Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The joys of Bach and beating someone's face in, 2 Mar 2009
From its opening lines, A Clockwork Orange stands out as an extraordinary tour de force in imagination and characterisation, a unique depiction of a troubled teenager and his love for gang violence in a dystopian future, where a sinister government struggles to keep order against a rising tide of gang crime. Although the narrator speaks in the street jargon of the future, his story is instantly recognisable and the imaginary world created by Burgess is both alien and familiar. This is the future, and it could be happening right now in street near you. Alex will repulse you, and you will love him. The violence will shock you, and you will laugh. This is a modern day fairy tale to scare the parents. Definitely a contender for the greatest book of the twentieth century.
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Real Horrorshow, my brothers!, 29 Aug 2000
By A Customer
Burgess's masterpiece, and to his own dismay a confirmed cult classic. He never escaped the influence or the infamy of this book, and I doubt he ever will, even in death. Alex, the 'Beethoven-loving' central character maraudes throughout a future dystopia with his three droogs without restraint in a disturbing and gripping tale told through in the language of 'Nadsat'; a bastardized conglomeration of nonsense and English.(The language may seem a little incomprehensible at first, but don't be dissuaded, the book wouldn't be half as good without it; in a way it's what makes it so original and you soon get used to it, or should I say fluent in it. I found myself using Nadsat phraseology in my own conversations while I was reading it, just for fun).That is until he is betrayed by his droogs and imprisoned. The real message of the book then begins to appear however, and all the violence that assaults us in the first part of the book suddenly serves its purpose. While imprisoned Alex agrees to become a guinea pig in an experiment; an experiment to alter his mind, to cure him of all wicked impulses. He agrees in the hope that he will be let out of jail early, and he gets his wish. He is systematically brainwashed with aversion therapy, until he cannot willfully inflict harm on anyone without becoming violently nauseous. And so fully cured, he walks free. Then his troubles really begin, because he no longer has the ability to cope with the dystopia he previously relished for all its anarchy. He gets beaten up by his former droogs, now policemen, and is subjected to a number of encounters in which his former victims are able to take their revenge for his former deeds. Eventually he depairs and tries to kill himself, and in doing so becomes the centre of attention as the politicians try to use him to win their arguments concerning the brainwashing scheme. The book ends on a hopeful and cheery note though, a point many people forget to mention, and by the last page Alex's adventure has almost become a rite of passage.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Undoubtedly a 20th Century classic, 29 Jun 2006
The strange lingo is called Nadsat and, it's not/never was a secret - it's based on Russian. This book is a massive cultural milestone, as is Kubrick's adaptation for the big screen. It's probably about 15 years since I read, and fell in love with, this book. Haven't actually gotten round to reading it again, but I bought several copies to give to friends, etc. You couldn't claim to be interested in popular culture and not have read this book - even if you don't enjoy it (and the violence is graphic), it's a must-read! I remember how strange the book felt, being written in this weird lingo which, at first, seems to alienate, but then, very quickly, has the effect of drawing you in to the world of Alex and his Droogs. At the time, Kubrick's film was still banned, and I waited several more years, until 1996/7, to see it (on a foreign satellite channel). Great film, better book.
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