A Clockwork Book Review

          In A Clockwork Orange, a novel by Anthony Burgess and published by W.W. Norton & Company in 1962, we get a glimpse into Burgess' dystopian near future version of northern England. The main focus and narrator of the story is a well spoken, cold and calculating teenage thug named Alex. Through Alex's eyes we see this story of youth run amok play out over the course of five years in his young life. The story spans all the way from Alex and his "droogs" (gang) fighting, raping and pillaging to his eventual arrest and very, I'll just say, Unique brand of rehabilitation. That rehabilitation is where the novel poses its true question, can you force someone to be good by taking away their option to be evil?

Alex, courtesy of Stanly Kubrick's 1971 film adaptation

         While Alex may be the star of the story, Burgess' excellent writing is what truly steals the show here. Alex's inner dialog ranges from childish to extremely eloquent all while being laced by the obscure and brilliant slang that Burgess lovingly crafted for the youth of Alex's world. While the entirely invented slang is easily one of my favorite elements of this book, it is also the greatest obstacle to potential readers. You will essentially need to learn somewhere between 50 and 100 new words, all by context, before you will be breezing through pages without stopping to think, for example "Our pockets were full of deng, (money) so there was no real need from the point of view of crasting (stealing) any more pretty polly (also money/coins) to tolchock (punch/beat up) some old veck (older man) in an alley". Now imagine that sentence without my parenthesized definitions and you'll have a fair idea of what reading this book is like.

Rehab....

          The tale that Burgess spins here is, make no mistake about it, very dark. If you are the kind of reader that shies away from violent or generally objectionable material then this book may not be for you. Burgess doesn't give you a classic 'hero' or 'good guy' to root for here. Alex is a rotten and possibly truly evil protagonist whom some readers may find hard to identify with. I would venture to say however that the majority of readers will be fully charmed by Alex by mid-point in the book, I know I was.

          For a novel of only 192 pages, A Clockwork Orange comes across as a fairly dense and slowly paced read mainly due to having to decipher a new language as you go. For those willing to put in the necessary work however, this is a downright excellent read. Burgess is able to blend very serious subject matter with a dash of irony and humor with a masterful touch. Just the fact that Burgess is able to really endear you to such a thuggish protagonist should clue you in to the excellent storytelling that takes place in this novel. If you are the kind of reader who can enjoy a good dark comedy or someone interested in psychological dramas, then I can say beyond the shadow of a doubt, you will find something to like in Burgess' modern day classic. Don't let the language hurdle deter you from taking in what is easily one of the top 50 works of literature from the 20th century.