Anthony Burgess

Imaginary Interviewer: Welcome back from the month off. What book is next on the reading list? 

Me: Next up is 'A Clockwork Orange' by Anthony Burgess. I've seen the movie version, but have never read this before. 

II: What's it about?

Me: It's about juvenile delinquency and crime. It's about free will and, interestingly enough, a love of art.

II: Is the book good? 

Me: It's very well regarded. Well, now it is. It came out in 1962 to mixed reviews. Most of the glowing acclaim happened after the movie version in 1971. I think it's an open question as to whether or not it would have gotten on lists like this without Kubrick's film.

II: What else should we know?

Me: It's written in first person dialect and that takes some getting used to. In the introduction to the version that I read, it said that readers might find the first couple of chapters to be a challenge, but if you got through those then you'd have trouble putting the book down. I don't normally care for books written in a strong dialect but I adapted here. (I found myself thinking in "nadsat" terms while reading it.)

Also, this is a very violent book. It's casually violent in a way that I don't think we've approached yet. I mean, more violence happened in other books, like 'The Stand', but the first person approach here makes it seem like tearing other people up is just something that some people do as hobbies. 

II: What should we know about the author?

Me: I don't much about him past what's on his Wikipedia page. If other people here want to tell us about him, that would be great. 

II: Is the book worth reading?

Me: Oh yes. Very much so.