Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - A Clockwork Orange

“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.

Content Warnings

ashlea_harman's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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oophshnartthepde's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.75

Musical Pairing: Orange, Caroline Shaw & Attaca Quartet

Above all else, A Clockwork Orange is a very fascinating read. Though I thought the slang would turn me off the book, by the end it was the primary thing keeping me flipping to the next page. I'd never read a book with that kind of a storytelling devise, and for that I applaud Burgess.

My main critique is in the characters - I thought they were a bit flat, and perhaps intentionally designed that way to portray the stereotypes of Burgess' dystopia. The flatness didn't turn me off of the read, but I think it's a missed opportunity not to explore some interesting character relationships in this world.

But the world itself is fascinating, and scarily plausible. The book as a whole really reminds me of 1984. And it really does a phenomenal job of presenting unanswerable questions to the reader. If you're looking for an engaging, shocking world to dive into as a way to reflect on our own, then I reccomend this book.

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vasicrack's review against another edition

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

4.0

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masihludmila's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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strawberrygrapejelly's review against another edition

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Maybe I should've read this earlier when I was less bogged down by life and less easily turned off.
I understand that this is part of the point, but I just couldn't bring myself to want to know anything more about the MC or his eventual "rehabilitation." I'm not a squeamish person, but I found the depiction of SA... gratuitous. I could not bring myself to give a shit after that. It was a classic that I wanted to get out of the way, but I'll prob read excerpts.
And yeah yeah I'm missing the point whatever idc bro maybe I am missing out on genius but I've read enough classic dystopian novels to get the gist

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pinkfloydtwisted's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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kingspite618's review

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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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