A common phrase used amongst people spending their life in the spotlight is, “there is no such thing as bad press”. In some regards, this is true and quite a clever way to gain fame. The use of obscene language or obnoxious viewpoints to garner attention can make someone’s career skyrocket. That said, controversy is certain to follow you throughout your career as Anthony Burgess expressed in the foreword of A Clockwork Orange. According to the author, he has had multiple critically acclaimed works, yet this novel stood out in a unique way among readers. If you are like me, this novel is your introduction to Anthony Burgess, which makes the foreboding foreword all the more understandable when you read even a fraction of this novel.

At the time of reading this novel, I had never traveled outside of the US, which made the language used by the characters frustrating to understand at first. Upon further research into the book as well as languages from Europe, I discovered the primary language of the book is English with slang words inserted from other languages. For example, “…and then brew a pot of real strong horrorshow chai…”. A sentence like this describes the main character, Alex as he brews a pot of tea that tastes good by using the phrase “horrorshow” which is similar to the Russian word used for “Alright” or “Good”. This inclusion of multiple layered languages was another tactic utilized by the author to garner a large audience of readers as well as to potentially speak languages reminiscent of his childhood. Knowing what lengths the author went to for the purpose of drawing readers to the novel is surprising when we read his regret for the attention this novel garnered. This is a very carefully thought out and well written novel, regardless of how deplorable most of the actions in the book are.

While this world created by the author is certainly difficult to traverse for those with a weak stomach, there is a riveting story in the muck of this novel. If you can tolerate the detestable actions of every character in this book, your reward is a novel that keeps your attention until the very end of the ride. Multiple times, I found myself unable to pry my eyes from the pages, regardless of how graphic and violent things became. A Clockwork Orange is a journey that must be committed to once you begin since it is quite difficult to stop reading until you have reached the end.

Due to the clever use of dialogue, a well-structured storyline, and thought provoking ideas, I rate this book a 7 out of 10. If truly horrific and graphic violence in a well structured format is your style, this novel will provide an excellent experience for you. For further details regarding my rating and critiques on this book, please review the section below which contains spoilers and plot points. I hope you enjoyed the review thus far and thank you.

***SPOILERS***

***TRIGGER WARNING***

To say I was unprepared for the level of violence in this novel would be an understatement. Our earliest introduction to the violence of this book is our gang running into a rival gang as they are attempting to commit sexual assault on a 10 year old girl. The majority of male gang members are between 13 and 17. We learn that this behavior is quite normal in this world as Alex states that he has no interest in stopping them from committing this heinous act to be heroic, but the business he has with this gang cannot wait until later to be settled. If there were any thoughts that Alex was pretending not to care to seem stoic, they are immediately put to rest when Alex buys a record and invites two girls who are trying to seem educated in the ways of music back to his place for lunch. He plays the record in his home and sexually assaults both of them multiple times until the record has finished and he lets them leave. These girls are also only 10 years of age.

Even with a tone of violence being established early, the driving factor for the plot is still shocking to the reader. Alex and his gang steal a sports car and end up at a house outside of town. They then convince the woman at the door to let them into her home where they begin beating her husband and robbing them of food and expensive items. To finish their grand evening, they make the husband watch as they take turns sexually assaulting the wife until she dies from the severe shock of the experience, leaving him barely alive to grieve over his dead wife. Following this particularly heinous act, a government power insists that the city needs to be cleaned up. As a result, Alex, the leader of one of the most violent gangs around is taken to trial where he is condemned to a psychiatric ward. While he believes this will be a much more pleasant stay than an actual prison, he is soon proved wrong when he is subject to hypnosis. Strapped to a chair with eyes pried open, Alex is subjected to multiple images of assault, violence, and depressing images which are then coupled with an indescribable pain in his abdomen. This continues for months as the main character is subjected a forced reform program. Daily he is shown horrid images and beautiful images of picturesque scenery.

Inevitably, Alex manages to escape the facility but he has not fully completed his therapy. When he is found, it is by a man who lives on the outskirts of his hometown. He is taken in and given food and shelter by this extremely nice man. When Alex feels prepared to do so, he ventures out into the city of his only to find that it has changed thoroughly. One of his old gang members has become a cop but is as corrupt as ever. When Alex tries to commit a crime to remind him of the better days of his life, he is unable to act due to this pained feeling in his stomach as a result of the therapy. Faced with a new world that forces him to face the consequences of his actions, Alex is forced to decide who he is going to be after having experienced this treatment in the facility.

The ending of this book is considerably abhorring in my opinion. I won’t spoil that much of the novel, but absolutely everything has a conclusion and it is certainly not pleasant. Afterward though we are only left with a moral dilemma that I was unable to stop thinking about. Whether my review of this book is as far as you go or you read the books 50 times, I wish to leave you with the same question the author left for his readers. Would you rather leave a person as they are regardless of how rotten or force them to change against their own desires? If someone is raised without a conscience and commits evil and heinous acts for the absolute fun of it, would you rather see a government body force them to change and feel remorse for what they have done or see them arrested and set free knowing they are still themselves? The world is certainly more complex than this question makes it seem but bringing myself to this black and white style of thinking made me realize a lot about my own opinions on the subject. Thank you, again for reading my review. Please leave any critiques and potential book recommendations for me in the comments.