Reluctant Adaptation

While working on Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick was given a copy of A Clockwork Orange. What you’d expect is that he read it, loved it, and moved into adapting it. This was not the case.

He actually found the book incredibly confusing, due to it being written in a language that the author, Anthony Burgess, had created for the book, which combined English with bits of Russian slang. Kubrick was much more interested in making a film about Napoleon, but when that project fell apart, Kubrick reread A Clockwork Orange and found the lead character of Alex compelling enough on his own that he decided to adapt it. Which had… Unintended consequences.