Crash: A Novel

High-octane plot and sulfurous writing.

a poorly ageing text from 1973, Crash is tiresome and overwritten to a modern audience. i feel that Ballard hasn't quite got under the skin of the technical and scientific terminology he tries to weave into a roughly poetic prose. this is unavoidably a "psychopathic hymn", as stated by the author himself, devoted to the overbearing presence of modern technology in the human mind,...more

a poorly ageing text from 1973, Crash is tiresome and overwritten to a modern audience. i feel that Ballard hasn't quite got under the skin of the technical and scientific terminology he tries to weave into a roughly poetic prose. this is unavoidably a "psychopathic hymn", as stated by the author himself, devoted to the overbearing presence of modern technology in the human mind, to the point that it takes over the character's very sexuality in this book. i simply feel that Ballard has not sufficiently appropriated the language he tries to use, which means we miss his deeper message about society. perhaps not surprisingly, the most noteworthy passage in the book concerns the protagonist's acid trip, where Ballard seems able to write naturally whilst holding on to the pervasive theme of the book, giving the reader his/her first clear rglimpse of the deranged fantasy world Ballard has imagined.   hide

good but nowhere near Ballard at his best.

Deeply weird and deeply disturbing.