Alex is a teenager who acts like a character in a violent video game; he rapes and kills, ransacks and steals -- all for fun. One night, the police catch Alex and lock him up for murder. The standard sentence for this crime is 14 years; however, Alex has heard about a way to shorten it -- a new correctional program. In treatment, he is forced to watch violent films and receive injections, both of which hyper-sensitize him against violence. After he is "cured", Alex is released back into society. However, he has now grown up and realizes that his old ways were childish and he plans to abandon them.
I can only describe this book in one word: unpleasant. The descriptions of murder, rape, and torture are very brutal. Still, Burgess is an incredible author whose writing style displays virtuosity and originality.
This book is a difficult read. It's not the plot, it's the gibberish. Many words in the book are made up, comprising an original language shared by the protagonist teenagers. It's a read that requires a lot, if not all, of your attention.
A Clockwork Orange is like the strange love child of Nineteen Eighty-Four and The Catcher in the Rye (both previously reviewed here). The government disapproves of Alex's desires to participate in unlawful activities and they set out to cure him. In Nineteen Eighty-Four, the government disapproves of Winston's contrary beliefs and sets out to reeducate him. Holden Caulfield (of Catcher) and Alex both grow from their youthful selves to more mature almost adults.
I rate this book four out of five stars because I really like the message about there being a time to grow up. I dropped one star because the invented language can be hard to comprehend.
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