Reviews

The Atrocity Exhibition by J.G. Ballard

scarletkeiller's review against another edition

this book is completely and utterly unbearable, insufferable and pretty much unreadable 

angus_mckeogh's review against another edition

2.0

I really found some of the ideas and concepts in the book fascinating and weird. Pure Ballardian stuff. However, call me old-fashioned, but I prefer a smooth narrative. I still want a story to convey the ideas not just a jumble of thoughts crowded together. Thus this "novel" only warrants a couple of stars on my end.

vortimer's review against another edition

1.0

I've read a lot of Ballard (but I'm yet to tackle Crash, which this seems to be a companion piece too) so I know he can be challenging and disturbing, but this is just a mess of death, sex, sadism, perversion and car crashes. Reminds me of Naked Lunch, which is mentioned in this work, and I also hated.

robfarren's review against another edition

3.0

Is this even a book?

heathcliff_burton's review

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

aria11's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Sexual violence

Minor: Rape

tomstbr's review

3.0

I think I enjoyed the footnotes more than the "story". Intriguing nonetheless, and very thought provoking.

lsparrow's review

2.0

This book felt like I had come across a box of odd poloroids someone had left out, in no particular order with some clear themes and vaguely familiar subjects but completely out of context (and if the pictures are made of words rather than visual images). I am not sure I understood or liked what I understood but I still feel fascinated by the style of writing.

hieronymusbotched's review

4.0

I can't imagine a book I'd be more hesitant to recommend. Who is this for? Me, the metric being maybe one person in a thousand. Extremely interesting, disturbing, prescient, but wildly non-linear and not so much plotted as just an idea, crushed and mangled into an artillery shell, then fired blindly into the future.

Good(?)

smilejosh's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Similar to Naked Lunch, it’s incomprehensible at times, a bit repetitive, gross and, a bit funny. I liked most of the book, but some chapters in the middle were a bit boring. The Ronald Regan chapter is pretty funny though. The last two chapters about a facelift and breast reduction are gross. The main takeaway is science is the new porn, and media is bad.