A Clockwork Orange

By: Anthony Burgess

Narrated by: Tom Hollander

Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

A vicious 15-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic. In Anthony Burgess' nightmare vision of the future, where the 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?"

This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition, as well as Burgess' introduction, "A Clockwork Orange Resucked".

©1962, 1986 The Estate of Anthony Burgess (P)2007 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"I do not know of any other writer who has done as much with language as Mr. Burgess has done here - the fact that this is also a very funny book may pass unnoticed." (William S. Burroughs)

Amazing narration performance

Listen to this as an audible book narrated by Tom Hollander. His performance is so much better than reading on your own and so much better than the movie. His performance brought all new life to the book. It was incredible.

This book was “read horrorshow”

A classic. Also, such a strong message about conditioning society to follow the “social norms” and about the morality of free will. The language was very hard to follow in the beginning but I think the audiobook helped me get used to it faster. Honestly, if I were reading it physically I most likely would’ve given up and/or thrown the book across the room. Also, this book is so violent it’s scary. However, I understand the psychology behind it. Alex loves the violence, he loves the music and he loves getting his way too.

amazing

Loved it, oh my brothers, lovely to slooshy such a production. Well worth the malenky bit of cutter my droogs. if you slooshy this then you will be at the heighth of fashion.

Brush up on Russian first

The made up “teenagers’ language” in this book is mostly mispronounced/altered Russian so if you don’t know any I think it would be very confusing and frustrating to read. I learned some Russian years ago and that helped a lot.

Getting past the language, the story is great! I never knew that the movie didn’t include the last chapter... I didn’t much like the movie when I saw it years ago but now plan to rewatch it in the hopes that having read the book, it will make more sense.

Masterpiece

50+ years on this remains a visionary work of genius. Kubrick captured the brilliance of the book, although the film is its own separate work. The book and the film are complimentary works of art.

Wonderful Narration.

Tom Hollander does a wonderful job of narrating this book, giving almost every cheracter in the book a unique voice and personality beyond just what the book provides. Anthony Burgess made a great book, although it not being for the feint of heart considering it is far more mature than the movie, which I watched before I listened to the book. Absolutely enjoyed this classic, and would recommend it up and down.

Need a Translator

Great story. More in depth than the movie, however it is somewhat hard to follow with the slag style this novel is written in. All in all it's a great read if you like dark subject matter.

I finally get it!

If you could sum up A Clockwork Orange in three words, what would they be?

Genius, addictive, and timeless.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Clockwork Orange?

The introduction and everything that followed.

What about Tom Hollander’s performance did you like?

Mr. Hollander WAS "Alex, the narrator." His narration was comparable to Malcolm McDowell's narration in Stanley Kubrick's masterful rendering of the movie. Most importantly, I was better able to understand the unique mixture of languages used much more easily than when I watched the movie (multiple times; I own it). The Audible.com version of the book allowed me to easily follow the unique mixture of languages because I was able to understand the context in which they were used. I haven't finished listening to this captivating book, but can't wait to hear the 21st chapter that was omitted from the movie.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No; I wanted to savor it. I don't want it to end.

Any additional comments?

By far, the best book I have ever listened to!

great book and performance

I will probably end up listening to this again due to the greatness of the performance.

What's it going to be then, eh?

This chelloveck, Tom Hollander, reading of this book is real horrorshow! It is spot on perfect. His voice will be forever in me gulliver whenever me glassez come across this text.

The nadsat language was always a spot of bother for me picking up this book and reading it myself, but this audio version helps a lot and you'll find yourself picking up on the meanings quickly.

As a Yank from the States, there were no problems at all with Mr. Hollander's cockneyed accent. It's clear and coherent as the sample shows.

In addition to the novel, there's a preface by Anthony Burgess which is very insightful and the omitted chapter plus 3 chapters read by Burgess himself. It is cool to slooshy the book from Mr. Burgess himself, but I still prefer to slooshy Mr. Hollander.

Obviously, the subject matter is not for everyone, but with the final chapter added, I believe the point is clear. It is an extremely well written book. The detail and the flow is all there.

So, what's it going to be then, eh? O me brothers, I think it's worth the pretty polly for a sloosh, but I'm creeching a bit too long. Sit back with a moloko in hand and sloosh. It's real horrorshow.