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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
[ DID NOT FINISH ]
i couldn’t wrap my head around the slang for the moment so hopefully the next time i pick it up i’ll be a little more willing to read without having to question every line
i couldn’t wrap my head around the slang for the moment so hopefully the next time i pick it up i’ll be a little more willing to read without having to question every line
The most daring thing Anthony Burgess does in A Clockwork Orange is that Alex, the violent thug of a main character, is both a despicable monster and a likable character you empathize with. That is an achievement. Maybe something the author didn’t fully intend but there you go. Kubrick’s film also successfully captures this same unsettling feature. A lot of this has to do with the fact Alex is the narrating voice of the novel and Burgess simply couldn’t help but employ so many clever and amusing turns of phrase that you can’t help but like the character.
In the forward Burgess complains that the ending was rejected in the US version because Americans have some moral problem with that sort of ending. After reading it, it’s pretty obvious to me that it was rejected simply because it’s not very well written. It has a light and jokey tone that cheapens the novel. The chapter could have been much subtler and merely suggested the points he makes, instead he plainly explains everything. It has Alex display a level of self knowledge that was really not there in the rest of the book. It’s something of a head whipping turnaround for the character. Burgess further complains that he doesn’t rate this book among his best efforts because “it’s too didactic to be artistic” and “it’s not the novelist’s job to preach; it is his duty to show.” But these problems are principally with that final chapter that he’s arguing so highly for.
In the end I do highly recommend this book but I have to criticize that last chapter which thankfully Kubrick left out of the film version.
In the forward Burgess complains that the ending was rejected in the US version because Americans have some moral problem with that sort of ending. After reading it, it’s pretty obvious to me that it was rejected simply because it’s not very well written. It has a light and jokey tone that cheapens the novel. The chapter could have been much subtler and merely suggested the points he makes, instead he plainly explains everything. It has Alex display a level of self knowledge that was really not there in the rest of the book. It’s something of a head whipping turnaround for the character. Burgess further complains that he doesn’t rate this book among his best efforts because “it’s too didactic to be artistic” and “it’s not the novelist’s job to preach; it is his duty to show.” But these problems are principally with that final chapter that he’s arguing so highly for.
In the end I do highly recommend this book but I have to criticize that last chapter which thankfully Kubrick left out of the film version.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An absolute change of pace from the last book which was what I was wanting, to be fair.
As with most classics I’ve read I really enjoyed it. The Nadsat speak didn’t take as long for me to get used to as i thought it would, based on what people I knew had told me.
I also found parts 1 and 2 to be much more interesting than part 3. I wasn’t a big fan of the ending but I also don’t know how else a book like this should end.
As with most classics I’ve read I really enjoyed it. The Nadsat speak didn’t take as long for me to get used to as i thought it would, based on what people I knew had told me.
I also found parts 1 and 2 to be much more interesting than part 3. I wasn’t a big fan of the ending but I also don’t know how else a book like this should end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Blood
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
dark
mysterious
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
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I suppose you have to be bezoomny to be a genius.
it took a minute to get into the book because of the made-up dictionary used throughout. i had to have a pdf “nadsat” dictionary at the ready for the first half of the book but after that i got it down. as for the actual plot it was quite strange but very intriguing. it felt like something i would’ve read in ap lit or analyzed in ap lang. it was interesting to read a book like that as a choice rather than as an assignment. it also brought up a debate about federal punishment, control over bodies, and criminality. overall i enjoyed my read and it was quite quick after i learned the dictionary used.
"How art thou, thou globby bottle of cheap stinking chip-oil? Come and get one in the yarbles, if you have any yarbles, you eunuch jelly, thou."
"It may not be nice to be good, little 6655321. It may be horrible to be good. And when I say that to you I realize how self-contradictory that sounds. I know I shall have many sleepless nights about this. What does God want? Does God want woodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some ways better than a man who has the good imposed upon him? Deep and hard questions, little 6655321.
There was something happening inside me, and I wondered if it was like some disease or if it was what they had done to me that time upsetting my gulliver and perhaps going to make me real bezoomny.
"It may not be nice to be good, little 6655321. It may be horrible to be good. And when I say that to you I realize how self-contradictory that sounds. I know I shall have many sleepless nights about this. What does God want? Does God want woodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some ways better than a man who has the good imposed upon him? Deep and hard questions, little 6655321.
There was something happening inside me, and I wondered if it was like some disease or if it was what they had done to me that time upsetting my gulliver and perhaps going to make me real bezoomny.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
very anxiety-inducing story. I think it's important to acknowledge the visceral reaction you get and understand why that is how you felt towards Alex (or the things that he's done -- and been done towards him)