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romination's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Perhaps the most surprising thing about Crash to me is how little it gave me that watching the movie before hadn't already provided. There's a faithfulness in the adaptation, deviating at times but in ways that feel more like "here's how we can show this better in film" where I think some of the moments that are exclusive to the book work best in the written word. The visit to the collision research center, for example, I think works best in the book, as I think the site of Vaughn masturbating in a crowd of people who don't notice him while we watch and rewatch crash footage in slow motion. Better the film's addition of the slow motion, almost dreamy sequence where they walk through the massive crash site, taking photos as they do so.
Crash still stands out to me as one of the strongest meditations on how technology changes our lives, and then, how we begin to change around this technology, and the various ways it all this happens together. The film focuses in on cars as the way to discuss this, but then, what better technology to do so with? Cars have shaped our lives, shaped our worlds, shaped our cities, shaped much of the global climate change that we're currently living through. Many people spend over an hour every day in their cars commuting to and from work; there's that joke in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where Ford thinks that cars are the dominant life form on Earth, hence his choice in name. There's an off-hand sentence in this book about being stuck in a traffic jam and the narrator comments how much energy is being expended in that moment just for everyone to stand still. We are in car hell and we built it for ourselves and we strapped ourselves into needing this machine so that escaping seems like an impossibility.
It's a little surprising that this book is set in the UK since when it comes to Car Hell I usually think much more about US, but wherever there's these kinds of freeways and these kinds of overpasses, you encounter it. The book describes them as "cathedral-like" and you remember that yeah at a point this kind of monumental architecture used to exist only for certain works, things meant to inspire awe, and yet now we're driving over this massive work dedicated to cars and find no awe in it, and instead annoyance. There's graffiti on the concrete barriers on my way to work that read "you don't really do this every day, do you?" I don't. But the days I do, I gaze at it while my car is moving at 1 MPH and sigh.
For how sexual and human-focused this is I think it's interesting how it uses so many anatomical terms for sexual organs and things, describing stuff in a way that makes me wrinkle my nose even as I know it's true while discussing mucus membranes and anal vents in strict anatomical terms instead of the sexual/slang terms we usually do; I don't know if this is a Ballard thing in general or if this is a way of showing a view of humans in a similar way to how he describes the vehicles as well. He might as well be describing exhaust ports and ignition systems.
Vaughn is a fascinating character. He's incredibly disgusting but also has a kind of charisma and magnetism to him that you really feel through Ballard's narration. But the descriptions of him show someone scarred and changed by his passions, and we read it through Ballard's desire for him and the strange magnetism he has. I think it's because he's a man so focused on his desires and his needs that he manages to win people over who might otherwise see his disgusting pants, stained with semen and blood, the open wounds on his hands, the ulcer on his lip, and so Vaughn becomes in a sense a cypher for some kind of new sexuality they never had experienced before.
This new sexuality is also tied in with the injuries that arise from the car crash that Ballard experiences at the start. Unlike the sexual aspect of this, the removed medical language of the injuries caused by the accidents makes it seem much worse. It's one thing to hear "his stomach split open", it's another when it, dispassionately but vividly, talks about the mucus membranes, the muscles distended, the other bodily fluids that come out of it as well.
Married to this is the description of what happens to the cars. And we see the way the fluids leak out of it as well, and can at times mingle with the human's fluids that drain out of our bodies. That the way our bones break can feel like it's in tune with the ways the cars break. That these automobiles are an extension of our bodies, our sexualities, and how they combine together. How many people have had their first sexual experiences in cars; and if not first, how many people experience car-based erotic memories at some point in their lives? Do we not show cars at shows with models in skimpy outfits lounging on them, inviting us to compare their curves to the machined curves of the vehicles? When we sit behind the wheel of a car, are we not invited to treat it as a living thing, something to be tamed and merged with?
The book feels as cynical as possible about this merging of man and machine here. Vehicles seem like the end of something. That so many of us are going to wind up dead behind the wheel is not something lost on Ballard even 50 years ago. Over 4,000 people died on Texas roadways just last year, which was DOWN from the previous year. That's nearly 11 traffic deaths a day. Car Hell is here to take us all with it.
Crash still stands out to me as one of the strongest meditations on how technology changes our lives, and then, how we begin to change around this technology, and the various ways it all this happens together. The film focuses in on cars as the way to discuss this, but then, what better technology to do so with? Cars have shaped our lives, shaped our worlds, shaped our cities, shaped much of the global climate change that we're currently living through. Many people spend over an hour every day in their cars commuting to and from work; there's that joke in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy where Ford thinks that cars are the dominant life form on Earth, hence his choice in name. There's an off-hand sentence in this book about being stuck in a traffic jam and the narrator comments how much energy is being expended in that moment just for everyone to stand still. We are in car hell and we built it for ourselves and we strapped ourselves into needing this machine so that escaping seems like an impossibility.
It's a little surprising that this book is set in the UK since when it comes to Car Hell I usually think much more about US, but wherever there's these kinds of freeways and these kinds of overpasses, you encounter it. The book describes them as "cathedral-like" and you remember that yeah at a point this kind of monumental architecture used to exist only for certain works, things meant to inspire awe, and yet now we're driving over this massive work dedicated to cars and find no awe in it, and instead annoyance. There's graffiti on the concrete barriers on my way to work that read "you don't really do this every day, do you?" I don't. But the days I do, I gaze at it while my car is moving at 1 MPH and sigh.
For how sexual and human-focused this is I think it's interesting how it uses so many anatomical terms for sexual organs and things, describing stuff in a way that makes me wrinkle my nose even as I know it's true while discussing mucus membranes and anal vents in strict anatomical terms instead of the sexual/slang terms we usually do; I don't know if this is a Ballard thing in general or if this is a way of showing a view of humans in a similar way to how he describes the vehicles as well. He might as well be describing exhaust ports and ignition systems.
Vaughn is a fascinating character. He's incredibly disgusting but also has a kind of charisma and magnetism to him that you really feel through Ballard's narration. But the descriptions of him show someone scarred and changed by his passions, and we read it through Ballard's desire for him and the strange magnetism he has. I think it's because he's a man so focused on his desires and his needs that he manages to win people over who might otherwise see his disgusting pants, stained with semen and blood, the open wounds on his hands, the ulcer on his lip, and so Vaughn becomes in a sense a cypher for some kind of new sexuality they never had experienced before.
This new sexuality is also tied in with the injuries that arise from the car crash that Ballard experiences at the start. Unlike the sexual aspect of this, the removed medical language of the injuries caused by the accidents makes it seem much worse. It's one thing to hear "his stomach split open", it's another when it, dispassionately but vividly, talks about the mucus membranes, the muscles distended, the other bodily fluids that come out of it as well.
Married to this is the description of what happens to the cars. And we see the way the fluids leak out of it as well, and can at times mingle with the human's fluids that drain out of our bodies. That the way our bones break can feel like it's in tune with the ways the cars break. That these automobiles are an extension of our bodies, our sexualities, and how they combine together. How many people have had their first sexual experiences in cars; and if not first, how many people experience car-based erotic memories at some point in their lives? Do we not show cars at shows with models in skimpy outfits lounging on them, inviting us to compare their curves to the machined curves of the vehicles? When we sit behind the wheel of a car, are we not invited to treat it as a living thing, something to be tamed and merged with?
The book feels as cynical as possible about this merging of man and machine here. Vehicles seem like the end of something. That so many of us are going to wind up dead behind the wheel is not something lost on Ballard even 50 years ago. Over 4,000 people died on Texas roadways just last year, which was DOWN from the previous year. That's nearly 11 traffic deaths a day. Car Hell is here to take us all with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, and Car accident
cordeliana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Excrement, Vomit, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
yurt's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Biphobia, Child death, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Lesbophobia, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation
greenan26's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, and Car accident
olivemypuns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Car accident
Moderate: Gore, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, and Self harm
krankliuk's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Pedophilia
red_starlights's review against another edition
Crash randomly introduces elements of pedophilia for seemingly no reason. Maybe Ballard intended to shock the reader further, but personally it just felt wholly unnecessary and turned me off. To much eroticism for me, as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, and Suicide
fbm_charlie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Sex is disgusting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Pedophilia and Rape
earsore's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.25
zzz... chromium... zzz... semen... zzz... Elizabeth Taylor...
An absolute waste of time on all fronts. Ballard was so hellbent on trying to be shocking that the entire purpose of the story falls utterly flat. The characters are so two-dimensional that you don't give too much of a shit when they go crazy, because they had no personalities and no reason to be invested in. There were a few parts I felt engaged, despite the utterly detatched tone of our narrator: I chuckled 2 times, and I felt disgust at about 3-4 sections of visceral accident descriptions (mostly near the end). Other than that, the prose was so abhorrently repetitive that it was putting me to sleep more than it was shocking me.
And I don't see his whole allegory for technology taking over human excitement/lust. My man, it was the 70s, your only frame of reference was cars!!! It does not feel clear at all, no matter how true it is today. It's poorly executed on all fronts and a shocking letdown compared to High-Rise.
An absolute waste of time on all fronts. Ballard was so hellbent on trying to be shocking that the entire purpose of the story falls utterly flat. The characters are so two-dimensional that you don't give too much of a shit when they go crazy, because they had no personalities and no reason to be invested in. There were a few parts I felt engaged, despite the utterly detatched tone of our narrator: I chuckled 2 times, and I felt disgust at about 3-4 sections of visceral accident descriptions (mostly near the end). Other than that, the prose was so abhorrently repetitive that it was putting me to sleep more than it was shocking me.
And I don't see his whole allegory for technology taking over human excitement/lust. My man, it was the 70s, your only frame of reference was cars!!! It does not feel clear at all, no matter how true it is today. It's poorly executed on all fronts and a shocking letdown compared to High-Rise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, and Car accident
Moderate: Drug use, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Pedophilia, Excrement, Vomit, and Stalking
elizalk's review against another edition
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
this book was traumatic and unenlightening
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Gore, Blood, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail