A CLOCKWORK ORANGE by Anthony Burgess

Unfortunately, Stanley Kubrick's stunning film version of "A Clockwork Orange" is better known than the material it draws from. Anthony Burgess' novella captures the paranoia and violent reaction that often result from youth marginalization. Each paragraph is a joy to read, largely due to the invented language he puts into the book, the words of which are never explained - this forces the reader to hurry to catch up, and maintains an aura of confusion. Burgess' hammers home the book's central theme - if a man is born wicked, is it better for him to be himself or what society expects? - and provides important moral insight.