And so I sit here, struck by literary genius, O my brothers. I must tell you I have indulged in this book perhaps more than any of you, unless you're Russian also. My native language intertwined with this astounding work of brilliant horror, coloring it rich and scary and crazy at the same time, with me imagining it as it was spoken, properly. Brrrrr. I feel like there is the voice of Anthony Burgess in my head, reciting as Alex. I must tell you one more thing, before I go on. I have read the version with the 21st chapter, the very end that's been cut off in the original American publication, but was kept in the British, hence the review might differ from the version that didn't have it. You see, Alex changed, as impossible as it might have seem, he did change in that last 21st chapter, and indeed it changed the story itself. There is hope, after all, for the Alexes of the world. Makes you wonder, doesn't, what kind of decision made it cut from the American version in the first place. But I'm getting carried away into mundane. Now, I must say, this will be the book to re-read and to re-read and to re-read, among such works of genius as Lolita, War and Peace, and the like. I've never read Burgess before, and I plan on indulging more and more in his work in coming years, because, oh well, because the explosion of the beautiful and the appalling, the sophisticated and the primitive strikes such a fine balance, that you feel it, you smell it, you taste it, you hear it, you see it like it's unfolding around you, and you unfold around it, and inside it, and all is in and out and together, and you raise your head from the book to answer that call and you no longer know who you are or why or where. Last time a new writer had such an impact on me it was Haruki Murakami with 1Q84. I can't say wow, because it sounds boring. Let me try. It will deposit fireworks in your brain. It will skin you and pin you with sharp words all real proper. It will put you in a mind of one you don't want to be yet feel for by the end of the book, unsure how it happened. Namely, little Alex.
Little Alex. Little Alex has a proper mum and pop, lives in a proper flat, in a proper block, all good. But it's not enough for little Alex. Little Alex likes to perform a bit of ultra-violence every night with his droogs, but it's just simple bloodletting, oh no. It's more sophisticated than that. Alex has wit, Alex is fond of classical music, Alex adds the disturbing twist to his crimes, and that, only at 15. He does everything there is to try, the beating, the cutting, the raping, the stealing, until one day he stumbles on killing, and that's a slippery slope that leads him to an institution where some very interesting new curing methods are tried on him, and lo and behold, I can't tell you no more as otherwise I will spoil it for you, in case you happened to have been untouched by this story, wether in book or film shape. Anyway. It all turns around, of course, as things do in life. Those who do crimes, pay for their crimes, but who is to judge what is fair? How much do you pay, and when can we stop the punishment? I know there have been horsed of scholars who said smart things about this book and about life and people at large and how it relates, but on my level I can tell you that the coin has always two sides, and we may forever wonder if what the author was trying to say, but I have a feeling that is wasn't simple glorifying of sex and violence, as it might seem. Oh no. It's about "Why?", and about "Why not?" Why do we have violence and those who enjoy it? Because those who do it can tell you, why not? When we're blind as to why we shouldn't, we do it just because we can, don't we? We do until we get caught. That's how we learn. Some earlier, some later. Alex does learn, eventually, but at a cost. Okay, I need to shut up now otherwise this will turn into an essay. Go read it. It will, literally, blow your mind.
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An Overall Classic That Can Be Applied To The World Today
Easily one of the best books around. I got around to it a bit late in life I feel like but better late than never. First and foremost, the main character Alex is the biggest draw in. His attitude of trying to get what he wants by any means necessary regardless of who it hurts is something that makes a unique and interesting protagonist. The language of the book is also very well crafted, pretty sure I'm going to be calling milk "moloko" for the rest of my life now. The way the book speaks on juveniles is fascinating to think about and the way it can apply today years after this book been published. I've met all kinds of kids who were up to the wrong things and how they were handled after they got caught and this book really goes into that. It makes you think, "can people like 'Alex' really be corrected from there ways on immediate apprehension or do they simply grow out of it?" Any book that makes you ask big questions about the world around you is clearly a good read.This book is very "adult" and I can't recommend it to anyone that is too young. I would say maybe high school age is the youngest someone should read it.Bought both the Hardcover and Paperback editions. Really like the hardcover because it looks exactly like the original version that was published when the book first came out. Paperback is fine but the material is very thin and slippery. So point being, it's an easy tear if you're not too careful.
Top reviews from other countries
Elaine Sayle
Not for the faint hearted
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2023
MEDE
Erschreckend gut
Reviewed in Germany on May 20, 2023
MEDE
Reviewed in Germany on May 20, 2023
Zur Kindle-Version:
Ich finde die Kindle-Version ok, aber nicht perfekt. Es ist toll, dass es Seitenzahlen gibt, das ist leider nicht immer so. Was mir fehlt, sind die Angaben zu der besonderen Wortwahl des Protagonisten. Wörter wie 'slovo', 'bratchnies', 'vonny', 'viddy' usw. werden nicht angegeben. Und leider sind diese besonderen Wörter, die der Protagonist benutzt, ein Merkmal des Buches, sie kommen in fast jedem Satz vor. Das ist ein absolutes Minus.
Zum Inhalt:
Ich werde nicht spoilern, sondern nur kurz etwas allgemein zum Inhalt sagen. Grob gesagt, dreht es sich um einen jungen 14jährigen Kriminellen, der raubt, schlägt und mordet. Nachdem er gefasst wird, soll eine neuartige Umerziehung an ihm durchgeführt werden. Erzählt wird die Geschichte aus der Ich-Perspektive, also aus Sicht des Kriminellen.
Die Geschichte ist sehr brutal, aber dennoch lesenswert. Man bekommt einen Einblick in die Gefühlswelt des Protagonisten, die absolut schonungslos ehrlich ist.
Zur Sprache:
Das Buch bedient sich einer sehr besonderen Sprache. Der Protagonist bedient sich eines Slangs, der durch seine besondere Wortwahl gekennzeichnet ist. Viele Substantive kommen aus dem slawischen Sprachbereich (z.B. 'moloko', 'slovo' usw.) aber auch aus dem Deutschen (z.B. 'Kartoffel' oder 'von' werden benutzt). Ich habe ein Bild als Textbeispiel angefügt. Als Nicht-Muttersprachler ist das sehr gewöhnungsbedürftig. Dennoch versteht man komischerweise worum es geht. Man kann sich die Bedeutung viele Wörter mit Hilfe des Kontextes erschließen. Dennoch sollte man schon recht gute Englischkenntnisse besitzen, sonst sollte man es nicht im Original lesen. Einfaches Schulenglisch reicht eher nicht, denke ich.
Vielleicht hilft das ja als Orientierung.
Vielen Dank für das Lesen meiner Rezension. Ich hoffe, sie ist hilfreich. :)
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