A Clockwork Orange
by Anthony Burgess · first published 1962
31% recommend68% neutral1% critical
Why HN recommends it
Dystopian novel about a violent youth, told in an invented slang (Nadsat) that is tough for a few pages but rewarding. Valued for its inventive language and its questions about free will and forced morality.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian satirical black comedy novel by English writer Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. It is set in a near-future society that has a youth subculture of extreme violence. The teenage protagonist, Alex, narrates his violent exploits and his experiences with state authorities intent on reforming him. The book is partially written in a Russian-influenced argot called "Nadsat", which takes its name from the Russian suffix that is equivalent to '-teen' in English. According to Burgess, it was a jeu d'esprit written in just three weeks. In 2005, A Clockwork Orange wa
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He didn't want to be a clockwork orange. He preserved his own ability to choose, but then when he chose, he chose poorly. YPTFPSD: Read the book by Anthony Burgess. The exposition character explains the ethics of choice in the context of…
on “Australian uses snack bags as Faraday cage to block tracking by employer” ↗…could go on and on about how much I love this book. I've read the Lord of the Rings 3 - 4 times, which I feel is a lot for a pretty thick series. Lord of the Flies: 3 - 4 reads 1984: 3 - 4 reads A Clockwork Orange: 3 reads Brave New World: 4 reads I really like dystopian fiction I guess.
on “Ask HN: Which book have you re-read the most times? how many times?” ↗Ever used a vending machine? Did it take your photo before dispensing your purchase? If not, congratulations; you enjoyed a completely legal, completely anonymous transaction. If you have never read A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, it is a 20-minutes-from-now sci-fi story that briefly explored the consequences involved in making people physically unable to break the law. Go ahead and read it. It's considered…
on “Zerocoin startup revives the dream of truly anonymous money” ↗When I read "A Clockwork Orange" by Anthony Burgess, I found myself using many words from the slang language he invented, an amalgamation of Russian and English. (The slang language got minimal treatment in the film, you'll have to…
on “'The Wake' Is an Unlikely Hit in an Imaginary Language (2015)” ↗The logo does indeed look like a reference to the movie, but A Clockwork Orange is originally a book. Highly recommended btw.
on “Viddy: A modern watch command. Time machine and pager etc.” ↗…Parrot Bellow, Saul - Herzog Braine, John - Room At The Top Broyard, Anatole - Kafka Was The Rage Bulgakov, Mikhail - Master And Margarita, The Bulwer-Lytton, Edward - Zanoni Burgess, Anthony - A Clockwork Orange Burgess, Anthony - Earthly Powers Cage, John - Silence: Lectures And Writing Camus, Albert - Stranger, The Capote, Truman - In Cold Blood Carter, Angela - Nights At The Circus Chabon, Michael - Wonder…
on “David Bowie’s Top 100 Books (2013)” ↗A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. There is an invented slang used in the book, which make the first pages difficult, as you have to work out what is being said. But the book is much richer for it.
on “Ask HN: What is the most mind blowing book you've ever read?” ↗…girlfriend and found out I read it completely wrong. To them it's like Animal Farm rather than say Babe. It's still fun for us but I think it's probably very hard for a Westerner to get right. I haven't read Clockwork Orange in a long time and I should. I didn't much like anything else he wrote but CO was awesome fun for a 20-something.
on “David Bowie's list of books he loved in his life” ↗Grendel by John Gardner - The epic of Beowulf from the perspective of the monster. A Clockwork Orange - Dystopian novel following a twisted youth named Alex.
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗The reality is that people LOVE reading articles like this. They love sharing articles like this. Anthony Burgess wrote a wonderful preface to a clockwork orange which I consider inline with this concept in which he wrote: "Unfortunately there is so much original sin in us all that we find evil rather attractive. To devastate is easier and more spectacular than…
on “The Mythology of Work (2018)” ↗…metaphors. As a native english reader, writer and speaker of some six decades I grasp the tension in the use of ' literally "airquoted" ' and embrace it. I also enjoy Riddley Walker, the first edition of Clockwork Orange (sans lexicographic annexure), and the outrageously provocative shock value of the opening sentence of Burgess's panoramic saga Earthly Powers. Your opinion is noted and respected.
on “Lawrence of Arabia, Paul Atreides, and the roots of Frank Herbert's Dune (2021)” ↗…Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Make Your Bed by Admiral William H. McRaven The Man in the Mirror by Patrick Morley For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway The Stranger by Albert Camus A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Catch-22 by Joseph Heller The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand Wild at Heart Revised and Updated by John Eldredge A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison…
on “Show HN: I've compiled a list of the top books for men according to 56 blogs” ↗- Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
on “Ask HN: What's the best book you read in 2021?” ↗Does anyone have an example of a book they love that was turned into a movie or TV series that they also loved? I find it is generally not the case. A Clockwork Orange... the movie was OK, but the book was much much more enjoyable IMHO. Lord of the Rings... I would say I enjoyed the movies a lot. Altered Carbon... I liked the book a bit better, although the writing…
on “Snow Crash: HBO Max adaptation of Neal Stephenson's 1992 cyberpunk novel” ↗…something else. The context switch is a buzzkill. The key to a good audio book, in addition to the book itself being good, is a good reader, so here are some of my current faves with splendid readers: A Clockwork Orange narrated by Tom Hollander; Lincoln in the Bardo, Nick Offerman; Mrs Dalloway, Juliet Stevenson; Lolita, Jeremy Irons; and Milkman, Brid Brennan.
on “Audible and audiobooks, the fastest growing part of publishing” ↗