5 ms·

clockwork orange, the book, has 21 chapters. for whatever dumb reason, burgess' american publisher decided to omit the last chapter on publication. burgess beli

clockwork orange, the book, has 21 chapters. for whatever dumb reason, burgess' american publisher decided to omit the last chapter on publication. burgess believes this entire subverts the book's message, making it say the opposite of what he meant it to say. alas, it appears kubrick's treatment in the film also omits the last chapter. burgess wrote at length about this in "rolling stone" back in the day. i kept that particular issue all these years because i think it's an important story. i can't find a copy of it online, though. the story is somewhat covered in the wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(film)#Novelist's_response https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(film)#Nove... ... which also mentions that american versions of the book after 1986 restore the final chapter.

eternalban 7y ago
Here you go: https://ia800108.us.archive.org/3/items/AnthonyBurgessAClockworkOrange/Anthony-Burgess-A-Clockwork-Orange.pdf https://ia800108.us.archive.org/3/items/AnthonyBurgessAClock... "That’s what it’s going to be then, brothers, as I come to the like end of this tale. You have been everywhere with your little droog Alex, suffering with him, and you have viddied some of the most grahzny bratchnies old Bog ever made, all on to your old droog Alex. And all it was was that I was young. But now as I end this story, brothers, I am not young, not no longer, oh no. "Alex like groweth up, oh yes. "But where I itty now, O my brothers, is all on my oddy knocky, where you cannot go. Tomorrow is all like sweet flowers and the turning vonny earth and the stars and the old Luna up there and your old droog Alex all on his oddy knocky seeking like a mate. "And all that cal. A terrible grahzny vonny world, really, O my brothers. And so farewell from your little droog. And to all others in this story profound shooms of lip music brrrrrr. And they can kiss my sharries. But you, O my brothers, remember sometimes thy little Alex that was. Amen. And all that cal." -- The End.
- allenbrunson 7y ago
  good find! it's been decades since i read this, but the one thing i remember pretty clearly is burgess' high level of indignation, which, yep, is thoroughly on display.
soperj 7y ago
Kubrick didn't know there was a last chapter until later.
- allenbrunson 7y ago
  wikipedia disagrees with you: "In Kubrick's opinion — as in the opinion of other readers, including the original American editor — the final chapter was unconvincing and inconsistent with the book." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(novel)
  - hcs 7y ago
    > "claimed that he had not read the original version until he had virtually finished the screenplay, and that he had never given serious consideration to using it"
    - ikeyany 7y ago
      So he knew there was a final chapter; he just didn't care.
  - soperj 7y ago
    >Kubrick called Chapter 21 "an extra chapter" and claimed that he had not read the original version Literally the line before the one you quoted. Normally I wouldn't, but seriously, are you a loser everywhere or just online?
    - allenbrunson 7y ago
      dude. you have apparently been here long enough to know that that kind of response is unacceptable here. you are choosing to interpret that series of events differently than i did. i see it like this: 1) kubrick reads the american version of the book. 2) he writes most of the screenplay. 3) somebody tells him about chapter 21. he reads it. 4) kubrick decides that, even if he had originally read the 21-chapter book, he would ignore the final chapter as being unrealistic. in that version of events, it doesn’t matter if he didn’t know about it beforehand or not, it would not have affected his final screenplay.

eternalban 7y ago

Here you go: https://ia800108.us.archive.org/3/items/AnthonyBurgessAClockworkOrange/Anthony-Burgess-A-Clockwork-Orange.pdf https://ia800108.us.archive.org/3/items/AnthonyBurgessAClock... "That’s what it’s going to be then, brothers, as I come to the like end of this tale. You have been everywhere with your little droog Alex, suffering with him, and you have viddied some of the most grahzny bratchnies old Bog ever made, all on to your old droog Alex. And all it was was that I was young. But now as I end this story, brothers, I am not young, not no longer, oh no. "Alex like groweth up, oh yes. "But where I itty now, O my brothers, is all on my oddy knocky, where you cannot go. Tomorrow is all like sweet flowers and the turning vonny earth and the stars and the old Luna up there and your old droog Alex all on his oddy knocky seeking like a mate. "And all that cal. A terrible grahzny vonny world, really, O my brothers. And so farewell from your little droog. And to all others in this story profound shooms of lip music brrrrrr. And they can kiss my sharries. But you, O my brothers, remember sometimes thy little Alex that was. Amen. And all that cal." -- The End.

allenbrunson 7y ago
good find! it's been decades since i read this, but the one thing i remember pretty clearly is burgess' high level of indignation, which, yep, is thoroughly on display.

soperj 7y ago

Kubrick didn't know there was a last chapter until later.

allenbrunson 7y ago
wikipedia disagrees with you: "In Kubrick's opinion — as in the opinion of other readers, including the original American editor — the final chapter was unconvincing and inconsistent with the book." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(novel) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clockwork_Orange_(novel)
- hcs 7y ago
  > "claimed that he had not read the original version until he had virtually finished the screenplay, and that he had never given serious consideration to using it"
  - ikeyany 7y ago
    So he knew there was a final chapter; he just didn't care.
- soperj 7y ago
  >Kubrick called Chapter 21 "an extra chapter" and claimed that he had not read the original version Literally the line before the one you quoted. Normally I wouldn't, but seriously, are you a loser everywhere or just online?
  - allenbrunson 7y ago
    dude. you have apparently been here long enough to know that that kind of response is unacceptable here. you are choosing to interpret that series of events differently than i did. i see it like this: 1) kubrick reads the american version of the book. 2) he writes most of the screenplay. 3) somebody tells him about chapter 21. he reads it. 4) kubrick decides that, even if he had originally read the 21-chapter book, he would ignore the final chapter as being unrealistic. in that version of events, it doesn’t matter if he didn’t know about it beforehand or not, it would not have affected his final screenplay.