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?Anthony Burgess has written what looks like a nasty little shocker, but is really that rare thing in English letters: a philosophical novel.? ?Time
Norton Critical Edition
W.W. Norton
January 2011
On Sale: January 4, 2011
288 pages ISBN: 0393928098 EAN: 9780393928099 Paperback (reprint)
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Science Fiction
A terrifying tale about good and evil and the meaning of
human freedom, A Clockwork Orange became an instant classic
when it was published in 1962 and has remained so ever
since. Anthony Burgess takes us on a journey to a
nightmarish future where sociopathic criminals rule the
night. Brilliantly told in harsh invented slang by the
novel's main character and merciless droog, fifteen-year-old
Alex, this influential novel is now available in a student
edition. The Norton Critical Edition of A Clockwork Orange is
based on the first British edition and includes Burgess's
original final chapter. It is accompanied by Mark
Rawlinson's preface, explanatory annotations, and textual
notes. A glossary of the Russian-origin terms that inspired
Alex's dialect is provided to illustrate the process by
which Burgess arrived at the distinctive style of this
novel. "Backgrounds and Contexts" presents a wealth of
materials chosen by the editor to enrich the reader's
understanding of this unforgettable work, many of them by
Burgess himself. Burgess's views on writing A Clockwork
Orange, its philosophical issues, and the debates over the
British edition versus the American edition and the novel
versus the film adaptation are all included. Related
writings that speak to some of the novel's central
issues-youthful style, behavior modification, and art versus
morality-are provided by Paul Rock and Stanley Cohen, B. F.
Skinner, John R. Platt, Joost A. M. Meerloo, William
Sargent, and George Steiner. "Criticism" is divided into two
sections, one addressing the novel and the other Stanley
Kubrick's film version. Five major reviews of the novel are
reprinted along with a wide range of scholarly commentary,
including, among others, David Lodge on the American reader;
Julie Carson on linguistic invention; Zinovy Zinik on
Burgess and the Russian language; Geoffrey Sharpless on
education, masculinity, and violence; Shirley Chew on
circularity; Patrick Parrinder on dystopias; Robbie B. H.
Goh on language and social control; and Steven M. Cahn on
freedom. A thorough analysis of the film adaptation of A
Clockwork Orange is provided in reviews by Vincent Canby,
Pauline Kael, and Christopher Ricks; in Philip Strick and
Penelope Houston's interview with Stanley Kubrick; and in
interpretive essays by Don Daniels, Alexander Walker, Philip
French, Thomas Elsaesser, Tom Dewe Mathews, and Julian
Petley.
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