A Clockwork Orange by Anthony BurgessMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Written in the 1960's, this is a vision of a futuristic, ultraviolent England where teenagers spend their evenings drinking drug laced milk then beating, raping and stealing from the "starry" (old) people who just happen to be around. There is an entirely new vocabulary included which is based loosely on Russian, rhymes and happenstance. Luckily for me the version I read contained a glossary. After about 70 pages of senseless violence without a hint of remorse, our "suffering Friend and Narrator" Alex lands in jail. When he proves himself capable of murder even there, he gets to be the first candidate to try a new technique of rehabilitation which promises he will be a model citizen in a fornight. This rehabilitation forces him to always choose "the good"... and brings up relevant questions about free will, as much as I despised "may faithful Narrator and Friend". Thought provoking and well worth reading.
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