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A review by stephibabes
Concrete Island by J.G. Ballard
3.0
I nearly gave up on this. Several times. But I have a tendancy to persevere. Early doors I hated Maitland. I mean, I know we're hardly supposed to admired or like him, but my feelings towards him made it hard to become invested in the story.
That said, I am glad I carried on. Hang on, maybe 'glad' is the wrong word. The further I read, the further I was compelled by my own correct intuition that Maitland was a despicable character. But I guess the thing I meant to take away is how easy it is for us to be corrupted into atrocious behaviour when our back is against the wall. A cold, hard, mean world will produce just that? Meh, I probably needed something lighter and more nuanced in this particular moment of my life. I reckon if I had read this in my early twenties I would have lapped it up.
That said, I am glad I carried on. Hang on, maybe 'glad' is the wrong word. The further I read, the further I was compelled by my own correct intuition that Maitland was a despicable character. But I guess the thing I meant to take away is how easy it is for us to be corrupted into atrocious behaviour when our back is against the wall. A cold, hard, mean world will produce just that? Meh, I probably needed something lighter and more nuanced in this particular moment of my life. I reckon if I had read this in my early twenties I would have lapped it up.