Book Review: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

Well well well well well... Nachinat...droogies this is one horrorshow book. Splattered all over with red red kruvvy and oozhassny acts like oobivating baboochka, sodding little devotchkas and tolchoking starry lewdies, with a smirk of radosty and a malenky bit of sarky soviet for society, o my brothers.

Thats Nadsat for you - the language of youth in Anthony Burgess's classic, A Clockwork Orange. It was first published in 1962 and since then it has become a cult book among the literary class. When I picked up the book and started reading it, I was only able to read 10-15 pages in few hours, that was because Burgess has invented a new language, Nadsat. Most of the words in Nadsat are derived from Russian and if you don't know Russian it will be very difficult for you to pick up the language. After reading the first 10-15 pages I knew that I needed a dictionary which has the entire vocabulary of Nadsat. I googled and found one on the internet - http://soomka.com/Nadsat.html. It turned out to be a very useful link and after that language was fluid and I finished the book in matter of hours. Its a very well written book and the language is so catchy and cool that after you finish the book, you can not stop yourself from speaking in Nadsat for a while.

The story revolves around Alex, who is also the humble narrator. He is the devil incarnate, he goes around with his gang of friends assaulting, raping and robbing people without any guilt and with all the joy, and thats his nature. He is a teenager who is wild and without direction or control. Society wants otherwise and they want to turn him into a good, mannered boy, but at what cost. Its an individual who has the right to choose between good or bad, its his conscience. It should not be imposed upon him, because doing so may take away his true character. And this true character and unrestrained will, differentiates human life. The writer has brought out this question very well and makes you think about it. The question is - individuals make society or society makes an individual.

The book is also sometimes compared to other dystopian novels like 1984 and brave new world. In my opinion, 1984 by George Orwell is a much deeper book. Orwell has created a much stronger story, his world is also hypothetical and nearly inhuman, but he has touched the subtle emotional aspects in a very humane manner, which I think is lacking in A Clockwork Orange.

A lot of credit for the publicity of the book should go to Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of the book in his 1972 movie by the same name. The movie hits you as much as the book. It is very well directed and visualized. But I guess the story is better told in the book and you can not concentrate on the language if you just watch the movie. Nadsat is the best part and you enjoy it much more while reading. So my brothers, first read the book and then see Alex come alive in Kubrick's - A Clockwork Orange.