Fifteen year old Alex doesn't just like ultra-violence - he also enjoys rape, drugs and Beethoven's Ninth. He and his gang rampage through a dystopian future, hunting for terrible thrills. But when Alex finds himslef at the mercy of the state and subject to the ministrations of dr Brodsky, the government psychologist, he discovers that fun is no longer the order of the day......

RELEASE NOTES:

At Feb meeting

Caught at tonight's meetup

This was a very powerful book, which I loved for the way the language flowed. At first it seemed awkward, but then I got to know the nadsat words, and sensed the meaning without having to use a dictionary (not included in the book, though meanings of some of the most-used are within the introduction. You can download the dictionary here: http://www.totse.com/en/ego/science_fiction/clockorg.html )
Anyway, the way it worked for me was that I didn't have the initial knee-jerk emotional reaction to for example the words 'razrez', meaning to rip, so it was stripped of that. Some of the words sounded so affectionate, like yarbles for testicles and skolliwol, school. Behind that I could see there was a very soft, even likeable, troubled and often confused teenager. His description of going into his bedroom and listening to yes classical music, and his deep appreciation of it, was amazing. (I wonder would our modern day ASBOs have the same appreciation of classical music, or was that a flaw in Burgess' un derstanding of the young of his day or of the future he was writing about? However, Burgess' strong feelings regarding what constitutes good and evil, and bad psychotherapy, were so well presented, and really made me think about my own attitudes. Yes, a bit heavy, though easier to read than you might think, once you conquer the language thing.

To be re-released at the May meetup, or if not perhaps a controlled release via readitswapit.co.uk

RELEASE NOTES:

At the May meetup

Picked up at last month's meet-up. It's taken me this long to register it!

Picked up at the October meet-up, looking forward to reading it