Crash (edit title)

• Rated 2 stars

“Repetitive, taboo for the sake of being taboo, overly-long. I really wanted to read this as a darkly-poetic statement about the direction in which our technology is taking us and/or alienation and the desire for connection (physical or otherwise), but was just too personally alienated (perhaps intentionally?) by all the previously-mentioned issues to do so. I can appreciate the power of creating characters the reader doesn't entirely relate to, whether for the purpose of exploring a taboo or some sort of disjuncture or any other desired intellectual terrain, but the author's repetition and lack of major progression made it hard to even appreciate this book as an intellectual exercise. I had to push myself to complete it.

I gave it two stars because of Ballard's use of language (he creates some powerfully repugnant analogies/allegories) and exploration of ideas. However, intellectual exercise, alone, does not a successful novel make for this reader.”

• Rated 4 stars

“It's weird and challenging, but is sci-fi in the nightmarish way that Kafka is sci-fi. There's a distinct lack of humor, which the movie thankfully added, but it's still pretty engrossing, even if it's gross. Just because sex is added to the post-modern mix, people are put off, but it's worth reading. If anything, it illuminates the failure of sex to add meaning to life.”

• Rated 0 stars

“Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrggggg”

• Rated 3 stars

“This guy's kind of a pervert.”

• Rated 1 stars

“Misogynistic, pornographic pap. The thing is, I think, Ballard really wants us all to go, "Gosh look how clever you are, breaking down boundaries and shocking us with the links between sex and technology! What a genius!" but actually, he comes across as a bit of a sad sex-obsessed perv.”

• Rated 3 stars

“I read the book after seeing the movie. Found both to very bizarre.”

• Rated 1 stars

“Couldn't even finish half of this book...i'm not sure what the big deal is.”