A Clockwork Orange by Antony Burgess

[hemsbacher]

I would be interested to hear what other people have to say about this novel. Has anyone seen the film by Stanley Kubrik? What do you think?

[Pasha]

Hello hemsbacher,

I read the novel many years ago. In fact I was a teenager at the time (so it was many, many years ago!) and the only reason that I bought was in order to break up a five pound note. I do remember finding it hard going and found myself continually rereading passages in order to keep a hold of the plot, as it were. His use of an alternate vocabulary is at first confusing. There is a Glossary of Nadsat Language in the back of the book and during the first couple of chapters I had to keep flipping back to the Glossary. On reflection I think it does add to his creative style of writing, providing an immediacy to the alternate reality of the book in the same way Newspeak does in 1984.

This novel poses several very posing questions. I found the Gaol Chaplain's view especially interesting. "It may be horrible to be good." Is it better to choose to be bad or to be forced to be good? Being good, or in this case, not doing bad things, doesn't make a person good when their inner thoughts are still bad (the heart of a sinner?). The closest Alex gets to being good is not when he is physically kept from committing violent crimes but when he realizes, through his own reasoning, that there is more to life than violence and crime.

Despite the linguistic play, the black humour is as plain as the ink on the page, and very striking. It kept me hooked for from cover to cover. Be advised the early US editions (which I think the film was based on) were minus the last chapter. My UK edition had a nice forward by the Anthony Burgess and he explains why the last chapter brings a whole new interpretation to the book. The film and the US book end afterv the twentieth chapter and before Alex's (the main character) moral evolution.

Definitely recommend it mate. Enjoy the read.

Pasha

[hemsbacher]

Hey Pasha
I studied A Clockwork Orange for my English A levels and found it a throughly enjoyable read.

The Nadsat language was a fantastic way to tone down the violence and sex going on in the novel. It doesn't seem quite as harsh, descriptive and "in your face" this way. We had to study the way the language was used, if I remember correctly.

And yes, it does indeed bring up some interesting morals, mostly about choice. To what extent can people change? And how? I think the book covers this topic well. Is it society's fault that Alex is the way he is? Or is Alex himself pure evil?

Pasha, I'd be interested to see what you think about the last chapter of the novel being chopped off in the American versions. Better with or without? I think the final chapter is needed to complete the structure and context of the book. There are 3 sections each holding 7 chapters, so therefore making 21 which is how Burgess defines the age of maturity.

And in comparison with the film, what do you think?

:Fade-color

[Mince]

The big guy who helped the dude in the wheelchair (in the film); he played Darth Vader, didn't he? Wore the outfit, I mean. That's my contribution to erudition!

[hemsbacher]

The big guy who helped the dude in the wheelchair (in the film); he played Darth Vader, didn't he? Wore the outfit, I mean. That's my contribution to erudition!

Hehe! I don't know, was he? That's your job Mr Mince, go and find out using the power of search engines!

[Mince]

And lo, Google spake verily that David Prowse (a.k.a. Mr D. Vader) did indeed star as Frank Alexander's bodyguard in 'The Clockwork Orange'. And the crowd goes wild for another priceless nugget of knowledge!

Darth Mince
Dark side or the good - I can't decide!

[Pasha]

Dark side or the good - I can't decide!

Mince, close your eyes and use the force.

Hemsbacher, while the book does stand up without the final chapter it's incomplete it chops the legs from under Burgess' morality message. So methinks anyway. I can see why Kubrik kept it that way for the film, I guess morality is a hard to thing for cinematographers and ruins another dramatic ending.

I read somewhere that he'd started on the whole criminal-morality road of thought after his pregnant wife was assaulted by four army deserters during the last years of the the Second World War. Personally, I believe that there are as many reasons for delinquency as there are delinquents and that the 'Nature vs. Nurture' argument is a somewhat redundant one.

Thanks for the starting this thread by the way, it's been refreshing. I am surprised that they teach this book in school now.
Regards

Pasha

[hemsbacher]

I read somewhere that he'd started on the whole criminal-morality road of thought after his pregnant wife was assaulted by four army deserters during the last years of the the Second World War. Personally, I believe that there are as many reasons for delinquency as there are delinquents and that the 'Nature vs. Nurture' argument is a somewhat redundant one.

That's right, I have heard that. Our teacher told us when we were doing the course. And I am sure there are many other reasons for the meaning of the book. And you have quoted one of them quite well

I thought the film was good, but didn't do the book justice. It missed out some vital parts of the novel which are there to structure it and give it content.

Thanks for the starting this thread by the way, it's been refreshing. I am surprised that they teach this book in school now.

I was also suprised! When I told my nan what book I was studying for English, she was very suprised. But it was certainly a very interesting novel to read, discover and analyse.