A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

When I first started this book, I thought I would never get through it.  The author has invented his own slang language that the first person narrator and all his friends use.  At first it was hard to understand and interfered with my reading of the story.  It doesn't take long, though, before it seems you've heard it for ages and it flows seamlessly into the rest of the narrative.  This book is full of sex and violence, which isn't my favorite, but I still got involved and had a hard time putting it down.  The last chapter is strange and doesn't feel particularly connected to the rest of the book, although it does give it an optimistic ending.