Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1619 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-24
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Synopsis
In this nightmare vision of a not-too-distant future, fifteen-year-old Alex and his three friends rob, rape, torture and murder - for fun. Alex is jailed for his vicious crimes and the State undertakes to reform him - but how and at what cost?

Customer Reviews

Creative and Disturbing
This is a fantastic and clever book. It follows in the same vein as Orwell's 1984, but takes things that one step further. The book is narrated by the compelling anti-hero Alex. It is written in the language of the gangs of the streets of this dystopian future place, which now is not so very unlike our own society. Alex hates school and rails against authority, hanging out with his gang of thugs in the Corova Milk Bar, taking drugs, raping girls and enjoying nights of bloody mayhem.

An ill-judged robbery goes hideously wrong and Alex is incarcerated in prison, where he becomes the subject of a new social experiment which claims to reprogramme the brain so that violence is no longer an option. Alex takes us through these events and their aftermath in his peculiarly charming and yet repellent words.

Burgess takes on the big themes of social control, anarchy and free will in this fascinating and brilliant book. If you have read the book you will want to see Kubrick's film, which is also brilliant in a completely different way. If you have seen the film prepare to be wowed by the book. Stick with the language, after a while it becomes easy to read as you become immersed into Alex's world and it's well worth the effort.

Couldn't put it down and surprisingly understood it!
This book orginally sat in my boyfriends bathroom for a year because I felt this was going to be a hard book to read. When you look at a page without reading it, what stands out is the large amount of words not in standard english, slang and foreign words. Just glancing in it maybe you'd think this was a foreign language book. However when I had nothing else to read and was 'forced' to read this book, I found it surprisingly easy to read and was delighted by the fact that I didn't have to look in the glossary once.
I loved the way the story panned out, was shocked in a way, that the book was more graphic, more controversial than the film. I also think that one feels more sympathetic to the narrators plight than in the film, I suppose this is uncomfortable for some people.
Uncomfortable or not this is a good book.

Better Than The Film
Like most people I saw the film before I read the book and I am glad that I have viewed both.
The film is a wonderful `work of art` and the book is a modern day masterpiece.
Anthony Burgess painted a picture of modern society 30 years before `youth culture` was invented.
This book compares with Orwells 1984, Bowies `Diamond Dogs` and `Till Death Us Do Part by Garry Jackson.
My biggest wish is a remake of the film.