A Clockwork Orange

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393312836 ISBN 13: 9780393312836

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 1995

Great Music, it said, and Great Poetry would like quieten Modern Youth down and make Modern Youth more Civilized. Civilized my syphilised yarbles.

A vicious fifteen-year-old droog is the central character of this 1963 classic. In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex to "redeem" him, the novel asks, "At what cost?" This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition and Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked."

About the Author:

Anthony Burgess (1917–1993) is the author of many works, including The Wanting Seed, Nothing Like the Sun, and Re Joyce. A Clockwork Orange is one of the "100 best novels" of both Time magazine and Modern Library and is on David Bowie's Book List.

From AudioFile:

Anthony Burgess's 1963 novel was published with a glossary of the dystopian language used by Alex, the brutal teenage narrator. The quality of Tom Hollander's performance, however, renders such help unnecessary. Hollander's vocal suggestiveness, grasp of tone, and overall emotional resonance with the novel give listeners amazing clarity (especially if, like this reviewer, they've previously read the book relying on the glossary). You listen to Alex's adventures, amazed at the clarity Hollander gives to such a verbally ambitious work. This recording also includes the last chapter of the novel (not published in the first American edition), Burgess's later introduction to the book, and, from the Caedmon archives, Burgess himself reading excerpts. A rich, exceptional package. G.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2008 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine