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Content snapshot
Flag an inaccuracy →What's in this book, at a glance — five things readers want to know before they start.
Violence
Very heavy
Extreme graphic violence including brutal beatings, torture, and murder throughout
Language
A lot
Invented slang ('Nadsat') throughout; obscene terms and graphic descriptions
Sexual Content
A lot
Multiple gang rapes described in explicit detail in early chapters
Substance Use
Some
Drug-laced milk and heavy substance use central to the gang's culture
Emotional Intensity
Very heavy
Psychological torture, complete loss of free will, and moral philosophy about the nature of evil
What this book is about
Alex, a fifteen-year-old gang leader in a dystopian Britain, narrates his life of rape, murder, and 'ultraviolence' in a slang called Nadsat. After imprisonment, he is subjected to the Ludovico Technique—forced aversion therapy that conditions him to feel nausea at violence—stripping him of free will in the name of reform. Burgess's savage satire questions whether a person forced to be good has any moral worth, and what society sacrifices when it seeks perfect order.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Graphic rape scenes
Extreme violence throughout
Psychological torture
Drug use
Not for the faint-hearted
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