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madihoney's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
An interesting subject, but overall not for me. Not into cars or sexual depravity enough to enjoy this book.
linci's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
Dear Matija,
this was a weird one! Nisam sigurna što je išta od ovog značilo. Sviđa mi se što je jedina sudbina svih tih kolona i kolona svjetlećih karoserija još u 70ima bila da se svi zabijaju u jednom ogromnom autogedonu! Jako puno sluzi, sperme i glavića, možda čak malo i previše :')
this was a weird one! Nisam sigurna što je išta od ovog značilo. Sviđa mi se što je jedina sudbina svih tih kolona i kolona svjetlećih karoserija još u 70ima bila da se svi zabijaju u jednom ogromnom autogedonu! Jako puno sluzi, sperme i glavića, možda čak malo i previše :')
fullmooneaters's review
3.0
Oh man. I was so into this book at first. I love weird people, weird situations, weird fixations, etc. These people are aroused by car crashes, I mean, that’s a little unheard of, right? And I was so excited to explore that. It was so intriguing for me. And I blew through the first half, my eyes glued to the pages, face sparkling, I mean, you could probably hit me in the head with a plank and I’d be like “sorry I’m reading Crash, try again later”.
Then, halfway though, something clicked. I was like, dude get this over with already. They like car crashes, they like sex, I know. I’m sick of the sex scenes, sick of the car crashes, I’m sick of these characters, sick of it all. The last half was a slog to get though once the allure of such a unique story wore off. I read some other peoples reviews when I was about a quarter of the way though, and I was like “how do people NOT like this? I’m so into this, it’s so crazy, so off the wall, I love this wild, abstract book.”
Then halfway though it hit and I understood. I was so done. So so done. I read to about 3/4s of the way though, and powered though another few pages, then once I hit about 30 pages before the end, I skimmed it because I just didn’t care anymore. I wanted it to be over. I wanted to take that bookmark out and put this book back on my shelf so its unfinished state could stop mocking me.
Every time I thought about reading it, I’d come up with every other reason in the world not to finish it. Well I finally did it today, and it wasn’t worth it.
It could’ve been good if the length was halved. Stories like this work in short bursts. It doesn’t help that it was like 75% sex scenes, but they weren’t even, I don’t know, titillating? They felt like if you tried to get a machine to write sex scenes, which I guess is a nice touch considering cars are kinda like unfeeling machines so idk maybe I’m not intelligent enough to grasp the nuance or something.
3/5 for missed potential.
(Just now noticing it took me almost 3 months to finish, wow. I never do that)
Then, halfway though, something clicked. I was like, dude get this over with already. They like car crashes, they like sex, I know. I’m sick of the sex scenes, sick of the car crashes, I’m sick of these characters, sick of it all. The last half was a slog to get though once the allure of such a unique story wore off. I read some other peoples reviews when I was about a quarter of the way though, and I was like “how do people NOT like this? I’m so into this, it’s so crazy, so off the wall, I love this wild, abstract book.”
Then halfway though it hit and I understood. I was so done. So so done. I read to about 3/4s of the way though, and powered though another few pages, then once I hit about 30 pages before the end, I skimmed it because I just didn’t care anymore. I wanted it to be over. I wanted to take that bookmark out and put this book back on my shelf so its unfinished state could stop mocking me.
Every time I thought about reading it, I’d come up with every other reason in the world not to finish it. Well I finally did it today, and it wasn’t worth it.
It could’ve been good if the length was halved. Stories like this work in short bursts. It doesn’t help that it was like 75% sex scenes, but they weren’t even, I don’t know, titillating? They felt like if you tried to get a machine to write sex scenes, which I guess is a nice touch considering cars are kinda like unfeeling machines so idk maybe I’m not intelligent enough to grasp the nuance or something.
3/5 for missed potential.
(Just now noticing it took me almost 3 months to finish, wow. I never do that)
saintakim's review
4.0
a bourgeois couple after boredom and resentment pushed them in ever more in complex - yet predictable - sex games encounter by accident a new fetish. as they explore it, they fall - especially the man - under the influence of a charismatic and alluring dangerous man, who guides them toward deeper and deeper depravity. then the temptation becomes too much, the couple triumph getting out of the whole affair renewed and reinforced.
outside of the shock and curiosity of the premise, this story is hollywoodian in the conservatism of its structure.
movies, car, highways - there's a deep selfishness that permeates this text. isolated individuals unable to connect with others not themselves, loosing any sense of reality : just taking, taking, obsessing and taking.
this is not a perverted book.
this is about the death of perversion.
how every frontier of experience gets contaminated and colonised by consumer culture and middle class conformity. it's about how the most vapid, privileged and self involved people you know, capitalism's cockroaches, will get to everything. how even the voyeur is dead, because he is now a lore-obsessed cinema nerd. nothing is weird, nothing is sacred, nothing is perverse - not even death - everything becomes geometry and numbing tourism.
(also, this book isn't saying car crashes are sexually gratifying - it says they are sexually appealing)
outside of the shock and curiosity of the premise, this story is hollywoodian in the conservatism of its structure.
movies, car, highways - there's a deep selfishness that permeates this text. isolated individuals unable to connect with others not themselves, loosing any sense of reality : just taking, taking, obsessing and taking.
this is not a perverted book.
this is about the death of perversion.
how every frontier of experience gets contaminated and colonised by consumer culture and middle class conformity. it's about how the most vapid, privileged and self involved people you know, capitalism's cockroaches, will get to everything. how even the voyeur is dead, because he is now a lore-obsessed cinema nerd. nothing is weird, nothing is sacred, nothing is perverse - not even death - everything becomes geometry and numbing tourism.
(also, this book isn't saying car crashes are sexually gratifying - it says they are sexually appealing)
beltorrealba's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
medium-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
3.5
thenerdychicano's review
4.0
Even though I much prefer David Cronenberg’s adaptation of this novel, J. G. Ballard is a masterful work of art. It’s been years since I’ve been able to finish a book and even though it took a while I loved every page of this sadistic, sexy, and profound book
jameseplatt's review against another edition
2.0
While I did enjoy the writing(somewhat) and the overall message the thing that ruined the book for me was the repetition. Personally, it was a real struggle to continue reading because after a while it seemed as though the same events occurred over and over again which just small variations. While I will admit that it did kind of hook me back in with the ending it definitely was not enough for me to overlook the boringness that came before it. Also, while the writing was very beautiful there were times that I really had to pause because it was just so outlandishly nasty and I’m not gonna say that this was a recurring element; however, I will say to just be a bit careful going into it. Another issue I have is with the characters, it was very difficult for me to feel anything for these characters and I don’t know if it just because it took me so long to read or if that’s the author’s fault but whenever they were in dire situations I just felt nothing for them.
nobenfre's review
dark
tense
medium-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
3.75
tabula_risa's review against another edition
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75