A Clockwork Orange

Surprisingly, it didn't take long to get a hang of the 'made up' words. This book is a classic for a reason - but man, it isn't for the faint-hearted. The senseless violence does kind of get to you. I finished this book with a lot of important and heavy questions in my mind, definitely recommend for anyone who enjoys reading heavier stuff.

Read it when much younger - made an impact for the alt universe these characters seem to live in

Great. A book that got into my mind.

1. It takes a long while to get used to the language of the book (at least for me)
   2. It's way too graphic. Like I get the point is to sell a extreme image of the main character and then toy around with the concepts, but just too far man.
   3. Good plot, meh ending. No good or bad, just a desire fir a family. Not too satisfied

Parts of this book still come back to me randomly. This one leaves an impact.

4/10 - probably really good for english class, but not an enjoyable read for me personally, as you can see by it taking me ~a week to read 150 pages. definitely a linguistic achievement overall though (i struggled through 70% of it - tbf about 60 pages is a dictionary so....)

Was not able to finish reading, I couldn't handle the made up language unfortunately.

Very hard read due to frequent usage of in-universe slang. It feels similar to modern day gen alpha brain rot slang and that makes it a slog to pick up. It's all told in first person by the main character so you don't get a break from it, I constantly kept thinking "What the fuck are you saying?" And that got on my nerves the more I read.

I respect the author and his impact on literature and movies but this is not for me, dropped after chapter 3.

I recently listened to A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, narrated by Tom Hollander, and it was an intense yet thought-provoking experience. Tom Hollander’s narration was fantastic. He fully embraced the heavy accent and navigated the Nasdat slang with incredible ease, making it feel natural and authentic. Despite the harsh nature of the book, I could easily envision a teenage boy speaking, which added to the realism and immersion of the story. Hollander absolutely killed it in his portrayal of Alex, capturing both his rebelliousness and vulnerability.

As a social worker with a strong interest in reformative justice, I found the concept of this book particularly intriguing. The dystopian world Burgess created, where violent youth rule the streets, inflicting senseless harm on anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path, raises compelling questions. Can society become a better place if free will is taken away from these youths, forcing them to obey the law or face biological punishment? Does justice truly prevail when the root causes of the violence are never addressed? These were questions that kept surfacing for me throughout the book. Despite the atrocities Alex committed, I couldn’t help but feel some level of sympathy for him. The trauma he endured in prison was despicable—an ultimate abuse of power, as the authorities toyed with the minds of society’s most vulnerable. It felt like the government was condoning lobotomies on teenagers, stripping them of their autonomy in the name of order.

The ending of the book was a highlight for me. It provided a subtle but hopeful glimpse that perhaps Alex could change his ways on his own terms, through self-determination rather than coercion. It was a satisfying conclusion to an otherwise grim narrative.

I did struggle with the Nasdat slang at first. I had to relisten to the first chapter three times before I could even start to grasp what was being said. Eventually, I found a Nasdat slang chart online, which was a huge help! If you’re planning to listen to this book and having trouble with the language, I definitely recommend looking up a chart to make things easier.

Overall, I really enjoyed A Clockwork Orange, though it’s definitely not for the faint of heart. The book is full of brutal cruelty, and Alex, as the narrator, shows little remorse for his actions. However, the story was incredibly intriguing and raised many questions about morality, justice, and the nature of free will. If you’re looking for something that challenges your perspective, this audiobook is a must-listen.

Summary: Young Alex, along with his small group of friends, leads a shockingly violent criminal life until the state decides to take drastic measures to change that. This novel explores the ideas of selfishness and the depth of human depravity, as well as those of youth and the natural course of life.

“Pero la intención esencial es el pecado real. El hombre que no puede elegir ha perdido la condición humana.”

“A Clockwork Orange” is an audacious tale full of debauchery, allegory, spite, and thoughtfulness. Despite its often off-putting subject matter, the book lends itself to a burgeoning look into youth culture and adult impassiveness. The plot is a simple one. Alex and his hooligans run amok through the city, inflicting extreme violence on everyone they meet. The droogs, as Alex puts it, are a gang that spouts off slang and whose tempers rise towards anyone in establishments. Once the group is caught by the police, jail time and re-education ensue. Is the radical treatment enough for Alex to change his ways?

I don't really know how to review the rest of the book. There are so many themes of religion, music, rules, and structure that would be interesting to talk about in a book club-type setting.

The book is sort of like a grand experience. One that, depending on your age, you might see differently. If you're a youth, you might connect with the anti-establishment or governmental control of Alex's story. As an adult, you might cherish the staunch methods of control the lawmakers use to try and help control the rambunctious youth. Wherever you fall on the spectrum, I think this classic has all the underpinnings of what makes great satire. It's a well constructed symphony of emotion, and even though I'm supremely late to reading it, I kind of wonder what I would have thought about it when I was younger.

❖ Category: dystopian
❖Rating: 5/5

Livro muito bom mas, infelizmente, bastante incompleto. A premissa é extraordinária e ao mesmo nível, certamente, das grandes distopias. No entanto, a mesma aparece apenas a meio do livro, tarde demais para cativar um qualquer leitor menos teimoso.
A linguagem inconvencional, que adensa a obra e acrescenta mérito ao autor, tem o duplo efeito, dificultando a compreensão do romance, levando a eventuais frustrações por parte do leitor.
No geral, é uma obra boa, completa e profunda, instigadora de reflexões. A maior delas: deve o ser humano ter a possibilidade de praticar a bondade, ou deve não ter escolha nessa matéria?

More or less similar to the movie

“When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.”

In a dystopian future, where everyone works for the good of the state, a group of teens take some drugs and wreak havoc - and Burgess creates Ultra-Violence.

I've read this before and I remember that the language alienated me so that I couldn't get into the story. Not this time, I was so engrossed that nearing the end I didn't want to read any further for fear of what was to come!
I found the words flowed like music (apt considering Burgess' dream to fuse the two) lifting the story to a higher level, drawing me in to the strange world and terrifying mind of Alex, your Humble Narrator.
The beauty of the language is juxtaposed with the horrific violence graphically described throughout. Worsened somehow by Alex's lack of emotional attachment to his crimes, they are just something for him to do with his time.
The apparent hopelessness is echoed by the near repetition of the first chapter at the end. But there IS a glimpse of light as Alex decides to turn his back on the lifestyle (unless you are reading the US version which excludes the final chapter).

I've made it sound awful but it's not, it's visceral and real and you are trapped there, inside Alex's head with all the sights and the music - so when it ends you feel like a bucket of water has been poured over you. And you want to go back and do it all again.

Understandably, this was considered a work of genius in its time and elements of it still spark. However, I think it's lost some of its shock factor.

This is a very difficult book to read. Some of the content is very disturbing and difficult to face. It's also difficult to read due to the made up language that is used in it. The addition I read had an Glossary in the back it was pivotal and understanding the story. I've heard the movie is pretty shocking and terrible and leaves out the most important part which is the very last chapter of the book.

9/10

I could not put this book down! I read it over the course of two days. Not sure what I can say about it that hasn't already been articulated in a much better way by much smarter people than I. Suffice it to say I thought it was an excellent study of human nature and what “evil” we all allow in ourselves and therefore, in our world. Burgess wrote using the Nadsat language in such a way that the story flows almost like a work by Shakespeare. Alex is a cruel, dangerous wretch, yet seeing him stripped of his choice, his humanity, turns him into a sympathetic character. Our failings as individuals add up to our failures as a society, which perpetuates the broken system and continuously churns out wicked monsters. Is removing the choice and turning us into mindless drones the path to good, or the path to an even greater evil?

3,5*
Dočteno stylem jako vždycky - přečtu hodně na začátek, pak po troškách a pak dojedu poslední ⅔ na jeden zátah

Story: well told and sometimes it made me look away (I know it sounds weird)
Characters: well developed and sometimes I had sympathy for Alex so yeah, Anthony Burgess managed to make me like a horrible criminal
Feeling: disgusted when it was disgusting, happy, but sad at the same time when Alex was beaten
Overall: a great story about a psycho

Not for me, reakky struggled with Clockwork Orange and read the second half via audio book, to anyone thinking of reading it I would suggest the audio book, makes the language much easier to understand!

A bit of work for a small novel. Had to learn new slang and put up with moralizing. It shocks and it bores.

Quase um mês depois... bom, não é uma leitura fácil. Não é impossível também, obviamente, mas não é o tipo de livro que você senta e lê e o texto flui — por vários motivos. A história é forte, e o estranhamento causado pelo nadsat incomoda um bocado, principalmente no começo. Mais ou menos da metade pra frente, o andamento da coisa melhora bastante.

Acho que a crítica social me perdeu um pouco no fim, com o "final feliz". Entendo o porquê daquele capítulo existir, mas também entendo sua falta nas edições americanas. O clima é destoante e, na minha opinião, é um capítulo bem fraco, em comparação ao resto. Em relação ao filme, acho que faz toda a diferença saber e perceber que Alex é um adolescente, e não um marmanjo de 28 anos (idade de Malcolm McDowell quando fez o filme, dez anos mais velho do que o personagem no final do livro).

Nota: 4.5.

Not sure how I felt about this book. Definitely won't read it again, and I read so many books for a second (third, fourth ...) time. This was interesting but extremely unsettling and violent. Glad I read it, but very happy to be finished.