novella, a sort of allegory of Christian free will. Man is defined by his capacity to choose courses of moral action. If he chooses good, he must have the possibility of choosing evil instead: evil is a theological necessity. I was also saying that it is more acceptable for us to perform evil acts than to bee conditioned artificially into an ability only to perform what is socially acceptable. The Times Literary Supplement reviewer (anonymous in those days) saw the book only as a 'nasty little shocker', which was rather unfair, while the down-market newspapers thought the Anglo-Russian slang was a silly little joke that didn't come off."
(From: A.B., prefatory note to A Clockwork Orange: A play with music. Century Hutchinson Ltd., 1987)

[bouquin]

Alex is more than just "wild" .... he is a rapist and a homicidal maniac. He is a criminal. I am in no way rejecting the possibility that he would eventually straighten up his act but for him to apparently start thinking about it already at age 18, it seems a bit far-fetched to me. This afternoon I was reading a news magazine article on juvenile delinquency. Among other things, the article said that the most narcissistic, most sociopathic individuals who start commiting horrendous crimes (such as murder) at an early age continue to do so for years, well into their 20s (and some even further than that, needless to say). Interestingly also, the article stated that, according to scientists, juvenile delinquency is very markedly influenced by environment (including upbringing) - which comes as no surprise - and genetics, that is, an apparent malfunction/deficiency of an enzyme called mono-amine oxydase A (MAO-A) or some such name.

[Trystan]

A relatively good novel, but the last chapter wasn't worth keeping in, in my opinion.

Why's that? It would feel incomplete without it. The idea was that Alex out grows his psychopathy naturally, the whole point of the book being that mind-control to meet social/political ends was a bad thing; a dangerous and unnatural thing.

I think that Burgess was trying to make a point against B.F. Skinner and his Ludovico-like ideas.

But I love this book. It's a prophecy of modern Britain.

[Seabird111]

I really need to read this book. Obviously it's pretty, eh, innapropriate, but it IS one of the most harrowing tales of violence in modern literature, sooo...

[Jozanny]

SPOILERS FOR BOOK AND MOVIE






Ebert's review was kind of funny to read because he attributed things to Kubric that weren't his intention. For instance, the audience is not supposed to like Alex. The story is told from his point of view, so it is incredibly biased. When the narrator starts killing people, that is a good clue that he may not be the most reliable storyteller. Alex likes Alex, so the film likes Alex, and the world is portrayed as if all people but Alex are crazy because Alex sees the world that way.

And the point is not to condone violence in a violent world, as Ebert believes. The violence in the film, especially the singing in the rain part, is meant to be appalling. The violence is supposed to be terrible so that we can see the benefits of Alex's mind control treatment. The film asks viewers which is better, a world of violence or a world without free will. It is an important question and the extreme vioence and Alex's insane glorification of this violence is necessary to make a fair argument for both sides.

Agree with this, but, having only recently read the novel, it is a bit quaint, nothing like what goes down in American inner cities, and too schematic for a post-9/11 (and 7/7 with the British trains?) society. It is an allegorical tale similar to the anti-utopian Huxley's Brave New World, and not particularly canon worthy

[TeH]

Hello,

I am doing a research paper on A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. The assignment was to find interesting Correlations to the Real World Today: historical to modern events, songs, articles, current events.

Any one have any idea?

I was thinking of comparing Alex to the Joker from Batman comics.

- thanks

[Kitty88]

i have just started to read that book - i don't understand it!

[TeH]

i have just started to read that book - i don't understand it!

It is a great book. It took time to understand at first, but in the end, you will begin to understand and truly enjoy the novel.

[Kitty88]

oo ok thankies!