Reviews tagging 'Death'

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

71 reviews

theodoreeeeeeads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

What a horrorshow vetsch. Lots ittying on with krovvy scenes and gullivers spinning physically and metaphorically, I defo smecked a malenky whilst viddying the pages. A tolchock in the yarbles when it got intense but I do recommend it to all the lewdies!! (this is what the whole book is like hehehe)

Now returning from the Nadsat language to English, wowowoeeee what a book, well-written, thought provoking, funny at moments and with a fantastic plot. The story poses lots of moral dilemmas and philosophical questions.

It’s terrifically dark, the phrase “ultra-violence”, as used many times in reference to gang activities, is very accurate. 

Easy to read classic (except the whole new language lol). Would massively recommend. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Body horror, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Physical abuse, Rape, and Torture

perth_is's review against another edition

dark reflective tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Bullying, Death, Animal death, Hate crime, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Misogyny, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexism

pt_barnum's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is easily one of my all-time favorites. It's about nihilism, anarchy, and moral philosophy, all told through the perspective of an ultra-violent psychopath who changes drastically throughout the book. It's truly one of the greatest glimpses into the darkness of the human psyche ever put to page.

The gimmick of ACO is that contains a lot of non-english words, specifically a lot of Russian and Russian-influenced-yet-still-made-up slang, like the word "girl" is rarely used in the book, but the term "devotchka" is used in abundance. This is the biggest barrier to getting into the book, as you have to flip to the appendix to learn every new word. While somewhat frustrating at first, it makes it so much more fun to read once you get the hang of it (I was able to read without the appendix about a third into the book). It makes you connect with the setting so much more as it adds another layer of immersion. Just read it if you can get past all the red flags mentioned below, at least so you can brag that you did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Confinement, Death, Murder, Body horror, Rape, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Blood, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Sexual harassment

cjfooks's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Animal death, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Rape

prismagner's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Rape, Torture, Police brutality, Bullying, Death, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Physical abuse

or10n's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

3.0

DNF 

I read this book as an assignment in college. I really couldn't get into it in any meaningful way. It was pretty much unreadable, from the topics to the diction to the characters. I understand that is supposed to be an unreliable narrator, but it was just a bit much imo.  I'm sure it's for someone, its just not for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Gore

_sophahs_'s review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Not an enjoyable read but an important one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Violence

oliverborley's review against another edition

dark funny fast-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

Enjoyed reading this, especially in its own little language - quite entertaining 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Blood, Murder, and Sexual violence

shoohoob's review

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I definitely should have read this instead of listened, but the audiobook narrator kinda ate 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Rape, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Torture, and Toxic friendship

timewriter's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-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

4.0

A book that leaves you thinking afterwards. The main character is awful but written to where you are invested and want to find out what happens. It begs the question of do criminals deserve human rights and the choice to choose? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Death, Sexual violence, and Murder