Reviews with content warning for Death - High-Rise

Reviews tagging 'Death'

High-Rise by J.G. Ballard

9 reviews

stockenheim's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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emmacb's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I enjoyed this book at the start, but sort of lost it as I continued to read.
It feels like the sort of book where the author is reeeeeally trying to say something and either it's going over my head or i just straight up disagree.

Or both.

The book feels like a comment on humanity in a similar way to lord of the flies where it's not so much a comment on actual human behaviour as the author's cynical idea of human behaviour that maybe says more about them than it does about humans! Also I had some thoughts on the depiction of women - it wasn't great. OK bad... to a degree that had me wondering if this was all a meta-commentary on people's depiction of humans in literature because surely noone thinks that's actually how women (or men tbh) would behave in the scenarios described in the book.

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bookbelle5_17's review

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dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Review of High Rise

By: J.G. Ballard

Robert Laing, a professor of medicine seeks solace after his divorce in this infamous high-rise built by architect, Anthony Royal, but finds himself getting lost in the madness as things start to go horribly wrong in the High-Rise. Richard Wilder is a documentary filmmaker determine to ascend to the top of the high rise and expose its gritty underbelly. Anthony Royal, the architect of the building, studies the residents and how they respond to the building’s malfunctions as if they were animals in a zoo.

This is a bizarre and dark story about humans giving into their more savage and primitive natures. The characters are metaphorically trapped in this high-rise and even when there is an opportunity to go out into the real world, they make excuses not to. The first main character we’re introduced to, Robert Laing refuses to see the reality around him and even when there is no electricity, and he can’t use the water he doesn’t care. His odor represents the wild nature of the high-rise and he’s pleased with it. It’s as if he’s in a drugged state of mind. Richard Wilder, notices Laing has distanced himself and he observes, “Or was there some other impulse at work—a need to shut away, most of all from oneself, any realization of what was actually happening in the high-rise, so that events there could follow their own logic and get even more out of hang?” Laing when watching people from his balcony leaving for work, finds the “civilized behavior” as “unsettling”. Behavior we see as routine and normal is weird and unnatural to him. Richard Wilder, on the other hand, has become more savage and giving into his more primitive nature. Like the other residents, who are determined to protect their floor as if it’s territory, he will kill anyone perceived as a threat. He doesn’t even see that he needs to get his wife and sons out of high-rise as they’re suffering. He stops caring about them seeing them as a nuisance to his desire to climb the ladder of the high-rise. Anthony Royal is the most interesting of the characters as he watches over the residents, fascinated by them. He’s a scientist exploring humanity at its worst. Some of his thoughts are “The five years of his marriage to Anne had given him a new set of prejudices. Reluctantly, he knew that he despised his fellow residents for the way in which they fitted so willingly into their appointed slots in the apartment building, for their over-developed sense of responsibility, and lack of flamboyance.” He sees himself as superior to the other residents and like Robert Laing craves to be by himself. He also resents the people in the high-rise, “In a sense, the vanguard of a well-to-do and well-educated proletariat of the future, boxed up in these expensive apartments with their elegant furniture and intelligent sensibilities, and no possibility of escape”. When we get to his point of view, he and his wife are packing to leave, but even his wife, Anne, knows Royal can’t bring himself to leave. This shows a group of humans losing themselves in their more primitive pleasures and living in the bubble where reality ceases to exist. The only reality is the high-rise. This reminds me of The Circle by David Eggers. Both stories explore getting trapped in your own fantasy reality and not seeing your identity disappear. It’s basically a cult using pleasure to lure you in. Ballard writes beautifully how savage humans can be and how unhealthy it is to isolate yourself from reality. It is disturbing to read, and some parts made me sick, but it’s a brilliant examination of human nature.

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v_v_v's review

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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yossy_cookie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm not really sure what I just read or if I enjoyed it. This book is incredibly clever and well written, it describes the residents of a new luxury tower block and the "high rise" was an allegory for society in general. Like "Lord Of The Flies", it describes the descent of humans that are confined in an artificial society.

This felt like the kind of book that needs to be studied. I think you could study every page of this book and draw conclusions about everything - the choice of words, the imagery... Even from the main characters being called Wilder (who lives on the lower levels) and Royal (who lives on the top) - I think there is so much you could explore within this book if you wanted to.

There were a lot of parts of this book I didn't enjoy though and often found it heavy going. Some of it is quite disturbing. One relief is that the book itself is quite short.

It's a book I respect, and I think it achieved what the author wanted it to achieve, but I don't think that I would say I particularly enjoyed it. I wouldn't recommend it if you are looking for a light read though.

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