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A review by screamdogreads
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
4.0
"I know I shall have many sleepless nights about this. What does God want? Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses to be bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?"
The ultra-violent masterpiece. The cult classic. The original postmodern hellscape in novel form, A Clockwork Orange is so very well-known, and so widely adored that reviewing it becomes a daunting, intimidating thing. How can any one person possibly say anything new or interesting about a book so universally revered, and so deeply dissected?
With its highly experimental 'Nadsat' slag being its most distinctive feature, A Clockwork Orange is at first, a little difficult to grasp. However, it's so ingeniously crafted, that the wild and zany slang becomes quickly enjoyable. It makes for a brilliant storytelling device, and the result is a wonderfully unique and highly chaotic dystopian tale of terror. It's often said that, A Clockwork Orange is the most ultra-violent of stories, and while it's true that there's page upon page of sickening, heinous crimes described with a shocking vividity, and characters who delight in the misery of others, to call it simply a 'violent novel' lessens what it actually is.
The ultra-violent masterpiece. The cult classic. The original postmodern hellscape in novel form, A Clockwork Orange is so very well-known, and so widely adored that reviewing it becomes a daunting, intimidating thing. How can any one person possibly say anything new or interesting about a book so universally revered, and so deeply dissected?
With its highly experimental 'Nadsat' slag being its most distinctive feature, A Clockwork Orange is at first, a little difficult to grasp. However, it's so ingeniously crafted, that the wild and zany slang becomes quickly enjoyable. It makes for a brilliant storytelling device, and the result is a wonderfully unique and highly chaotic dystopian tale of terror. It's often said that, A Clockwork Orange is the most ultra-violent of stories, and while it's true that there's page upon page of sickening, heinous crimes described with a shocking vividity, and characters who delight in the misery of others, to call it simply a 'violent novel' lessens what it actually is.
"So we cracked into him lovely, grinning all over our listos, but he still went on singing. Then we tripped him so he laid down flat and heavy and a bucketload of beer-vomit came whooshing out. That was disgusting so we gave him the boot, one go each, and then it was blood, not song nor vomit, that came out of his filthy old rot. Then we went on our way. "
Never once is the violence of this story glorified, nor does it ever feel gratuitous. In a way, it all feels kind of vital to the story, which, actually isn't really about violence at all. The intense ultra-violence is simply a vessel in which we must examine the morality of choice and free-will. Of course, it's heaped full of vile and incredulous characters. And, as a villain, Alex is a brutally brilliant one, charming yet vicious, ungodly but casts a sympathetic shadow, he does the unthinkable, he's horrible. Yet, through the brilliance of Burgess, when atrocities happen to our dear villain, sympathy crashes upon us in waves.
Despite being a classic, this is a novel that has so much modern appeal, and never really reads like something that was first published in the 60s. It's a book of real rebellion, angry in every sense of the word, and one to delight and ignite the punk spirit that lives within us.
"And like it was Fate there was another like malenky booklet which had an open window on the cover, and it said, 'Open the window to fresh air, fresh ideas, a new way of living.' And so I knew that was like telling me to finish it all off by jumping out. One moment of pain, perhaps, and then sleep for ever and ever and ever."