Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Clockwork Orange

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

257 reviews

sugarcube's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I read this after having watched the movie multiple times. The movie is one of my favorite movies for the questions it raises, and I was told to read the book because of

its different ending

(I had already tried but found it too similar to be worth finishing at first).

I ended up liking the book after all because I appreciate the additional insight into Alex's thoughts that are limited by the runtime of the movie. However,

I take issue with the ending. For Alex to simply grow out of it seems to imply that the events of the story were entirely inconsequential. Now, the movie is similar in that they both imply that Alex will always have ended up this way, regardless of his experiences. However, the movie suggests a much darker message underneath that. Burgess seems to suggest that violence is inherent to the mind of a growing boy, while Kubrick seems to suggest instead that some people are born a monsters and no meddling will fix that.
Frankly, I just disliked the ending of the book because I disagreed with it.
Other than that, I did like the book. I love the quirks of the nadsat language, especially in the way it feels like it distances and distracts from the brutality that actually occurs. It feels like you're really in Alex's head, and I liked that immersion.

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monicage's review against another edition

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adventurous dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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avery03's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

4.0

I had to practically learn a new language to read this but once I did it was a very quick read. This is definitely a book I think everyone should read.

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valentereads's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective tense

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

For a dyspraxic reader, coming to terms with the 'Ndsatt' or teen talk in the book was very frustrating at first, and I thought that I would hate the origionality of Burgess' language until the end, even if I liked the story and the social commentary it provided on difficult issues. But the more I read the more I understood the talk and therefore the story, and I don't think a clockwork orange would be so unique, origional, or so vivid in its influence without this.

I get mixed mesages about the writer's commentary on the development of the teenager, and he uses excess of violence to show alex's youth journey. Perhaps i do not understand the social and historical context of the text enough, but i did not understand if Burgess was saying that teens and teddy boys are a negative thing, or that eveyone has free choice and needs to develop through phases.

I hate Alex, he is vile, and yet I also love him as a character!

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cjfooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

You know what, I actually enjoyed this. I got to say - I wasn’t expecting to.
It was one of those books I wanted to read to say I’d read it and to watch the movie, which I know is a cult classic (although tbh I don’t feel the need now). The only other thing I knew about it going in, was that it was very graphically violent - and wow it definitely is, but not in the way you’d expect.

Firstly, the first part is quite confusing because by this point, not only are you still trying to understand the book’s world and meet characters, but the language is actually its own unique dialect of English.

They mention it at some point, but it’s the young people slang of this fictional world and includes a lot of Russian-derived words in place of English ones. This means most commonly used nouns and verbs are totally incoherent at the start. But towards the middle and end I actually really enjoyed this part of it and now, after reading, sort of miss listening to it, in the way you might miss hearing an Irishmen speak after visiting Ireland for a week.

I’m also really glad I read it for the first time as an audiobook for this reason - I think I understood it quicker and better this way.

When it comes to all the violence though, it’s dampened considerably by the language factor in a very clever way, never using the words like ‘r*pe’, ‘screaming/crying’ or ‘bl**d’ instead ‘the ol’ in-out-in-out’, ‘screeching’ and ‘krovvy’. Between this and the matter-of-a-fact narration about atrocities from Alex (the main character) i think the point here is to try and make the reader read in Alex’s detached perspective, instead of their own.
The language does change throughout the book and, man the way it’s written is so a unique, that I can’t help but respect the heck out of it (which is also why I don’t think the movie could ever do it justice).

Once Alex goes through ‘rehab’, the language he hears and starts using, changes to the ‘ugly’ words we’re used to (I.e. r*pe, etc.) and, this, combined with Alex’s correlated nausea, makes the impact of the violence that much stronger.

In terms of plot, it’s heavily a character development, rather than plot. And seems to be making some sort of a point but I’ll admit - I still don’t really get it.
To me overall, it’s a cleverly written story about morality, cruelty, karma and a very clever use of language.

I wasn’t expecting to say I’d read this again but I think I would - and would recommend it in certain cases - but only for horror fans (though I wouldn’t actually call this horror) who can stomach a lot of violence in books.

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