Clockwork Orange

[br7598]

I recently bought this book on the recommendation of some coworkers and am preparing to read it.

However I am curious as to why no one has it on their "favorites" lists. I was told it was one of the best books out there right behind "1984". Has anyone read this book? Is it any good. I definately enjoy "1984", A Brave New World", "The Handmaids Tale" and similar negative utopias. How does it rank with them? Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely?

[Starbucks Anarchist]

1. It's an excellent book.

The dialect used in the book may seem off-putting at first, but you'll pick it up eventually.

I'd rank it up there with 1984, etc., especially in regards to negative utopias. Have you seen the movie, by any chance?

Oh, and welcome to DU! :hi:

[rpannier]

2. Most of the words that may be putting off

is Russian.

[Devlzown]

3. I liked the book,

but I think I liked the movie more.

[shenmue]

4. It's brilliant

Difficult and jarring, especially at first, but it presents a very deep panoply of a warped mind. Make sure you get the British version with 21 chapters. The older American printings only have 20. It's a completely different ending.

[JitterbugPerfume]

5. I read this book many years ago

and it was very disturbing and brilliant

time for a re-read

[dipsydoodle]

6. The way in which the language is expressed in the book

needs a great deal of patience to follow. The film makes life easy quite aside from which is was a brilliant film. It was banned from video release for years and then suddenly pooped up on TV here in the UK a couple of years ago as one of a series of banned films. Part of the reason for the ban was that the film conveyed ultra violence and was attributed to increased soccer violence at a time that subject was invariably in the news. Don't actually recall anyone really wearing an eyeball on their cuff but sawn off pants and combat Dr Martins did seem to beocme fashionable for while.

As a side issue it eventually taught organised soccer hooligans to be less conspicuous and they switched to travelling 1st Class by rail ,in ones and twos, to matches and wearing suits as camoflage. Funny thing is that I knew one of them and he was a meek as lamb in everyday life.

[Monkey see Monkey Do]

9. Kubrick banned the film personally

The BBFC passed it uncut as an X-certificate upon release (1971) and it played for about a year. However the good old tabloids started blaming it for inspiring several acts of violence and contributing to moral degenerancy amoungst teenagers. Kubrick allegedly received several death threats against him and his family and withdrew the film, effectively banning it in the UK. After his death, his family permitted its release and it came out for a second time in 2000.

I'll always treasure my late-80s French video though!

[dipsydoodle]

10. I hadn't understood that.

Thanks for the explanation which makes sense.

[Kai]

7. Horrorshow

It is an ingenius and seminal work. I think it was eclipsed in popular culture by Kubrick's film. But to be adapted into a film like that is a measure of the book's cultural significance. I've been re-reading it for years.

[darkmaestro019]

8. Read, own, super hate for the author out of envy, lol.

and if it's not in my list, if I have a list, lol, it's due to my dumb. I'm fairly sure I have it in LJ listy type things.

Expect to have no fucking idea what you are reading till about halfway through when all the slang clicks. Then read it again, and you will be, amazed.


EDIT: There are plenty of Nadsat dictionaries online (the word for the teen slang language used in the book) and that may help you, but if it were me I'd prefer to have that wonderful sense of click....still, if you find you are exhausted by it or it's too off-putting it may help you. Once you learn to look for the context it becomes pretty clear what each word means.

EDIT: I still use "itty" (to go) and "viddy" (to see) in speaking and in writing. They're too eloquent of what they mean for me to let them go. Aphex Twin comes to mind (Come to Viddy, though that may not be where they got that) and Rob Zombie's Red Red Krovvy (blood)....many artists and musicians seem to be very influenced by this book. You'll gain a wealth of understanding cultural references that may have slipped by you before reading the book.

[Jim__]

11. I read it and loved it.

But, I've only read it once. WhenI finished it, I remember thinking that I have to re-read this. I'll put it on my list of books to read.

I really can't compare it to the other books 'til I re-read it. If I remember correctly, my questions at the end of the book dealt with criminal punishment and rehabilitation. But, I think there was more to it than that.

[Democrats_win]

12. The movie is incredible, unforgettable. Compelled me to read book.

The visuals and music in the movie overwhelmed.