Pelham’s cover remained in publication for 25 years.

A dystopian horror, a black comedy, an exploration. It would become one of the most iconic book covers of all time, with variations in both 1973, when the “terrifying film” tagline was removed, and in 1993, when the typography was updated. Author: Anthony Burgess Publication date: 1962 Genre: Fiction. Having seen the film, he designed a cover that borrowed Alex’s famous bowler hat and turned his mascara-lashed eye into a cog, playing up the ‘clockwork’ theme of free will. The inclusion of the teaser “A TERRIFYING NOVEL… NOW A TERRIFYING FILM” on the book’s cover is all that signifies the paperback’s movie tie-in, which was Kubrick’s doing: when the film’s director legally forbade Penguin from using the design elements of Philip Castle’s film poster, David Pelham was tasked with commissioning an illustration.Īnd when the original illustrator submitted a design that was not only poorly done but extremely late, Pelham was forced to take matters into his own hands. The first Penguin UK publication of the novel ushered in one of the most famous book covers of all time, featuring what is now commonly referred to as the ‘cog-eyed droog’.

This month marks the centenary of the writer’s birth and his dystopian vision still casts a long shadow over popular. Much of that was likely the result of having to stand in for the travel-averse Kubrick on the 'A Clockwork Orange' press run and field harsh questions about the film's perceived degrading impact on that age-old concern of the ill-informed: 'society.' But there was also one major difference between Burgess' original novel and Kubrick's film that may have been more of a sticking point for the author than he let on.The 1972 'cog-eyed droog' cover. The writer Anthony Burgess is most famous for his novel, A Clockwork Orange. That said, though Burgess initially seemed impressed with Kubrick's efforts, telling the press, 'This is one of the great books that has been made into a great film,' he eventually soured on it. About the author (2012) Anthony Burgess (19171993) is the author of many works, including The Wanting Seed, Nothing Like the Sun, and Re Joyce.

Gus Hasford, author of 'The Short-Timers,' which formed the basis of 'Full Metal Jacket,' was not happy with what he saw on Kubrick's set, and Stephen King famously hated the filmmaker's adaptation of 'The Shining.' But, with 'A Clockwork Orange,' Kubrick remained remarkably faithful to Burgess' vision. Kubrick respected Burgess' novel greatly, calling it 'brilliant and original.' That's not to say he didn't feel similarly about other source material he worked with, but the director also had a knack for disappointing the originators of that material.

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