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A review by mairispaceship
High-Rise by J.G. Ballard
Did not finish book.
I can tell "High Rise" is an objectively good book, I just didn't like it that much. For that reason I'm rating it 1 stars and throwing in 2 bonus stars for skill of writing, storytelling and out of respect for the author.
I think the book is supposed to be a critique of brutalist, high rise buildings (rude! I live in one), but to me it read like a critique of talking to your neighbours. Which is fine, I barely talk to mine, and it's unrealistic that a whole tower block would have descended into the madness it did if people had just minded their own business. But that's the power of storytelling! You can make unrealistic things real if you want.
If I had to highlight one redeeming feature it would be the ending. It really felt like the story was going nowhere, just descending further and further into a place I didn't want to go... Then in a few lines a kind of 'moral of the story' appeared. It was an interesting literary device.
The book wasn't terrible, I just really didn't enjoy it!
I think the book is supposed to be a critique of brutalist, high rise buildings (rude! I live in one), but to me it read like a critique of talking to your neighbours. Which is fine, I barely talk to mine, and it's unrealistic that a whole tower block would have descended into the madness it did if people had just minded their own business. But that's the power of storytelling! You can make unrealistic things real if you want.
If I had to highlight one redeeming feature it would be the ending. It really felt like the story was going nowhere, just descending further and further into a place I didn't want to go... Then in a few lines a kind of 'moral of the story' appeared. It was an interesting literary device.
The book wasn't terrible, I just really didn't enjoy it!