Post no. 67 (Things I didn’t like about A Clockwork Orange)
I’ve had a copy of A Clockwork Orange lying around for ages. I had seen it touted as a must read for every generation. I thought I’d carry the torch for my generation, so I plunged in.
Anthony Burgess had expressed sorrow that, like DH Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s lovers, his “worst” effort – “a jeu d’esprit knocked off in three weeks for money” - became his best known work and the work for which he became best known.
It’s set in the not too distant future as it was imagined in the 50s, when the cold war was still “rampant”. Following is a list of things I didn’t like in the book (in no particular order)
The (IMO) extremely contrived way they govoreet 
They still use a typewriter some time in the future
They’re still burgling and looting non electronic stuff
They don’t use guns
The drugs they use – drunk in milk at milk bars – don’t seem particularly addictive
Gang warfare reads a bit like 70s B movie scripts – even Necromunda is more futuristic
15 year old Alex is taken to an adult jail – and he’s got to share a cell with older men
the cold war is assumed to still be going on
listens to music on discs (haha :D)
Father Christmas, obligingly, brought me the film (on DVD, in case you were wondering).
I can’t for the life of me begin to imagine what the fuss was all about when the film was released. We would have been better off had they released it into the wild . Had I watched the film before I read the book I wouldn’t have bothered.
Toodle-oo
