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vortimer's review
1.0
It's prose is carefully crafted, but this novel deserves it's notoriety - I really didn't enjoy it, therefore I'm giving it one star, despite any literary merits it may possess.
It expands on many of the themes of some of his short stories, and the Atrocity Exhibition, which I also found a struggle to get through, but puts it into a coherent narrative. The narrator Jim Ballard, being drawn into the perverted world of the charismatic monster Vaughan, a former celebrity sexually aroused by cars, car crashes, and ultimately sudden traumatic death.
There is a homoerotic aspect to the relationship that I don't recall in other Ballard works I've read. There is the usual suspicion towards women, universally faithless, and a sort of unconscious upper middle-class distain of the working class, that reminds me of Ian Fleming.
The main and supporting characters are deeply unsympathetic, and all fall under the spell of Vaughan without a struggle.
The whole reading experience left me wanting to wash my brain in warm soapy water.
It expands on many of the themes of some of his short stories, and the Atrocity Exhibition, which I also found a struggle to get through, but puts it into a coherent narrative. The narrator Jim Ballard, being drawn into the perverted world of the charismatic monster Vaughan, a former celebrity sexually aroused by cars, car crashes, and ultimately sudden traumatic death.
There is a homoerotic aspect to the relationship that I don't recall in other Ballard works I've read. There is the usual suspicion towards women, universally faithless, and a sort of unconscious upper middle-class distain of the working class, that reminds me of Ian Fleming.
The main and supporting characters are deeply unsympathetic, and all fall under the spell of Vaughan without a struggle.
The whole reading experience left me wanting to wash my brain in warm soapy water.
latterman's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
spectracommunist's review against another edition
5.0
A marriage of sexuality with technology. Immensely brutal, sensuously erotic and beautiful.
cameronmac21's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
gabgabgabz's review against another edition
3.75
Probably too long as it is very repetitive
Probably too crude
But also a topic I have never come across and Ballard did well with his characters
Probably too crude
But also a topic I have never come across and Ballard did well with his characters
madihoney's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
An interesting subject, but overall not for me. Not into cars or sexual depravity enough to enjoy this book.
linci's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Dear Matija,
this was a weird one! Nisam sigurna što je išta od ovog značilo. Sviđa mi se što je jedina sudbina svih tih kolona i kolona svjetlećih karoserija još u 70ima bila da se svi zabijaju u jednom ogromnom autogedonu! Jako puno sluzi, sperme i glavića, možda čak malo i previše :')
this was a weird one! Nisam sigurna što je išta od ovog značilo. Sviđa mi se što je jedina sudbina svih tih kolona i kolona svjetlećih karoserija još u 70ima bila da se svi zabijaju u jednom ogromnom autogedonu! Jako puno sluzi, sperme i glavića, možda čak malo i previše :')
fullmooneaters's review
3.0
Oh man. I was so into this book at first. I love weird people, weird situations, weird fixations, etc. These people are aroused by car crashes, I mean, that’s a little unheard of, right? And I was so excited to explore that. It was so intriguing for me. And I blew through the first half, my eyes glued to the pages, face sparkling, I mean, you could probably hit me in the head with a plank and I’d be like “sorry I’m reading Crash, try again later”.
Then, halfway though, something clicked. I was like, dude get this over with already. They like car crashes, they like sex, I know. I’m sick of the sex scenes, sick of the car crashes, I’m sick of these characters, sick of it all. The last half was a slog to get though once the allure of such a unique story wore off. I read some other peoples reviews when I was about a quarter of the way though, and I was like “how do people NOT like this? I’m so into this, it’s so crazy, so off the wall, I love this wild, abstract book.”
Then halfway though it hit and I understood. I was so done. So so done. I read to about 3/4s of the way though, and powered though another few pages, then once I hit about 30 pages before the end, I skimmed it because I just didn’t care anymore. I wanted it to be over. I wanted to take that bookmark out and put this book back on my shelf so its unfinished state could stop mocking me.
Every time I thought about reading it, I’d come up with every other reason in the world not to finish it. Well I finally did it today, and it wasn’t worth it.
It could’ve been good if the length was halved. Stories like this work in short bursts. It doesn’t help that it was like 75% sex scenes, but they weren’t even, I don’t know, titillating? They felt like if you tried to get a machine to write sex scenes, which I guess is a nice touch considering cars are kinda like unfeeling machines so idk maybe I’m not intelligent enough to grasp the nuance or something.
3/5 for missed potential.
(Just now noticing it took me almost 3 months to finish, wow. I never do that)
Then, halfway though, something clicked. I was like, dude get this over with already. They like car crashes, they like sex, I know. I’m sick of the sex scenes, sick of the car crashes, I’m sick of these characters, sick of it all. The last half was a slog to get though once the allure of such a unique story wore off. I read some other peoples reviews when I was about a quarter of the way though, and I was like “how do people NOT like this? I’m so into this, it’s so crazy, so off the wall, I love this wild, abstract book.”
Then halfway though it hit and I understood. I was so done. So so done. I read to about 3/4s of the way though, and powered though another few pages, then once I hit about 30 pages before the end, I skimmed it because I just didn’t care anymore. I wanted it to be over. I wanted to take that bookmark out and put this book back on my shelf so its unfinished state could stop mocking me.
Every time I thought about reading it, I’d come up with every other reason in the world not to finish it. Well I finally did it today, and it wasn’t worth it.
It could’ve been good if the length was halved. Stories like this work in short bursts. It doesn’t help that it was like 75% sex scenes, but they weren’t even, I don’t know, titillating? They felt like if you tried to get a machine to write sex scenes, which I guess is a nice touch considering cars are kinda like unfeeling machines so idk maybe I’m not intelligent enough to grasp the nuance or something.
3/5 for missed potential.
(Just now noticing it took me almost 3 months to finish, wow. I never do that)