It’s a late Banned Book Friday – on Sunday – this week because it has taken me a bit to sort myself on this one.

This week’s Banned Book is Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange.

I’ll begin by saying I wasn’t looking forward to this book but I did try *really* hard to make it through. However, the graphic descriptions of sexual violence were too much for me and it is my second DNF of the Banned Books Project at about 50%.

Though I had some recollection of the book from high school and also the Kubrick film – and I was not looking forward to revisiting it – it was worse than I remembered.

I understand the point of the violence in the piece, but dealing with the intensity of it – in particular, rape scenes (yes, plural) – is just more than I am willing to sit with.

Of note, in the new introduction to this book, the author himself did not seem overly fond of it either – and expressed some regret that it has held on as long as it has thanks to the Kubrick film.

His feelings toward this work were complex, to say the least:

Anthony Burgess A Clockwork Orange Article.

Regardless, two things are true:

1. A Clockwork Orange is decidedly not a book for me.
2. A Clockwork Orange is also a book that should not be banned. You should be able to decide for yourself if you want to read it.

It is always about the choice.

Now. . . I never imagined One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest would ever pass for a lighter read. .  but here we are. It’s up next in the project reads, and – relatively – sounding much better. 😉

Also, hopefully tomorrow I’ll be sharing some new regular reads I’ve really enjoyed the past couple of weeks.. ❤

Be well, everybody. Take care of yourselves and each other.

Grace and Blessings.

Banned Books Read So Far:

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Awakening – Kate Chopin

Lady Chatterley’s Lover – D.H. Lawrence

Animal Farm – George Orwell

1984 – George Orwell

Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley

Their Eyes Were Watching God – Zora Neale Hurston

A Separate Peace – John Knowles

Lolita – Vladmir Nabokov

A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway

The Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

As I Lay Dying – William Faulkner

LOTR – The Fellowship of The Ring – J.R.R. Tolkien

LOTR – The Two Towers – J.R.R. Tolkien

LOTR – The Return of the King – J.R.R. Tolkien

Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut

In Cold Blood – Truman Capote

Song of Soloman – Toni Morrison

To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee

Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck

Lord of the Flies – William Golding

A Clockwork Orange – Anthony Burgess