A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Patron-Only Early Access / Ad-Free)

Wow, what a fantastic review. This book was one of the most impactful literary experiences of my adolescence, and your analysis of its themes was a joy to hear, Cliff. I havent read this book in years at this point, but now i want to revisit it.

Excellent review. Totally freaked out by the concept of Alex as malevolent force speaking through Burgess.

Well, Old Man Gregg wasn’t on my “Better Than Food” bingo card- but I love this community all the more for the call out! 😄

Hey Cliff—this is one of your best reviews, I think. It’s so succinct and sharp and says so much, so accurately, and so efficiently that it’s a thing of beauty. Other characters who seem to hurst out of their author’s control: almost definitely Falstaff, possibly Iago (partial model for Satan), very likely Hamlet himself. Obviously, we have no record of Shakespeare’s views on those gentlemen, but I suspect he knew their worth. A slightly older friend of mine’s father was a Princeton physicist and was friends with Anthony Burgess. My friend has childhood memories of Burgess hanging out at his house in the very late sixties and early seventies. By the way, A Clockwork Orange—great as it is—is not Burgess’s only great book, nor his greatest. I love Nothing Like the Sun and a few others, but I think the real masterpiece is Earthly Powers. Highly recommend.

Howdy, CLS— I think this is one of your best reviews yet. You’ve drilled down into the tectonic plates where this book grinds. I have read it and, of course, seen the film but you brought out the contradictory truths that I found elusive, especially Alex escaping Burgess. Well done, my friend! Rob Cash

This veck, viddying himself looking all horrorshow. Great review though, all jokes aside. I read it years ago because I was too scared to watch the film. I still haven’t seen it. I wonder, now that I think of it, if an edition (novel) with a glossary for the language was ever released. If I were to purchase it again, I’d have to look into it.

Thanks Cliff, great review. Damn I used to have a copy of the restored edition of A Clockwork Orange. Time for a re-purchase of that edition me thinks!