I've never seen the movie and somehow missed reading this in high school (and college).

This edition does have the author's original final chapter, which really settled the book. I'm not sure it was the best idea to leave it off the original US printing, but anyway.

This is a pretty graphic novel from the main characters first-person perspective recounting his time as a violent teenager, time in prison, "healing," and release.
There are many political facets at play and the core question of -- if you take away someone's right to choose evil, does it make them good?

Beyond the psychosocial aspects of this, the authors use of language is absolutely brilliant. He essentially creates his own language, Nadsat, that is used by teenage gang members in the novel. It's a mix of Russian and English and has an incredible impact on the novel itself - graphic events perhaps feel less graphic because of the language, etc. It's really a wonderfully written piece, if disturbing at the very heart of it.