Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

34 reviews

grassy_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Very disturbing- honestly wanted to put it down pretty much the entire time. Second half of the book is more interesting/redeeming than the first half but not enough where I would ever actively recommend anyone read this. Generally explores the balance between good and evil but I think there are more sophisticated ways to do so that don’t require reading an endlessly unpleasant story. Some of the language stuff is pretty cool but in its entirety this is a strange book that I found to be unappealing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

aupton's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder

kari_f's review against another edition

4.0

“Does God want goodness or the choice of goodness? Is a man who chooses the bad perhaps in some way better than a man who has the good imposed upon him?”

I have so many mixed thought and feelings on this book. Instead of my usual likes and dislikes, I figured I’d talk about some of the interesting aspects of the book.

The main character is despicable, but he’s supposed to be. He’s more a product of his authoritarian society than he realizes, and he embodies many of their core values and falls prey to their whims even as he strives to subvert them. 

Language plays an important role in the book, with the narrator speaking Nadsat (a young person’s language) that the reader has to learn to decipher. Alex’s crimes are absolutely horrific, but toward the beginning the reader is so bogged down by figuring out what he’s saying that the crimes themselves almost take on a secondary nature. By the time the reader is able to decipher the meanings of the words without having to think about them, we have moved on to the next part of the story where he’s moved past them in one sense or another. I think some of the violent scenes would have been too much to read were it not for that, and even with it there were times I had to take a break from the book.

Many ethical conundrums are brought up in this relatively short book, to include free will, subversion, and the horrors that can occur when the government has too much control. 

I wouldn’t say I enjoyed the book per se, because it was dark and very violent, but I did find the concepts and language very interesting. I’m not sure I’d revisit it in the future, but I’m glad I finally read this classic! I’m also very glad I read this with my book club, because the discussion was excellent.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

kingspite618's review

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bokslukaren's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I've never read a book that plays with language the way Burgess plays with it in “A Clockwork Orange”. The book, though written in English, contains an equal amount of “nadsat” words. These made-up teenage slang words were very hard to discern based solely on the context and for the first 30 pages I needed to have the book's Wiktionary beside the page at all times. The mix of older English and Nadsat was unique, to say the least, with both of the following sentences being said by the same character: “If fear thou hast in thy heart, O brother, pray banish it forthwith.” (page 18) and later “If it was all rainy and cally now on the ground you could have my platties to walk on so as not to cover your dainty nogas with filth and cal.” (page 95). The fact that each of the three parts starts in the same way and pattern, though with different implications, was very satisfying, but alas the story felt shallow and didn't at all compare to other dystopian works I've read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture

krmreads2024's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, and Police brutality

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

theodoreeeeeeads's review

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

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

alext8086's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

• 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

I felt like the slang language the main character uses is a bit over the top. I also feel like most of the book is just him doing awful things. I love the second half of the book, though, when he doesn’t get to be an absolute villain all the time. When he is just being his normal awful self, I did not love the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

greenan26's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Police brutality, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racial slurs, Vomit, and Antisemitism