A Clockwork Orange, a breakthrough novel by Anthony Burgess, seems to be a story about a horrific reality where evil rules the streets, when in actuality it is a story between the give and take of freedom and control. The book pushes the boundaries of modern literature by tackling subjects that were previously un-tackled. He covers nearly all forms of sexuality and violence, and shows that if a man doesn"t choose not to do these things, then he is not a man at all. The book was first released in 1962 when America and the rest of the world were going through many changes. People were questioning the government's control and trying to protect their freedoms. The book caused a lot of controversy because while it spoke to one side of the revolution, the people questioning their government, it spoke against people who wanted things to stay the same. The book broke many barriers in the writing world by opening up many new topics that were previously taboo to write about. The Novel and the film agree on most parts of the story, but they do differ in some important ways. Norman Kagan says " the book is an odyssey towards freedom and knowledge, contrary to that the film which is about ignorance, not knowledge.".
The book has had a cult following among young people ever since it was published. Some of the book's popularity could be credited to the language of the book, also known as nadsat. The Specific form of speech that the gang uses is a combination of ol" timely English and Russian. Wagner calls the language British schoolboy small talk, with such words as malchikiwikis for young women, and babushka for an old lady (331). This language is one of the most appealing parts of the novel, some of the words used in the book can even be called antonyms to their actual meanings, such as "filthy" for something that is good. By giving the descriptions of murders and rapes in different words it allows the reader to see beyond the violence and find the deeper philosophical meaning behind the book.