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prismagner's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Vomit, Rape, Torture, Police brutality, Bullying, Death, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Blood, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Physical abuse
alext8086's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Police brutality, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Drug use, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Vomit
minnie_xx's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Sexual assault, Death, Torture, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide attempt, Gore, Police brutality, Violence, Murder, Classism, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, and Drug use
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Addiction, and Alcohol
cosmicruin's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Blood, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Murder, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Death, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Bullying
pixelited's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Additionally, while the language was at first disorienting, you’re able to get a grasp on how the words are used quickly. I find this aspect of the book particularly interesting, being part of a younger generation with all sorts of slang, and it makes me wonder how the slang I use today may become a “nadsat” language in other years. I also enjoyed the stark difference when characters speak in proper English and how that plays into the story as well.
Overall, while the nature of the book is disturbing and upsetting, I am glad to have read it and gotten such a perspective on human nature and change.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Murder, Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Death, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Torture
rory_john14's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Drug use, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Blood, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual content, Gore, Cancer, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, and Vomit
Minor: Religious bigotry, Torture, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Homophobia, and Child death
sabrinz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Even though the story is quite short with about 200 pages, it does take some time to read. While the linguistic aspect Burgess integrated with his youth slang being is amazing from a linguistic point of view and quite interesting when you read the background of these words, it made reading the story rather slow. However, at some point you do get used to the words and the reading speeds up (you'll also be able to guess most words from contex - I did know some Russion but even then it took me quite a while to make some connections between the actual Russian word and the slang that was based on it).
The story follows Alex, a 15-year old teenager, and his gang of 3 friends and their violent antics at night. Like many other youths in this story, they rebell against their government the only way they can think how - with violence. Even though some of their deeds are glossed over, they are quite burtal.
Alex, thinking himself the leader of his gang and not really taking responsibility for their actions, gets arrested when one of their break-ins goes wrong. In prison, he bides his time until he can get back out and go right back to the life he left behind. Seeing an opportunity to shorten his sentence by volunteering for a method that will guarantee his release in two weeks, Alex becomes the subject to a terrible conditioning that leads him to associate any form of violence with intense pain, thus forcing him to be act and think in a non-violent way.
The third part of the book is about Alex back in his life and the struggle that ensures from his conditioning.
The entire story contains a multititude of topics, but in the center stands the question of choice. Can we take away a person's choice even if it is someone like Alex?
Even though the last chapter was meant as somewhat of a hopeful outlook and a small redemption for Alex in the form of him growing up and settling, it felt to mee like a gloomy end. Alex decides that he wants a family of his own, but fears that his children will have to go through similar things he has (i.e. acting out as teenagers) and that the cycle of violence will be never-ending.
Graphic: Police brutality, Torture, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Drug use
Minor: Animal cruelty
nisanatreads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
#bookreview of 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess
The story of 'A Clockwork Orange' centers around 15 year old Alex who is the leader of a youth gang and together with his 'droogs' he commits all sorts of violent crime. At some point Alex is caught and imprisoned. During that time he does not abstain from violence and finally he gets admitted to an experimental study called 'Ludovico's technique'. The experiment is supposed to condition his body to react negatively when confronted with crime and/or violence. I think we probably all know the scene from the eponymous film where Ludovico's technique is depicted in graphic detail so I will spare you further explanation.
This book was hard to get through. It's even harder to review. There are very graphic depictions of violence so I'd strongly advise you to read the trigger warnings beforehand. I couldn't really discern if such descriptions were necessary to get the point across that Alex is a really bad guy but it certainly painted a really dark picture. In turn I thought that the execution of the characters was immaculate. The author came up with a slang called 'nadsat' which is only used by the youth and especially by the youth gangs. In a way it's a very descriptive language but it makes the characters sound very childish as well. There's a strange discrepancy when you hear the characters talk and at the same time they do these atrocious things which you'd never want to associate with a child. In my opinion this implicitly poses the question if criminals might just be less evolved like a child is less evolved than an adult. There are several instances when Alex clearly doesn't get what's happening around him which coincides with this thesis of mine. Other questions of ethics, morality, the criminal justice system and the freedom of choice come up as well. None of these are answered directly but the text offers different solutions and leaves the reader with a lingering sense of discomfort.
You can see why it has cult status and is seen by many as one of the classics. There's much more to be discussed so feel free to comment or text me.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Murder, Torture, Animal cruelty, Vomit, Pedophilia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Police brutality
jls11244's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Drug use, Gore, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual violence, and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
kendall_readz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Rape, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts