A Clockwork Orange

Anthony Burgess, 1962 Date Read: 2/26/22

First off, if you don't already know, this book has alllllll the trigger warnings.

Most people are familiar with the Stanley Kubrick film made from this book, and it is an awesome movie. Bad things happen in it, but it is a great movie. Really, I love Kubrick, and I'm torn between this and The Shining (which is also an awesome book) as my favorite of his movies.

The book has small differences from the film, but for the most part is the same. The version of the novel I read had an additional end chapter that was not in the original publication and not in the film, but it doesn't change anything really. Just wraps up a loose end or two.

I'm not going to spoil the story here if you've not read/seen it, and debates about the meaning of the story have been done to literal death since the publication in 1962. So I won't go into that, either.

I thought it was interesting in the introduction to learn that Burgess didn't really like this work. He thought others of his novels were much better, but he recognized a lot of it was a result of the movie.

I personally enjoyed the made-up language Alex uses, and I felt it added a lot, like Tolkien's elvish language. Because so many of the words have a basis in Russian, he doesn't need to even tell you that the UK has become Communist and has ties to the USSR. I appreciate it when books let you learn things on your own as you read. Too many authors start their novels with exposition. Show me, don't tell me. Also, there are many glossaries online if you (like I did) struggle with some of the slang.

Time to read: less than a day

Rereadability: I've seen the movie multiple times, so I don't know if I'll read it again. But it certainly could be read again, as you'd probably pick up more subtleties that way.

Classic: YES! This novel has all the defining characteristics of a classic novel.