Reviews of A Clockwork Orange (Norton Paperback Fiction)

A Clockwork Orange

Posted : 3 months, 3 weeks ago on 11 September 2009 04:17 (A review of A Clockwork Orange (Norton Paperback Fiction))

I loved every minute of A Clockwork Orange. For any writer to take on the daunting challenge of creating an entirely new jargon and making it work and be understood within their novel is a Herculean task. Burgess succeeded so effortlessly that this remains the best example of that task. The droog speak is disarming during the first chapter, but by the second or third you’re immersed and understand it very smoothly.

I also loved the ambiguities of the novel – how much of his transformation is from within and how much of it is from the brainwashing? Was he that bad by nature or a lack of nurture? A combination of both? Is a world where goodness is forced better than a world where being bad is optional? These questions are never answered, and are left for your imagination. I am still wondering about them. I don’t think I’ll ever completely decide, but I loved the mental gymnastics that was required.

A Clockwork Orange is also a great example of one of my favorite literary devices: the first-person narration. I love to read a novel told completely from the point-of-view of one person, and the more in control the author is of that voice the more I enjoy the work. And Burgess is a master of control. I thought Salinger’s work in Catcher in the Rye was impressive, but A Clockwork Orange is on a whole different level, a better level.

My dear little droogs, you should read this novel. It won’t disappoint you, I promise. It’s a horrorshow novel about nature versus nurture, with some sex and violence thrown in for fun. Who can’t enjoy that?

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