A Clockwork Orange cover art

A Clockwork Orange

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

A Clockwork Orange

By: Anthony Burgess
Narrated by: Tom Hollander
Try Premium Plus free

$16.45 per month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.99

Buy Now for $21.99

About this listen

In this 1962 classic, a novelistic exploration of modern crime and punishment, Alex is the 15-year-old leader of his gang of "droogs" thriving in the ultraviolent future, as prophetically imagined by Burgess. Speaking a bizarre Russian-derived slang, Alex and his friends freely pillage and slash their way across a nightmarish urban landscape until Alex is captured by the judicial arm of the state. He then becomes their prized guinea pig in a scientific program to completely "redeem" him for society.

If we had the power of absolute criminal reform, what, the novel asks, would this mean for our ideals of freedom and society? This edition reinstates the final chapter missing from Kubrick's film, in which Alex is on the verge of starting a family as he reflects on - and completely rejects - his adolescent nastiness. It also includes Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked".

©1962 The Estate of Anthony Burgess (P)2010 Random House Audiobooks Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Crime
All stars
Most relevant  
A Clockwork Orange is an excellent title that mixes dark humour with a great deal of subtle political commentary. Its excessive use of fictional colloquialisms (Nadsat) greatly immerses the reader into a world that wears its darkness on its sleeve.

A real horrorshow raskazz

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
loved it! the performer reading was absolutely engaging couldn't stop listening highly recommend to anyone who loves great literature and story telling also the special reading by Anthony Burgess at the end was particularly horror show. Viddy well my brothers

classic literature with a fantastic performance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I wasn't going to comment. Leaving a rating because meh, maybe ppl want one. I myself look dubiously at a lower than 4.5 star rating.
It doesn't explain why I thought something was good or not.
Am I giving this 4 stars because I like the violence or in spite of if. because I see the humour or because I don't. is it a bible for my life or something to steer clear of. do I believe the world and people are like this or not. see my problem. I'm sure everyone reads/listens for different reasons. I'm a fan of dystopia in general, and I liked this, do I think the final chapter was an essential element of the story, nope (but I see the author's despair). read the book or don't, for whatever reason (like it is considered a controversial classic), you may love it or hate it or both for completely different reasons to why I did. in three years time I may have a completely different opinion of it. good luck.

Rating systems, sigh

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Narrator made this easy to listen to - really enjoyed his portrayal. The story itself is confronting and hard to stomach at times.

Great narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A mighty feat of linguistic performance. Gives continuity to the plot, motivation to get to the juicer heart, and helps the consumption of the narrative arc in its totality.

Powerful performance

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It was great to hear Burgers reading his own words at the end. Also good to hear the complete story.

Delicious citrus!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've listened to many books on audible, and not one of the narrators have surpassed, or could possibly hope to surpass, Tom Hollander narrating A Clockwork Orange.

Excellent narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
It’s reassuring to know the classics are so for a reason.
Time to watch the film.

Lives up to the hype

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I’d heard about this being overly violent and difficult to get into given the complex language. So, I went in with low expectations and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Tough for the first 30 minutes of so, getting used to the strange jargon, but the narrator was superb (possibly the best I’ve heard on an audiobook) and the story ticked along at a good pace.

An excellent audiobook and one that I’d highly recommend.

Better Than Expected

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I've read the book and seen the movie, both many years ago. IMHO, the audible version surpassed them both. Extremely well done and most enjoyable. Kudos to the narrator.

brilliant narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.