17. Sticking with the theme of breakfast fruit, the names of Anthony Burgess, Stanley Kubrick, and Malcolm McDowell suggest what book title?
From Quiz What are You Reading for Breakfast?
Answer:
A Clockwork Orange
Speaking of dystopian novels, John Anthony Burgess Wilson (1917-1993), the English writer and composer, is the author of "A Clockwork Orange", a work which helps define the genre. Kubrick and McDowell are the director and star, respectively, of the 1971 movie adaptation, which generated huge attention and controversy because of its subject matter. Burgess credits the film with significantly increasing the popularity of his work. Alex is the sociopathic protagonist, and he's every adult's worst nightmare; a man-child with no conscience or moral compass, a violent nature, and the willingness to use his high intelligence to enlist others in his nefarious pursuits. The novel, published in 1962, was set sometime in the near future. Instead of alcohol to fuel their mischief, Alex and his gang start their nights in a local "milk bar" where the seemingly wholesome beverage can be augmented with the patron's drug of choice. Alex's terrible crimes eventually land him in prison and mental institutions, where efforts to rehabilitate him using the most modern methods of mind control are frightening, to say the least. They include using his favorite music by Beethoven to recondition him. The book has a somewhat upbeat and redemptive final chapter which was omitted from the US editions, and which Kubrick felt was unconvincing and not consistent with the story. Thus Kubrick's vision realized in the movie has a dark and foreboding prognosis.