Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

High-Rise by J.G. Ballard

9 reviews

hollywatson's review

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challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

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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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hkas's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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drhoagie's review

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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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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mariska17's review

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challenging dark reflective sad 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

3.75

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slipp99's review

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dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Lord of the flies meets modern day society

Listened to this read by Tom Hiddleston. Great experience but not sure if I absorbed the book very well bc I kept getting lost in his voice and I’m not good at auditory learning lol. Seemed really good and well written but take my review w a biased grain of salt. It twas dark tho 
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twilightsun1125's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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novelbloglover's review

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

 
Book Review 

Title: High Rise 

Author: J. G. Ballard 

Genre: Sci-Fi 

Rating: **** 

Review: I didn’t know much about High Rise going into it other than I was sure it was made into a movie that I watched and I remember being really confused by it. However, the opening line to the novel was probably one of the most gripping I have ever read. We learn straight away we are following Doctor Robert Laing, who in the last three months has watched the high rise descend into chaos which is where we join him as he reminisces about moving into the high rise which eating the hind leg of a dog. Robert explains he moved into the building at the urging of his elder sister who also lived in the building due to its self-contained nature which suits Robert’s withdrawn personality and that almost everyone living there is quite well off and should be the kind of people Robert should be mixing with. We learn that Robert’s apartment sits on the 25th floor which is quite high up but not close enough to the top as he explains about a party that place on the 31st floor which is either the top or very close to it. Robert also introduces us to some other characters that are going to be important as the novel progresses. The first is Charlotte Melville, a young mother of a six year old boy who Robert is contemplating having an affair with. There is also Richard Wilder, a tenant from the 2nd floor who lives with his wife, Helen, and their children and finally, Anthony Royal, the architect for the building and the current tenant of the penthouse. Through these characters minus Royal, we learn that there is already some unrest among the tenants aimed at those living on the lower floors, this is shown through the Wilder’s as Helen is often targeted by people from the upper floors about her children, which might be because the majority of the tenants don’t have children and are rich to boot. Richard and Charlotte seem to be putting something together but we don’t know what yet since Robert doesn’t really pay that much attention to things that don’t concern him. We can also see there are issues with the building itself that Royal should have fixed before people moved in and they are beginning to cause bigger problems so before we even get to the point where Robert is eating a dog, we can see things aren’t as good as they appear on the surface and they are only going to get worse. 

As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Robert recalls the events on one blackout on the 9th, 10th and 11th floors which caused chaos even though it only lasted for 15 minutes but he remembers helping to fish the body of a dead Afghan hound out of the pool. This struck me as strange for two reasons, one dogs are pretty good swimmers and it could have managed to swim around for 15 minutes or even remove itself from the pool which means that someone must have killed it. Richard Wilder is present at this time and he has a clear dislike for the people from the upper floors which would make him a suspect been as Afghan hounds are really expensive dogs and could only belong to one of the people from the upper floors. For a few days after the death of the dog there is a calm that descends on the building before it erupts again. However, this time there seems to be an energy crackling between those on the top 10 floors and those on the bottom 10 floors and Robert witnesses these events first hand. People for every floor seem to be closing ranks only associating with the people on their floor and a few others. This escalates to the point where one day a young woman is harassed and beaten up by the members of the higher floor and while Robert does try to intervene, he is one man and a hoard of others. Most of the residents even Charlotte are concerned about the escalating tensions especially those with young children, however, they all witness the death of a tenant from the 40th floor. It is unclear yet whether he jumped to his death or he was pushed but given the rising amount of violence present within the high rise, it isn’t a huge leap in logic for us to assume he was pushed. Witnessing all this from Robert’s point of view is interesting as he isn’t heavily invested in the events so we witness them from an outsider’s perspective with a large amount of detachment which makes it really difficult to get to know any of the characters besides Robert. By the time Richard return as he has been away for work, he realises how much the high rise has changed in only a few weeks. It has now gotten to the point where the children aren’t going to school and Helen won’t let their two sons out without being watched by more than one person as she is afraid the children and herself will be attacked. Richard tries to dismiss this believing it will get better much like Robert but he is drawn back to killing the dog in the pool, why he did and the message he hoped to send with it which has no escalated involving almost everyone, nearly 2000 people in the high rise. 

As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Richard is beginning to see with more clarity that the high rise will only continue to descend into further chaos unless something is done to stop it. He tries to get access to the upper floors and the amenities they should be allowed to visit but finds himself barred and even beaten at one point. He isn’t the only resident from the lower floors to suffer through this as it is becoming more common for people to lash out violently at one another. However, Richard wants to make life inside the high rise a documentary to show what they are really going through but in doing so he pulls himself further away from the wife and children who need him more than ever right now. We also see that those on the middle class floors (between 10 and 35) including Robert are not openly abusing the lower floors like the people on the top floors are but they are choosing to turn a blind eye to it and in Robert’s case he distances himself from Richard but not really talking to him and when he does, he refers to him by his surname Wilder instead. During all this Anthony Royal and his young wife, Anne are preparing to leave the high rise which is something long overdue in their case as they have been targeted more than anyone because he had a hand in designed the building and therefore must be responsible for its faults. However, Anthony finds himself intrigued by the new social order than is emerging within the high rise and wants to watch it come to completion. 

As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, there doesn’t seem to be much of a point to the book other than making a point about classism but I am finding it quite entertaining to watch what the characters get up to as everything descends further and further into utter chaos. We get a lot more information on the state of the high rise from Anthony Royal who sees Robert as the high rise’s only true resident as he is isolated within his apartment and doesn’t really interact with any one else unless it is necessary which Anthony appreciates. With violence escalating it isn’t long before both Anthony’s dog and wife are targeted which leads to taking some control over the upper floors and forging alliances with the upper part of the middle portion of the building to create a buffer between them and the lower floors. Anthony also finds a measure of sexual satisfaction in others coming to him and him only for help and his wife doesn’t disapprove of this as he compares himself to a tribal leader who has the first choice of the women available and can take anyone, he wishes which is how he ends up falling into bed with Jane while his wife watches. The occasional acts of violence have now evolved into an almost all out war between the upper and lower classes of the high rise but all the residents take some pleasure in the fact they aren’t isolated from each other anymore even if they choose to cut themselves off from the outside world but turning off their phones, firing any staff that don’t live in the high rise and many other small things that makes it seem like even though the residents complain about the violence and there is an atmosphere of fear, they are enjoying their current position. 

As we cross into the second half of the novel, there is a transition beginning with the residents, while some have chosen to leave the majority of them are staying. This causes many like Robert, Richard, and Anthony to begin seeing the world outside of the high rise as the fantasy world and the world inside the high rise is the real one. This leads many people to abandon their jobs or school so they don’t have to leave the high rise but it has also created problems since they have cut themselves off from the outside world. We see this clearly through Richard who realises that his wife and children are starving and when he goes to the supermarket on the 10th floor, he finds the only edible thing there is pet food. When he questions the cashier about it she explains that no one has put in any orders for new deliveries, presumably to keep the “outsiders” away but this also means sooner or later the tenants are going to have to break the illusion or resort to more drastic measures of keeping themselves alive and as we know Robert was eating a dog in the opening chapter of the novel, we can safely assume that they resorted to drastic measures rather than breaking the illusions they have built around themselves. We can also see that Richard is slowly working his way up through the high rise as he has managed to secure a base on the 17th floor with the intention of going higher by using the women he has been bedding as an entry way which eventually lands him in Charlotte’s abandoned apartment on the 26th floor. We’ve briefly moved away from Robert as he seems to have barricaded himself in his apartment with his sister who he is having strange feelings towards as he wants to protect her but there is something more going on here and we can see it reflected in some of the other residents as well. During the ascent from the 17th to the 26th floor, Richard is also in possession of a shotgun which might be a signal that things might be taking a much more violent turn very soon. However, it is interesting to note from the outside not many people have realises there is anything going on in the high rise as when people questions them all the residents despite their in-fighting band together in order to maintain the appearance that everything is ok. 

As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, things are getting really dark as it was predicted the food would run out and they have turned to picking off the numerous pets within the high-rise as a food source, however, most of these live on the upper floors where Royal is being deposed by Pangbourne but we also learn that Richard’s wife, Helen is up there working as a servant in order to keep herself and her sons alive. With Royal no longer in control of the building, everyone begins to turn slightly feral as we re-join Robert who has been barricaded in his apartment for a while taking care of his sister who is now sick only leaving to find food and water which have been really hard to come by in the high rise. Although it is about now you realises, they aren’t trapped in the high rise they can leave if they want as we see some residents still go to work, the police still come by and yet no one says anything that might destroy the world they have built and most of the residents are happy with this even though they have next to nothing Robert included. He also rescues Eleanor who seems to be the only source of food for her cat but she does this willing to keep the animal alive. I found it so strange to read these scenes because the residents act like they can never leave the building even though they can which means a lot of their issues are self-imposed like the lack of food and water while other could be fixed if they were willing to bring outsiders back into the high rise and most of the depravity the residents have fallen into would disappear with the exceptions of the few individuals who seem to enjoy inflicting cruelty and pain upon others. 

As we cross into the final section of the novel, we get to see the three major storylines come together in some disturbing ways as Royal is killed by Wilder who thinks this whole thing is a game. Wilder I assume, is in turn eaten by the tribe of cannibal women and children living on the roof which leaves on Robert who has managed to survive and survive well in addition to keeping alive two women and a cat. These two women have become his lovers and one of them is his sister but the most disturbing part of this novel is seeing Robert where he was at the becoming on the novel, only this time we learn he is observing one of the other high rise buildings opposite theirs as they have a power cut on one of the lower floors just like they had and he knows they will descend the same way they did and he is ready to welcome them to this new life. High Rise was in truth a dark and trippy ride into the human psyche and it was done really well if you have read something like Requiem for a Dream really similar vibes and I can’t wait to rewatch the movie with Jeremy Irons as Royal and Tom Hiddleston as Robert now that I understand the source material better. I would recommend this book but prepare yourself for a dark and often unsettling read. 
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