Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

36 reviews

author_d_r_oestreicher's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

5.0

  

Brave New World, Animal Farm, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Lord of the Flies, … and then came A Clockwork Orange. How did I miss A Clockwork Orange? …the story of Alex, aka Your Humble Narrator, told in three acts. First, his life as a fifteen-year-old “ultra-violent” teen. Next his time in prison, subjected to behavioralist experiments to rid him of his violent behaviors. Finally, his life after prison. Two things mark this book, the ultra-violence and “nadsat” slang. The slang is pervasive and slows down the reading. However, the slang softens the violence. When the teens tolchock someone, it doesn’t have the same emotional impact as the English equivalent. A one-of-a-kind classic. 

For my extended notes: https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2024/08/a-clockwork-orange-by-anthony-burgess.html 

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for Omega Cats Press books and book recommendations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Murder, and War

pinkfloydtwisted's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Murder, and Toxic friendship

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

deathmetalheron's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

If I were more clever + had more time I'd write this in Nadsat, but I'm not and I don't.

A Clockwork Orange is brilliant to say the least, and I think a firm example of where the book is just so clearly a superior format for the storytelling than the film will ever be. Narration in films is often a crutch, but in books it's one of the best tools for establishing character and tone of your story. Alex, the protagonist of the story, is so clearly in his own head that he cannot and will not divulge the details of his misgivings and his deeds. He is clearly a bad person and does horrible things but ultimately the narration is so supremely done because it distances the viewer from these actions--there is no voyeurism here, Alex is evil but so clearly inhuman that I found myself able to read about disgusting or awful occurrences with virtually no misgivings. It's an incredible feat to have been pulled off by Burgess to weave into the text such obtuse vocabulary to build Nadsat, not to mention it was done in three weeks.

Beyond the narration, the commentary being society's obsession with "rooting out" evil and social distortion while at the same time CAUSING said distortion is very palpable. Alex is certainly an evil figure but by the time the story has finished Alex's story feels tragic, but not in a sad way due to the fact it's Alex. ACO sort of feels like a litmus test for authoritarian punishment--do you wish a fate worse than death on the biggest dregs of society?

And it's the final chapter that throws me for a loop and prevents me from going 5/5. On the one hand,

yes, the fact it's so quick and is effectively another story plot line feels very rushed. To be fair I completely sympathize with the American publisher's instinct to get rid of it. At the same time, isn't it incredible how ultimately society's perceived social issues are solved not with intervention but with time? Alex's instincts towards criminal acts disappear the older he gets--while the crimes he commits are heinous, it didn't take the Ludovico technique to fix him--just time. Perhaps the real conspirator of societal evil is not the individual that commits the crime, but the society that enables the method of evil?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Rape, and Violence

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark reflective tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Confinement, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Genocide, Sexual content, Alcohol, and War

Minor: Cancer and Antisemitism

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

justmaria's review against another edition

challenging dark tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

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

krosrightboob's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

If you can get past the made up goloss (slang) which gets easier the further in you get, this book is an absolute literary masterpiece. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Police brutality, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment

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