Set in a dismal dystopia, this is the first-person account of a juvenile delinquent who after a rambunctious crime streak, undergoes state-sponsored psychological rehabilitation for his aberrant behavior. The novel satirizes extreme political systems that are based on opposing models of the perfectibility or incorrigibility of humanity. Written in a futuristic slang vocabulary invented by Burgess, in part by adaptation of Russian words, it was his most original and best-known work. The first American edition (and some subsequent American editions) does not have the final chapter of the first edition.

Haha I'm not even sure! Its awesome but I'm not sure who its good for!

Burgess's surreal use of language is incredibly ingenious. He creates the wonderful 'nadsat' slang spoken by Alex and his friends (or 'droogs') through a combination of different styles of English

Read it again, to be honest. I reckon there's a few books I may read more than once this year

Anthony Burgess (25th February 1917-22nd November 1993) was one of the UK's leading academics and most respected literary figures. A prolific author, during his writing career Burgess found success as a novelist, critic, composer, playwright, screenwriter, travel writer, essayist, poet and librettist, as well as working as a translator, broadcaster, linguist and educationalist. His fiction includes Nothing Like the Sun, a recreation of Shakespeare's love-life, but he is perhaps most famous for the complex and controversial novel A Clockwork Orange, exploring the nature of evil. Born in Manchester, he spent time living in Southeast Asia, the USA and Mediterranean Europe as well as in England, until his death in 1993.

Just... its a classic and now I know why!

If you don't like swearing and violence, steer clear.

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Created Jan 31, 2014 at 4:50pm • Submit your own review...