I admire the skill of the author writing in the voice of a malevolent teen using nonsensical yet rhythmic slang. The impact of the violence the narrator perpetrates is dulled while you're thinking: wtf is this guy saying? Then after a minute... omg! That's messed up! Despite the interesting philosophical questions it raises, this isn't a book I'd read again.

This is a great version of the book. You are advised to read the prologue... it will greatly enhance your understanding of the book. Also, it includes the final chapter, which apparently was previously edited out of the american version of the book in order to give it a darker ending!

Awful book full of detailed, gory, unspeakable violence. The affected, imagined slang is near indecipherable, the protagonist unrepentant, and the victims without recourse. I only read the book through to the end because I felt that it's subject matter - the reformation of a juvenile delinquent - would be particularly relevant to my scholarship. In fact, the theoretical issues raised within: freedom of choice, liberty v big government, and penal system reform, would all be delightful fodder for a book club, but unfortunately take second fiddle to the violence. If this is a modern classic, hand me some Dickens or Austin any day.

I quite enjoyed this book. I do admit that I saw the movie before I read the book and although Kubrick did the book justice, I enjioyed the book more. I liked how Burgess created the Nadsat language ( A cross of Russian, English, and Cockneye rhyming slang) and I actually found myself quoting Nadsat for a few week after reading this book. An excellent read I beleve

I have been meaning to read this book for a while. As in, I have started reading it multiple times, I have even tried to watch the movie, but I have failed each and every time. You would think that I would take this as a sign to not read the book, but I managed to this time and I am glad that I did. A Clockwork Orange is set in Britain’s near-future. The world has become an awful place, a place where it is no longer safe to set foot outside after dark. You aren’t even safe in your own home anymore. The streets are ruled by teens who terrorize anyone they come across. Nothing is off limits to these guys. This book was actually quite good, and I can see now why it has such a cult following. While there is an extreme amount of violence, I never felt like Burgess was glorifying the violence that he so vividly portrays. Another thing Burgess did extremely well was to invent the Nadsat language. This insured that the book would never become dated by the slang that the main characters use. Through the three parts we follow young Alex and his band of droogs as they terrorize the streets. Eventually, Alex’s droogs turn on him and Alex is captured by the police where he undergoes treatment to stop his violent tendencies. In the UK version, Alex meets one of his old droogs in a tea-shop and realizes that he is not getting any younger and must give up his violent ways. A very happy ending to an otherwise morose book.

Maybe I'm too old for this book...perhaps if I had read it in high school I would have liked it, but now (15-ish years after H.S.) it just makes me roll my eyes. I don't care about these self-involved punks enough to translate the made-up language and understand exactly what they're doing.

A really great book, one of my all time favorites. The language really draws the reader into Alex's world. The story is amazing, and the characters are great.

A great read. Anthony Burgess' slang language is more understandable if you have seen the film first.

One of the few where I thought the film was better than the book.

Worth the read if you don`t mind a few disturbing bits.