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Modern Classics a Clockwork Orange
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Modern Classics a Clockwork Orange Paperback - 2000

by Anthony Burgess; Foreword by Blake Morrison


About this book

Anthony Burgess wrote more than 40 novels, but A Clockwork Orange is certainly his most famous. The novel is set in a not-too-distant future English society, namely characterized by a subculture of extreme youth violence. Alex, the unapologetic teenaged protagonist, narrates his exploits and experiences with state authorities intent on reforming him. This narration — in a fictional slang called nadsat — is an experiment in language, combining elements of Russian and Cockney English. In fact, the title of the novel itself is taken from an old Cockney expression: “As queer as a clockwork orange.”

The US edition of the novel was published without the final chapter, in which Alex grows up to renounce violence. Burgess strongly disapproved of the decision, arguing that it distorted the novel into a tale of unredeemable evil — far from the author’s original intention. Ironically, the US edition of A Clockwork Orange became a cult classic and was used by Stanley Kubrick for his 1971 film adaptation.

A Clockwork Orange is ranked 65th on Modern Library’s “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century. It is also listed in TIME’s “100 Best Novels” (since 1923).

From the publisher

Fully restored edition of Anthony Burgess' original text of A Clockwork Orange, with a glossary of the teen slang 'Nadsat', explanatory notes, pages from the original typescript, interviews, articles and reviews Edited by Andrew Biswell With a Foreword by Martin Amis 'It is a horrorshow story ...' Fifteen-year-old Alex likes lashings of ultraviolence. He and his gang of friends rob, kill and rape their way through a nightmarish future, until the State puts a stop to his riotous excesses. But what will his re-education mean? A dystopian horror, a black comedy, an exploration of choice, A Clockwork Orange is also a work of exuberant invention which created a new language for its characters. This critical edition restores the text of the novel as Anthony Burgess originally wrote it, and includes a glossary of the teen slang 'Nadsat', explanatory notes, pages from the original typescript, interviews, articles and reviews, shedding light on the enduring fascination of the novel's 'sweet and juicy criminality'. Anthony Burgess was born in Manchester in 1917 and educated at Xaverian College and Manchester University. He spent six years in the British Army before becoming a schoolmaster and colonial education officer in Malaya and Brunei. After the success of his Malayan Trilogy, he became a full-time writer in 1959. His books have been published all over the world, and they include The Complete Enderby, Nothing Like the Sun, Napoleon Symphony, Tremor of Intent, Earthly Powers and A Dead Man in Deptford. Anthony Burgess died in London in 1993. Andrew Biswell is the Professor of Modern Literature at Manchester Metropolitan University and the Director of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation. His publications include a biography, The Real Life of Anthony Burgess, which won the Portico Prize in 2006. He is currently editing the letters and short stories of Anthony Burgess.

First Edition Identification

William Heinemann first published A Clockwork Orange in London in 1962. Barry Trangrove designed the original first edition dust jacket, which has wide flaps and is priced 16s. (The second issue has trimmed flaps and is re-priced 18s). Signed copies of the first edition have sold for upwards of $12,500.

Details

  • Title Modern Classics a Clockwork Orange
  • Author Anthony Burgess; Foreword by Blake Morrison
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition International Ed
  • Pages 176
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Penguin Group, London
  • Date February 24, 2000
  • ISBN 9780141182605 / 0141182601
  • Weight 0.3 lbs (0.14 kg)
  • Dimensions 7.8 x 5.08 x 0.38 in (19.81 x 12.90 x 0.97 cm)
  • Reading level 1310
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

About the author

Anthony Burgess (1917-1993) is the author of many works, including A Clockwork Orange, The Wanting Seed, Nothing Like the Sun, and Re Joyce.
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A Clockwork Orange: xxiii (Penguin Modern Classics)

A Clockwork Orange: xxiii (Penguin Modern Classics)

by Burgess, Anthony

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A Clockwork Orange: xxiii (Penguin Modern Classics)

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Modern Classics a Clockwork Orange
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by Burgess, Anthony

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