A clockwork orange
Author: Anthony Burgess
Year of publication: 1962
Plot summary: In a futuristic city, troublemaker Alex is captured after an abuse gets out of hand. In prison he is used as a test subject for a new method of rehabilitating criminals, and he is completely changed. When he returns, things aren't as they used to be, and Alex reevaluates his life.
After reading the first page, I admit that I felt it would be impossible to read the book, as I understood nothing of nadsat, the language created by Burgess (rassoodocks? peet? vesches? tolchock?) but as I saw the words in different contexts, I started to understand what they meant, and after reading the entire book, I still thought in nadsat for weeks after. Apart from the very original language, "A Clockwork Orange" moralises plenty enogh to last two books; most prominent among these is the issue of choice. Are we really good if we are not good by choice? Are we still human if choice is taken from us? Those are the questions discussed the most, symbolized by the clockwork orange.
Year of publication: 1962
Plot summary: In a futuristic city, troublemaker Alex is captured after an abuse gets out of hand. In prison he is used as a test subject for a new method of rehabilitating criminals, and he is completely changed. When he returns, things aren't as they used to be, and Alex reevaluates his life.
After reading the first page, I admit that I felt it would be impossible to read the book, as I understood nothing of nadsat, the language created by Burgess (rassoodocks? peet? vesches? tolchock?) but as I saw the words in different contexts, I started to understand what they meant, and after reading the entire book, I still thought in nadsat for weeks after. Apart from the very original language, "A Clockwork Orange" moralises plenty enogh to last two books; most prominent among these is the issue of choice. Are we really good if we are not good by choice? Are we still human if choice is taken from us? Those are the questions discussed the most, symbolized by the clockwork orange.