Friday, April 3, 2015

A to Z Challenge 2015: C - A Clockwork Orange

Here we are in the third day of the 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge! Have you been enjoying yourself? Have you been discovering lots of new blogs? I have.

Today we have the third letter, the letter C. This is the third story in my theme, and while it does have a film adaptation, I'll be focusing on the novel.

This is a story written over 50 years ago, that is still relevant and often talked about today. A modern classic, it's a dystopian novel written before dystopian novels were all the rage (but certainly not before they were a thing).

Today's 2015 April A to Z Blogging Challenge story for the letter C:

A Clockwork Orange

I haven't read A Clockwork Orange in probably twenty years, but I remember being as compelled by it as I was shocked. It's not a very nice story, disturbing and disgusting as it is in equal turns, but it is an important one, and a tale well told.

Here is the summary from Goodreads:

A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title.

In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex—to "redeem" him—the novel asks, "At what cost?"


Author: Anthony Burgess

That's it! From here on out we'll have novels, TV shows, films, and maybe even a graphic novel or manga or two. Be sure to visit my A to Z Challenge 2015 Assistants: Sylvie from Life from An Optimist's Point of View, and Carrie-Anne Brownian/Ursula Hartlein from Welcome to My Magick Theatre, and come back tomorrow!

34 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have never read the book or watched the film. I know about it and that it is disturbing. Great post for C. Maybe I should read the book.

Anything and Everything Paranormal Blog said...

Never heard of the book or movie. Sounded like a unique read.

Theresa Milstein said...

I read this in high school and also saw the movie. So disturbing. My son's in high school and read it recently, and I realized I blocked it all out.

Anonymous said...

Another glaring gap in my reading. Always heard about it and never read it. I am going to go get a copy right now. Happy A to Z!

Suzy said...

Never heard of the book or movie. But it sounds quite scary. Will give this one a miss :) Thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

Never heard of it or read it, but it sounds like the kind of thing I would enjoy.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

It was a disturbing movie.

Bish Denham said...

I read it around 1968/69. Then... when the movie came out I saw it and was so traumatized I didn't watch any violent movies for many, many years. I have seen it since and by today's standards it's kind of mild though still, as Alex said, disturbing.

Burgess was way ahead of his time when he wrote it.

Fantasy Writer Guy said...

I made the mistake of watching the movie prior to reading the book, so now I probably won't read the book because I don't like the book experience being spoiled by preconceptions gleaned from the film. The problem with maintaining a book-first-movie-after policy is that I watch a movie per day and spend a couple weeks at a book. The book queue is growing very long!

Unknown said...

When I first saw that movie as a kid, the graphic violence and visual assault of the cinematography made a big impression on me. I went back and watched it again as an adult and was disturbed by Burrough's commentary on the use of conditioning as a method of "reform". It's freaky book/movie either way you look at it.
Elizabeth Hein - Scribbling in the Storage Room

betty said...

Wow, amazing that the book is over 50 years old! I read it either young adult or still in high school and was intrigued with the story. Should read it agai some time and wonder how I'll think of it this time around 40 years later.

betty

Jeremy [Retro] said...

Very twisted film filled with love, honor and imagery....

Nadine_Feldman said...

A powerful novel, indeed. I don't think I could ever watch the film. Most books don't stay with me over the years, but this one does.

S. L. Hennessy said...

A strange and terrific read!

Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
http://pensuasion.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Like your thoughts on "A Clockwork Orange" Never read the book. It is now on my list so that I may form an opinion. Nice to meet you Mathew. :)

Hart Johnson said...

It's such a powerful story. I saw it when I was a teen then read it probably 15 years ago. I was surprised the book could get across the horror the movie had but his use of language was extraordinary.

cleemckenzie said...

That Kubrick movie chilled me to the bone. I couldn't bring myself to read the book after seeing the film.

AJ Lauer said...

I have to echo the others that what stuck with me was not necessarily the violence of the book (which is a sad representation of how violent so much of our media is these days...) but the language and word play. The writing of the book is just beautiful. Good pick!
~AJ Lauer
an A-Z Cohost
@ayjaylauer on Twitter

Ros Haywood said...

Hello Matthew! I read this book when I was a child (so, probably about 40 years ago) and I don't remember understanding it then. Perhaps I should go back and reread it.

Ros, visiting from GenWestUK

Anonymous said...

I read the book when I was studying literature at school (nearly 30 years ago now!), I think I need to re read some of the ones I read all that time ago.

Anonymous said...

great thought trigger! thanks for posting . i look forward to reading the rest of your challenge!

Ladydragonfly1958 said...

I remember reading this a long time ago. I should probably read it again. Great post!

Wendy said...

Oh my -- I STILL say "moloko" for milk after reading that book in college.
Returning the visit from AtoZ
PS -- I AM a robot ~

Bevimus said...

Never read the book, but the movie disturbed me enough that I never wanted to. The invented language is brilliant, though, and if the whole book is written like that I can only imagine the impact it would have on a reader.

Unknown said...

One of my books was compared to Clockwork Orange. I haven't gotten a chance to read it as it seems darker than my usual taste, but I'm interested.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I can't believe I've never read this or saw the movie. Now it's on my list of books to check out.

Two Sentence Horrors said...

Oh my brothers... I love the book (the movie ruined "Singin' in the Rain" for me). Thank you for this post.

Michael G-G said...

Not read book or seen the movie--but it sounds like the sort of thing my Blokes, Books, and Beet group would like. Making a note of it now!

Misha Gerrick said...

I've heard of it, but haven't gathered the courage to actually read it.

Lisa said...

I have never read this or seen the movie, but have always planned to do both. Thanks for the reminder... Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com

It's Kelley! said...

I never read the book. I did see the movie as a teenager. I found it very disturbing. Much worse than the horror flicks that were popular at the time. Nightmare on Elm Street has nothing on a Clockwork Orange.

Heather M. Gardner said...

Too creepy for me.
I've heard the movie was very graphic.

Heather

Arlee Bird said...

I haven't read the book but I've seen the film. When the movie first came out I saw it in the theater and kind of liked it because I felt like I was supposed to like it, but actually I don't remember it much. Then I saw it maybe 20 years later and didn't like it as much as I thought I had and actually still don't really remember much about it. Don't know what that saws about me or the film really.

Arlee Bird
A to Z Challenge Co-host
Wrote By Rote

pamlovesbooks said...

Somehow I managed to sit through the movie as a kid. could totally explain why i am the way i am now.