A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Gist
I have known about A Clockwork Orange as long as I can remember. As a literature student ten years ago I meant to read as many popular literary books as I could, but working 20 hours a week, going to school fulltime and being part of the school theatre tech group didn’t leave much spare time.
I am slightly ashamed to say that I still have to read many well-known classics to this day.
So, how did I come about reading A Clockwork Orange? Well, it’s kind of a long story that includes a very tenacious and enthusiastic person bugging the heck out of her Muay Thai coach.
My coach and I take the same subway to and from the gym, for some part of the journey. When I first spotted him on the subway, I was happy to see a familiar face, not thinking that he might want some peace and quiet before having to teach.
I kept making conversation, asking him what he reads in his spare time and he would suggest shows and movies to watch, based on what I have told him.
Fast forward a year and one pandemic lockdown later, I’m still annoying the heck out of him, but he got me thinking about tackling that list of classics I abandoned so long ago.
It’s probably going to be a slow process in the long run, but I thought I would start with the book that happened to be my coach’s favourite.
The Details
I had no problem with the slang the author used. Most of the words seemed kind of familiar to me. I assume because of my German-speaking background and the two years of Latin I took before moving to Canada.
In general, this story made me think of Brave New World. For some reason, I could see A Clockwork Orange as the precursor to a world that resembles that of the one described by Aldous Huxley, written in the 1930’s.
I hated Alex, but I feel that was the point. He is a monster and doesn’t deserve any sympathy whatsoever.
I think the story included a lot of social commentary, yet I feel that’s where it fell short.
Burgess was so talented in creating such an unlikable character. And I mean truly unlikable. I wouldn’t have felt bad, if this character had fallen so far from grace that nothing could save his poor behind. That’s how much I hated him.
And I could see that there were a lot of social issues the author pointed towards. I say pointed, because he never fully went there. He never fully took a stance. He would slightly address a few very important social issues that needed to be addressed. Issues that still need the attention they deserve, and he only scratched the surface, so to speak.
When things got a little too “commentary”, the narration would turn its attention to another social issue until that one also met its limits in the story and the attention focused yet again on something else.
I can also see why the American publisher chose to omit the last chapter, but I see how the story as a whole makes more sense; feels more complete with the 21st chapter included.
The Verdict
Overall, I think A Clockwork Orange is important novel to read, although personally I kept hoping for a stronger stance on the social issues raised in the novel.
It is a relatively quick read, considering the highly individualistic slang used.
I would definitely recommend.
