A Clockwork Orange (novel) A Clockwork Orange (novel) A Clockwork Orange is a dystopian satirical black comedy novel by English writer Anthony Burgess, published in 1962. It is set in a near future English society featuring a subculture of extreme youth violence. The teenage protagonist, Alex, narrates his violent exploits and his experiences with state authorities intent on reforming him. The book is partially written in a Russian-influenced argot called "Nadsat", which takes its name from the Russian suffix that is equivalent to '-teen' in English. According to Burgess, it was a "jeu d'esprit" written in just three weeks. In 2005, "A Clockwork Orange"
A Clockwork Orange (film) 1973 and earned $1.5 million in rentals. In the United States, "A Clockwork Orange" was rated X in its original release in 1972. Later, Kubrick voluntarily replaced approximately 30 seconds of sexually explicit footage from two scenes with less explicit action for an R rating re-release in 1973. Current DVDs present the original version (reclassified with an "R" rating), and only some of the early 1980s VHS editions are the edited version. Because of the explicit sex and violence, The National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures rated it "C" ("Condemned"), a rating which forbade Roman Catholics seeing the film. In