Anthony Burgess Reads A Clockwork Orange — openculture.com

Anthony Burgess was a literary critic, a composer, a translator and an author with dozens of books to his name. Yet his name will forever be associated with a grim sci-fi novel that he knocked out in a mere three weeks. Set in the near future, A Clockwork Orange describes a society that is overrun with juvenile delinquency and a government that is willing to go to great lengths to stop it. The story is narrated by Alex, a young, violent thug who, after a burglary gone wrong, finds himself involved in an experimental behavior modification program that robs him of his free will. He is physically unable to inflict “ultra-violence” on someone. It sounds like a great idea from the point of view of a government bureaucrat but the treatment renders him helpless against his numerous enemies.

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