a clockwork orange

Just like George Orwell's 1984, A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is a horrific foretelling of the not-so-distant totalitarian future where the acts of man can be tailored-fit to suit the existing rule or authority. Each page is bristling with blood and unspeakable violence. Ultimately, the novel is a philosophical inquiry on the nature of good and choice.


The novel's language is a mixture of nadsat (teen gangster dialect with a mix of Russian) and hints of Shakesperian prose. Burgess is a literary genius. The language is so cunning it shapes the novel and ultimately the characters. If it were not for the mini-glossary provided for the one who wrote the afterword, I'd still be figuring what tolchok, devotchka, and bazoomny means. I actually finished this book last week and I almost forgot to write about it. Next blog: written in nadsat language.