Chain Reading

Anthony Burgess’s “A Clockwork Orange” is a masterpiece. It is (by a long shot) the most entertaining, yet difficult book that I have ever read. Everything about this book is perfect. The characters are all life like and they act just as normal people would, but with a little bit more of a sinister twist.

“A Clockwork Orange” is the story of a teenager named Alex that lives in somewhat of a “ghetto” in London in the 90’s. He is only 15 years old, but he still explores the wonderful world of violence, drugs, alcohol, rape, and vandalism.

This book begins with Alex and his friends (which are referred to as “droogs” for the story) are hanging out, about to commit some ultra violence just for the fun of it. You are quickly introduced to the language called “Nadsat” that is used for most (if not all) of the book. After a night of ultra violence, Alex’s world starts to take a turn for the worst.

The one thing about this book that caught my eye was the fact that it wasn’t your typical book, because it was loaded with violence. I thought that this was the best book that I have ever read and everyone I know has said the same thing.

This is one of my favourite novels.

Alex is well characterised and surprisingly, you feel rather sorry for him during his treatment towards the end despite his actions. This is one of the most unique books I've ever read and the invented language makes the book even more colourful. Be warned: it will make you think. Once you reach the end you will be agonising about the ways of the world!

As mentioned in the other reviews, there is a great deal of violence in this novel. Burgess, writing in the 60s, depicted a modernist dystopia in which societal norms have been demolished. Traditional hierarchies have been upended - society is ruled by youth, not age;by violence, not reason; and by pleasure (however perverse), not responsibility.

Alex and his 'droogs' (mates?, homes?) are a violent band of teenage thugs who tyrannize everyone who crosses their path. Within the gang Alex rules because he is more ruthless and more driven than the others. Oddly, he also has a passion for classical music, especially Beethoven.

On one particular evening the gang gains entry to an upper-middle class home, occupied by a psychiatrist and his wife. The gang rape and kill the wife and beat the husband nearly to death. If you've seen Stanley Kubrick's film version of the novel, this is undoubtedly one of the scenes that you associate with this story.

Sadly for Alex, but fortunately for everyone else, he is apprehended by the police because one of his gang members has turned him in, as revenge for an unjust punishment inflicted by Alex. He is sent to a traditional prison, amongst genuinely dangerous criminals.

Shortly thereafter, Alex is approached by the warden, and told that he has the opportunity to be out in 30 days if he will only participate in a little experiment. He quickly agrees. The 'experiment' is a psychological re-conditioning program. He is strapped to a chair and forced to watch ever more horrible scenes of violence. Unbeknownst to him he has also been injected with drugs that will induce nausea. The creator of the program is a psychiatrist - the very psychiatrist whom Alex nearly killed. When the psychiatrist recognizes Alex, he sets out to punish him - to drive him mad. He begins playing Beethoven loudly during the sessions, forcing Alex to associate that music with the pain and sickness that he is experiencing.

One major point of the novel, in my view, is to ask us to consider some of the then-current ideas about punishment and rehabilitation. Though Burgess is a bit sly about it at the end, Alex has been 'rehabilitated' in a very thorough way. But is that justifiable? Even when dealing with a violent criminal, do we have the moral right to take away a person's identity? Isn't that rather equivalent to the death penalty? I think Burgess is asking us to consider Kant's imperative that other individuals may not be used solely for one's own ends.

I think it is unfortunate that it is the lurid violence that has the most staying power with most readers. The violence was a necessary element to allow the issues to be set as starkly and with as much clarity as possible. Burgess bears the entire responsibility for this, of course - he had to have known that the premise would ovewhelm everything else. Nonetheless, it is an outstanding and enduring novel.