A Clockwork Orange (novel) a slow-witted bruiser who is the gang's muscle; Georgie, an ambitious second-in-command; and Pete, who mostly plays along as the droogs indulge their taste for ultra-violence. Characterised as a sociopath and hardened juvenile delinquent, Alex also displays intelligence, quick wit, and a predilection for classical music; he is particularly fond of Beethoven, referred to as "Lovely Ludwig Van". The novella begins with the droogs sitting in their favourite hangout, the Korova Milk Bar, and drinking "milk-plus" — a beverage consisting of milk laced with the customer's drug of choice — to prepare for a night of mayhem. They assault a
A Clockwork Orange (novel) be artistic". He claimed that the violent content of the novel "nauseated" him. In 1985, Burgess published "Flame into Being: The Life and Work of D. H. Lawrence" and while discussing "Lady Chatterley's Lover" in his biography, Burgess compared that novel's notoriety with "A Clockwork Orange": "We all suffer from the popular desire to make the known notorious. The book I am best known for, or only known for, is a novel I am prepared to repudiate: written a quarter of a century ago, a "jeu d'esprit" knocked off for money in three weeks, it became known as the raw