Could the student really not infer the meanings of those words from context? I don't think Burgess expected his readers to have a working knowledge of Russian.
Granted I don't know the age of the student, but I had a friend that read "A Clockwork Orange" in 8th grade. They shared the book with me and I had an extremely hard time reading it, it wasn't until I started college that I could appreciate + understand the story better. Definitely lucked out in reading an edition that had a glossary in the front.
I can totally see how a modern student today would struggle with reading complicated books.
I can totally see how a modern student today would struggle with reading complicated books.