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A review by tomstbr
High-Rise by J.G. Ballard
2.0
DNF. I'll probably keep listening to it, but just want to mark it as finished at the halfway mark because...
I did not like it. Extremely contrived. Ballard inserts himself very clearly here. He is opposed to urbanisation, and makes much commentary on social norms around work and class. Blah blah. Could have been an interesting concept but he focused too much on the needless details.
Actually, thinking about it, this is similar to Ian McDonald's Luna:
- Contrived encapsulation of humanity.
- Needless detail and excessive verbosity.
- People immediately resorting to violence.
- Unlikeable characters who do ridiculous things.
The only difference is that Ballard forces the book to look at themes, while McDonald just writes a 'what if?' story.
I honestly think that Dredd is a more realistic vision of futuristic high rise life.
I did not like it. Extremely contrived. Ballard inserts himself very clearly here. He is opposed to urbanisation, and makes much commentary on social norms around work and class. Blah blah. Could have been an interesting concept but he focused too much on the needless details.
Actually, thinking about it, this is similar to Ian McDonald's Luna:
- Contrived encapsulation of humanity.
- Needless detail and excessive verbosity.
- People immediately resorting to violence.
- Unlikeable characters who do ridiculous things.
The only difference is that Ballard forces the book to look at themes, while McDonald just writes a 'what if?' story.
I honestly think that Dredd is a more realistic vision of futuristic high rise life.