Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

High-Rise by J.G. Ballard

4 reviews

richardw2024's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I'm not really sure what I just read or if I enjoyed it. This book is incredibly clever and well written, it describes the residents of a new luxury tower block and the "high rise" was an allegory for society in general. Like "Lord Of The Flies", it describes the descent of humans that are confined in an artificial society.

This felt like the kind of book that needs to be studied. I think you could study every page of this book and draw conclusions about everything - the choice of words, the imagery... Even from the main characters being called Wilder (who lives on the lower levels) and Royal (who lives on the top) - I think there is so much you could explore within this book if you wanted to.

There were a lot of parts of this book I didn't enjoy though and often found it heavy going. Some of it is quite disturbing. One relief is that the book itself is quite short.

It's a book I respect, and I think it achieved what the author wanted it to achieve, but I don't think that I would say I particularly enjoyed it. I wouldn't recommend it if you are looking for a light read though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Drug use and Cannibalism

domreadsb00ks's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Society collapses and pure prinal urges reign in the crumbling remains of a once promising new skyscraper. While Ballard provided an interesting prediction on how quickly people crumble in the face of their reality collapsing, his chaotic writing style threw me off, and the constant dehumanisation of the female characters stopped me from enjoying it that much.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, and Murder

twilightsun1125's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Cannibalism, and Murder

heathermesley's review against another edition

adventurous dark reflective fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Rape, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Torture, Violence, Excrement, and Vomit