I have been meaning to read this novel for a long time now.I knew that the book received great criticism when it was originally published in the 1960s.Many audiences found it ultra violent and very scatological.Back in the 1960s when it was released it was a completely different time to where we are now.Our values and our culture has changed considerably since then.At the time, the book was very outrageous because it talked of rape, gang culture,sinister government intervention, and yobs in disguise of the police. People back in the swinging sixties could not comprehend and absorb this book.It was ahead of its time, in talking about theses problems that society faces.Although, many of the problems in the book were present in the swinging sixties, it was very much less apparent and often hidden away from the mass audiences.When sinister stories did appear they received great outrage from the general public, an example, of this is Moor Murderers.People could not imagine that something so evil could happen.
It is quite fitting that I read this book at this time, because in our present cities many of the problems illustrated in the book are present today.Burgess study of violence and human choice is very relevant today as society's morality and ethics continue to be on the decline.Does anyone feel comfortable when they walk down the city centre at night ?
I certainly don't and I know many feel the same way.Just look at the gun culture in London.Even, in the United Kingdom so many young lives are wasted each year. For instance, Rhys Jones the young school kid who was brutality shot down while walking to his home from football practice aged 11. His murderer was suppose to shoot a member of a rival gang but missed his target and shot Rhys. Who was caught in the line of fire. (Many God grant Rhys Paradise and eternal peace).In the sixties, there was gangs, but it was less in the public domain.Now days, it is so easy for children to get guns and follow the wrong path.I think the blame should be on the media too, because of the way they make gang culture appear so pleasant and fun. I am sure young people ask themselves, why bother to study and work so hard to get lots of money, when you can get more money and instant respect from the streets for so little ?
This is a question that is going through the mind of youngsters today.A very recent movie about football hooligans is Green Street.This is a very interesting movie because it shatters the common notion that football hooligans are government dependants living on the dole but in reality they can professionals working in the highest levels of industry.It also shows how the gang culture offers a kind of security this appeals and attracts children.Its like they have joined something that is very special and only they can understand.However, we know the reality is very different.
The book tells a story the early life of Alex, a cocky, intelligent school boy thug and his relationship with his gang and "droogs" Pete, Georgie and Dim.The gang operate on a unknown city after school at night causing mayhem to anyone they choose, be it old women, couples or passersby.The book is very unusual because it is written in Anglo-Russian slang called Nadat.This makes it very difficult to understand by at the same makes it interesting.The more you read the book , the more your imagination runs wild , you can imagine it happening in the streets of Moscow or in the eastern European countries, or in London.
Alex and his droogs always start the evening in the Korova Milk Bar, and a spurred on to perform violence after having the drug spike milk.They beat up innocent pedestrians passing by and perform vicious fights with a rival gang of school kids called Billyboys. However, Alex's life takes a turn for the worst when the gang breaks into a writers home called Frank Alexander. The vicious kids ruined Mr Alexanders work called "A Clockwork Orange" thereby reducing the writer to nothing. They beat him up savagely and disgustingly gang-rape his wife.Thereafter, still not satisfied with their nights work, the school kids decide to break into an old women's home in a distinguished area of the city.This is where Alex's life dramatically changes and the book's story develops.
Alex who is the leader of his group is betrayed by his brother droogs and arrested by the police. What Alex does not know is that while breaking in to the old women's home and beating her she unexpectedly she dies.Now Alex who is known to the police as a thug is arrested and sent down for murder and robbery at the mere age of 15.While in prison, Alex lives a life a deception by pretending to take up religion to reform him self and reduce his years and learns the sciences of criminality.From sucking up, unexpectedly Alex is nominated for the new Ludovico Technique aversion therapy, designed by wacky psychologists.This unusual technique works and Alex criminal tendices are completely washed away leaving him as a unthinking zombie.
The Ludovic treament is a government strategy where young juveniles are given nausea-inducing drugs and forced to watch violent scenes.After this treatment every time he tries or even thinks of committing a wrong he is suddenly engrossed in intense sickness.Alex can no longer listen to his majestic Beethoven, as the music accompanied the violent videos.The story shows that every bad action you undergo to others will come round to haunt you.When Alex is released he is attacked in numerous ways by his former victims.He tragically meets the author whose wife he raped previously, he comes to an understanding and faces reality. He learns about what has happened to his droogs who betrayed him and what their lives how become.
After these experiences, surprisingly, he still decides to start a new gang where he is the supreme leader.However, when one night he suddenly realises how dumb and stupid his life is and decides to start a ew.Great book, great story yet not so greatly written.
