It's by Anthony Burgess and many people are annoyed by Kubrick's changing of the ending (though it's slight he does miss out the last chapter) as it makes the point of the story harder to see.
What did you think about the language it was written in? Anthony Burgess invented the whole language apparently it's based on Russian, or borrows words. I got the hang of reading it after the first few pages, did anyone struggle to understand it?
[question posted by nancyrowina]
responses and comments:
re the ending - apparently Kubrick's adaption was taken from an American edition of the book that didn't include the last chapter. [jend80]
I've heard this Kubrick did live in England when he made the film however so I think he was aware of the last chapter. [nancyrowina]
I found both the book and the film very interesting adn quirky. I can't really remember the endings in detail though, as it's some years since I've seen or read it. [Galena]
ah yes. remember now. thanks for that. I'll have to dig it out and re-read the book. I find it very interesting. [Galena]
It is by anthony burgess and many people are annoyed by kubricks changing of the ending as it makes the point of the sory harder to see [year3399]
It does indeed it's very sad as Burgess was brave to write so sympathetically about men like Alex as his own wife was gang raped in their home. Changing the ending makes the point of the book blurred and it should be clearer. [nancyrowina]
I like both book and movie, but I simply don't get why Kubrick chose to leave out the final chapter. I find it's so important for the story and almost makes the movie useless. I also don't think his excuse of only knowing the American version of the book really works as he lived in the UK plus many people he worked with were British and they must have known the UK version. I love the language myself, it took me a few pages to get into it, but it's very well thought out. [5000ml]
I agree it does defeat the point of the whole thing if we never know how it truly ends. I don't believe Kubrick's excuse of not knowing about the true ending either, I think it just would have upset the movie so he left it out. [nancyrowina]
Anthony Burgess is a great author and has written a bunch of novels. Which one are you referring to: Novels Time for a Tiger (1956) (Volume 1 of the Malayan trilogy, The Long Day Wanes) The Enemy in the Blanket (1958) (Volume 2 of the trilogy) Beds in the East (1959) (Volume 3 of the trilogy) The Right to an Answer (1960) The Doctor is Sick (1960) The Worm and the Ring (1960) Devil of a State (1961) (as Joseph Kell) One Hand Clapping (1961) A Clockwork Orange (1962) The Wanting Seed (1962) Honey for the Bears (1963) (as Joseph Kell) Inside Mr. Enderby (1963) (Volume 1 of the Enderby quartet) The Eve of St. Venus (1964) Nothing Like the Sun: A Story of Shakespeare's Love Life (1964) A Vision of Battlements (1965) Tremor of Intent: An Eschatological Spy Novel (1966) Enderby Outside (1968) (Volume 2 of the Enderby quartet) M/F (1971) Napoleon Symphony: A Novel in Four Movements (1974) The Clockwork Testament, or Enderby's End (1974) (Volume 3 of the Enderby quartet) Beard's Roman Women (1976) Abba Abba (1977) 1985 (1978) Man of Nazareth (based on his screenplay for Jesus of Nazareth) (1979) Earthly Powers (1980) The End of the World News: An Entertainment (1982) Enderby's Dark Lady, or No End of Enderby (1984) (Volume 4 of the Enderby quartet) The Kingdom of the Wicked (1985) The Pianoplayers (1986) Any Old Iron (1988) Mozart and the Wolf Gang (1991) A Dead Man in Deptford (1993) Byrne: A Novel (in verse) (1995) I have read quite a few aof them. Susan [susaneverson]
I will definately add it to my list. It is a short list because I am an avid reader and am usually looking for my next thing to devour. lol Susan [susaneverson]
written at the height of the cold war it was very daring and controversial of a western writer to include Rusian word derivatives in a novel. I suppose it was exciting at the time but it appears dated now. I greatly enjoyed the film including little prophetic touches such as the mini tapes in the music players. I wonder what they would have made of cd's and mp3's? [Noot54]
I don't know if you noticed but in "Logan's Run" they have CDs up on the shelves as ornaments in stands, Just a CD shiny side round, they didn't predict very accurately what they would be used for. [nancyrowina]
I enjoyed the movie enough to find the book and read it. The different endings were interesting and I think at first I was annoyed but I enjoyed both endings. The language wasn't too difficult to understand. I think I might have looked up online the language in the book so of course that helped. [disassembled]
I thought the movie was surprisingly close to the book..yes the ending is diferent but i'm used to Kubrick changing radically his book sources. So clockwork orange is pretty close i think. As for the understanding i have red the book in italian, so probably some of the complexities were lost. [Postrock]
In the end of the book Alex naturally moves away from violence and wants to start a family. The fact Kubrick cut this off takes away a powerful point about free will, and that you can do anything to try and force a man to change but in the end he only can by his own free will. [nancyrowina]
I have never read the book.But i think it must be interesting as others have said.I would watch the movie at first.Because i am afraid i could not understand the book. [wanderworld]
After the first few pages it's actually quite easy to understand, and there are some good "Nadsat" translators online now if you get confused. [nancyrowina]
I'm not a fan of Kubrick but Clockwork Orange is a great film and I don't like the ending, the book is much better. I loved the language it doesn't take long to adjust at all. Have you read Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban, it looks unreadable as its written how you would speak, not in proper english. [Foxfire1875]
He has written all his books using the vernacular even tho I'm from Edinburgh I struggled with it but he does write proper english between the dialogue. Riddley Walker doesn't, the whole book at first looks unreadable but when you do start reading it's really easy to follow. [Foxfire1875]