Why did I love this book?
This was the first book for me that framed violent street culture inside a dystopian context. Burgess broke the rules. An intelligent writer didn’t have to be some egghead nerd. This was enlightening for me, because throughout my life I’ve had experiences with people who were gang-affiliated. Burgess inspired me to embrace violence and antisocial elements in my storytelling.
15 authors picked A Clockwork Orange as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
In Anthony Burgess's influential nightmare vision of the future, where the criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, a teen who talks in a fantastically inventive slang that evocatively renders his and his friends' intense reaction against their society. Dazzling and transgressive, A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil and the meaning of human freedom. This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition, and Burgess's introduction, "A Clockwork Orange Resucked."