'''''A Clockwork Orange''''' is a dystopian novel by Anthony Burgess, published in 1962 and later the basis for the 1971 film by Stanley Kubrick.
It is one of Burgess's 'terminal novels', written to provide posthumous income for his wife after Burgess was allegedly diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
Plot introduction
Explanation of the novel's title
Burgess wrote that the title was a reference to an alleged old Cockney expression 'as queer as a clockwork orange'. ¹ Due to his time serving in the British Colonial Office in Malaya, Burgess thought that the phrase could be used punningly to refer to a mechanically responsive (clockwork) human (orang, Malay for 'person'). Burgess wrote in his later introduction, ''A Clockwork Orange Resucked'', that a creature who can only perform good or evil is 'a clockwork orange—meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice, but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil or (since this is increasingly replacing both) the Almighty State'. The Italian title, ''Un'Arancia Ad Orologeria'', was interpreted to refer to a grenade.In his essay "Clockwork Oranges"², Burgess asserts that 'this title would be appropriate for a story about the application of Pavlovian, or mechanical, laws to an organism which, like a fruit, was capable of colour and sweetness'. This title alludes to the protagonist's negatively conditioned responses to feelings of evil which prevent the exercise of his free will.
Plot summary
Alex's world
Set in the near future, the book tells the story of the life of its fifteen-year-old protagonist Alex who, along with his gang, roams the streets at night, committing crimes purely for enjoyment. The crimes described in the book increase in severity from assault, to robbery, to arson, to a fight with rival gang, to a break-in at the house of F.D. Alexander, where they gang rape his wife. <!--- is this sequence right?--> The gang return to a bar where Alex hits one of his gang members, Dim, as punishment for Dim's rude behaviour towards a woman who was singing a bit of opera (classical music being Alex's other passion, apart from violence; his favorite composer is Beethoven, whom he calls Ludwig Van). This sparks off a tense moment between the two gang members, setting the stage for a confrontation.The next day, after fighting Dim and George to re-establish his control of the gang, Alex agrees on George's suggestion to rob a house in a rich part of town. Alex tries to persuade the woman living in the house to open the door. The woman refuses and calls the police as a precaution. He gains access to the house through a window, but is confronted by the defiant woman, who defends herself with unexpected strength. As he reaches for a bust of Beethoven, she scratches his face, but he manages to knock her out with a silver statue of a ballerina which he had previously taken. He attempts to make an escape when he hears the police arrive, but his so-called friends betray him and Dim strikes him just as he exits the house, leaving him dazed until he is arrested. At the police station, we learn that the woman has died.
The Ludovico technique
Sentenced to fourteen years for murder, Alex gets a job as an assistant to the prison chaplain. He feigns interest in religion, but amuses himself by reading the Bible for its lurid descriptions of "the old yehoodies tolchocking (beating) each other", and imagines himself taking part in "the nailing-in". Alex hears about an experimental rehabilitation programme called 'the Ludovico technique', which promises that the prisoner will be released upon completion of the two week treatment, and will not commit crimes afterwards. Partially by virtue of taking part in the fatal beating of a cellmate, Alex manages to become the subject in the first full-scale trial of the Ludovico technique. The technique itself is a form of aversion therapy, in which Alex is given a drug that induces extreme nausea while being forced to watch graphically violent films. At the end of the treatment, Alex is unable to carry out or even contemplate violent acts without crippling nausea.After prison
Alex gets his release, but upon returning home he finds that he is not welcome: his personal belongings have been confiscated and his parents have taken in a lodger. Dejected, Alex contemplates suicide and visits the public library in order to discover what sort of poison he might take to end his life. There he is spotted by one of his former victims, who, accompanied by his friends, exacts his revenge. Alex is unable to strike back and the police are alerted. The police arrive, but they turn out to be his old cohort Dim, as well as Billy Boy, the former leader of a rival gang. They take Alex, beat him up, and dump him by the side of a road out in the country.Alex stumbles to the nearest house for help, which turns out to be that of F.D. Alexander, whose wife Alex had raped and beaten earlier in the book. At first Alex is not recognized as he had always worn a mask. The reader discovers that F.D. Alexander's wife has died from her injuries. F.D. Alexander recognizes Alex from the newspaper reports surrounding the Ludovico technique, as well as some comments Alex makes; he alerts some friends of his who are interested in proving that such government-sanctioned conditioning should not be supported. Seeking a reaction that will validate their opinions, they lock Alex in a room and play the fictitious "Symphony Number Three Of The Danish Veck Otto Skadelig" at full volume. The piece is loud, violent, and emotional, and as such it produces the same nauseating effects on him as did the films he was forced to watch during his rehabilitation. Unable to stand the pain, Alex throws himself out of the window to try to kill himself. He survives the fall with broken bones and wakes up in hospital, informed that his tormentors have been arrested and the Ludovico treatment reversed. This is the point at which the U.S. edition of the book ended, implying that Alex would return to his ways of violent delinquency.
The actual final chapter begins identically to the first — Alex has formed a new gang and reverted to his previous criminality. On this particular night, however, he decides not to join them and goes for a walk on his own instead. He confesses that lately he has been finding the whole lifestyle tiresome, and has even (of all things) begun experiencing latent parenting urges. In a café, he bumps into the last of his old gang members, Pete. To Alex's astonishment, Pete is now married and has become a respectable member of society. After conversing with Pete and his wife, Alex has an epiphany, renouncing violence on the one hand, but on the other concluding that his behaviour was an unavoidable part of youth, and that if he had a son, he would not be able to stop him from doing what he himself did.
Differences in the American Publication
Although the book is divided into three parts, each containing seven chapters (21 being a symbolic reference to the British age of majority at the time the book was written), the 21st chapter was omitted from the versions published in the United States until recently. The film adaptation, which was directed by Stanley Kubrick, follows the American version of the book, ending prior to the events of the 21st chapter. Kubrick claimed that he had not read the original version until he had virtually finished the screenplay, but that he certainly never gave any serious consideration to using it.Literary significance and criticism
(Analysis)The book, narrated by Alex, contains many words in a slang dialect which Burgess invented for the book, called Nadsat. It is a mix of modified Russian words, Cockney rhyming slang and words invented by Burgess himself. It serves two functions: first, Burgess, while wanting to provide his young characters with their own register, did not want to use contemporary slang, fearing that this would 'date' the book too much. Second, the novel graphically describes horrific scenes of violence, which would be shocking even by today's standards, so Nadsat is used as a 'linguistic veil' to distance the reader from the action on the page.
Allusions/references from other works
Both the story and individual elements have had a strong influence on popular culture, in general and popular music in particular.Awards and nominations
*1983 - Prometheus Award (Preliminary Nominee)*1999 - Prometheus Award (Nomination)
*2002 - Prometheus Award (Nomination)
*2003 - Prometheus Award (Nomination)
*2006 - Prometheus Award (Nomination)http://www.lfs.org/hof_nominees.htm
Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
* Excerpts from the first two chapters of the novel were dramatised and broadcast on BBC TV's programme ''Tonight'', 1962 (now lost, believed wiped)* ''1971 film'' by Stanley Kubrick.
Trivia
* The allegedly Cockney phrase 'a clockwork orange' is totally unknown to history: the first recorded use of it is Burgess's title. Quoted in an article in ''Rolling Stone'', Burgess claimed to have first heard the expression 'from a very old Cockney in 1945'. The 1967 novel ''The Owl Service'' by Alan Garner has the phrase used by a Welsh boy as if it were common slang.*Burgess claimed that he had typed the title ''A Clockwork Orange'', and then sat down to think of a story to go with it. One early idea apparently involved a strike or riot among apprentices under Elizabeth I.
*This was one of Burgess's least favourite of the books he wrote, and he thought it was over-rated.
*Because, in ''A Clockwork Orange,'' the author F.D. Alexander wrote a book entitled ''A Clockwork Orange'' and it is his wife who is attacked by the droogs, it seems likely Burgess directly inserted some of his own feelings and characteristics into the novel in the form of this character.
*The novel is broken into three parts, each with seven chapters, said to be a reference to Shakespeare's seven ages of man (one theme of the book is maturity/aging)
*The book was partly inspired by an event in 1943, when Burgess's pregnant wife Lynne was robbed and beaten by four U.S. GI deserters in a London street, suffering a miscarriage which further resulted in chronic gynaecological problems³. According to Burgess, writing the novel was both a catharsis and an 'act of charity' towards his wife's attackers - the story is narrated by, and essentially sympathetic to, one of the attackers, rather than their victim. Alex's age at the end of the novel is the same age that the Burgesses' miscarried child would have been at the date of publication, had the child survived the attack on Lynne.
*The last name of the fictitious Danish composer Otto Skadelig in the 20th chapter means "damaging".
*The Ludovico Technique was named for the Latin form of Ludwig, as in Ludwig Van Beethoven
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*Thrash metal band Sepultura had an idea to make a concept album about ''A Clockwork Orange''. for release in 2006. The idea was scrapped in favour of an album based on Dante Aligheri's ''The Divine Comedy''.
*The German band Die Toten Hosen did make a concept album about ''A Clockwork Orange''. entitled ''Ein Kleines Bisschen Horrorschau'' (A Little Bit Of Horrorshow); it was released in 1988. "Hier Kommt Alex" ("Here Comes Alex"), the first song on the album, is one of their most well-known songs and based on the protagonist of the novel.
*Argentinian punk band Los Violadores made its hit song "1, 2, Ultraviolento" ("1,2, Ultraviolent") which is written mostly in nadsat. See Argentine punk for more reference.
*The Rob Zombie song "Never Gonna Stop" is about ''A Clockwork Orange''.
*The Japanese band Dir en Grey has made a song called 'Marmalade Chainsaw' (of the album called Vulgar), that is related with this book, the song was written by Kyo (DEG's vocal) and on an interview Kyo have said that on the stage he felt like Alex of 'Clockwork orange'.
*The Netherlands national football team is popularly known as ''The Clockwork Orange'' since the 1970s, thanks to its incredibly accurate passing and their orange uniform.
*Ned's Declassified School Survival guide has a reference to this novel/film. When Ned is getting help on saying 'no,' a person puts him through a subliminal message session like in the novel/film.
*The animated sketch comedy show Robot Chicken is thought to have taken its video-brainwashing theme from Burgess' novel.
*The Tin Star song, "Raincheck" from the album, "The Thrill Kisser" references "A Clockwork Orange" with the lyric "When the orange is fully wound."
*The band Dream Theater has opened many concerts during the Octavarium tour with the theme from "A Clockwork Orange." --->
Release details
*1962, UK, William Heinemann (ISBN ?), Pub date ? December 1962, Hardcover*1962, US, W W Norton & Co Ltd (ISBN ?), Pub date ? ? 1962, Hardcover
*1963, US, W W Norton & Co Ltd (ISBN ?), Pub date ? ? 1963, Paperback
*1965, US, Ballantine Books (ISBN ?), Pub date ? ? 1965, Paperback
*1969, US, Ballantine Books (ISBN ?), Pub date ? ? 1969, Paperback
*1971, US, Ballantine Books (ISBN 0345026241), Pub date ? ? 1971, Paperback
*1972, UK, Lorrimer, (ISBN 0856470198), Pub date 11 September 1972, Hardcover
*1973, UK, Penguin Books Ltd (ISBN 0140032193), Pub date 25 January 1973, Paperback
*1977, US, Ballantine Books (ISBN 0345273214), Pub date 12 September 1977, Paperback
*1979, US, Ballantine Books (ISBN 0345314832), Pub date ? ? 1979, Paperback
*1983, US, Ballantine Books (ISBN 0345314832), Pub date 12 July 1983, Unbound
*1986, US, W. W. Norton & Company (ISBN 0393312836), Pub date ? November 1986, Paperback
*1987, UK, W W Norton & Co Ltd (ISBN 0393024393), Pub date ? July 1987, Hardcover
*1988, US, Ballantine Books (ISBN 0345354435), Pub date ? March 1988, Paperback
*1995, UK, W W Norton & Co Ltd (ISBN 0393312836), Pub date ? June 1995, Paperback
*1996, UK, Penguin Books Ltd (ISBN 0140188827), Pub date 25 April 1996, Paperback
*1996, UK, HarperAudio (ISBN 0694517526), Pub date ? September 1996, Audio Cassette
*1997, UK, Heyne Verlag (ISBN 3453130790), Pub date 31 January 1997, Paperback
*1998, UK, Penguin Books Ltd (ISBN 014027409X), Pub date 3 September 1998, Paperback
*1999, UK, Rebound by Sagebrush (ISBN 0808581945), Pub date ? October 1999, Library Binding
*2000, UK, Penguin Books Ltd (ISBN 0141182601), Pub date 24 February 2000, Paperback
*2000, UK, Penguin Books Ltd (ISBN 0140291059), Pub date 2 March 2000, Paperback
*2000, UK, Turtleback Books (ISBN 060619472X), Pub date ? November 2000, Hardback
*2001, UK, Penguin Books Ltd (ISBN 0141008555), Pub date 27 September 2001, Paperback
*2002, UK, Thorndike Press (ISBN 0786246448), Pub date ? October 2002, Hardback
*2005, UK, Buccaneer Books (ISBN 1568495110), Pub date 29 January 2005, Library Binding
See also
* ''A Clockwork Orange (film)''* Aestheticization of violence
* Nadsat, a fictional slang used in the book
* Dystopia
Sources, references, external links, quotations
* Prometheus Hall Of Fame Nominees* A Prophetic and Violent Masterpiece, a City Journal article.
* ''A Clockwork Orange: A Play With music''. Century Hutchinson Ltd. (1987). — An extract is quoted on several web sites: http://pers-www.wlv.ac.uk/~fa1871/burgess.html, http://pages.eidosnet.co.uk/johnnymoped/aclockworktestament/aclockworktestament_anthonyburgessonaclockworkorange_page2.html, http://kubricks0.tripod.com/burgesam.htm.
* Burgess, Anthony (1978). Clockwork Oranges. In ''1985''. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0091360803 (extracts quoted here)
* Vidal, Gore. "Why I Am Eight Years Younger Than Anthony Burgess," in ''At Home: Essays, 1982-1988'', p. 411. New York: Random House, 1988. ISBN 0394570200.
* Comparison of Book and Film
