Helpful Score: 1
Very avant-garde psycho-science-fiction story of car-crash sex fetishists. Yes, that's right! Surprisingly very readable basis for the movie of the same name.
It seems like I keep hearing about this book in various literary circles, including some people whose opinions I respect. When I read it, my first response was to be a little shocked. It's sex scenes are intense, graphic, and constant. Second, I was a little grossed out. How many times do I need to hear about semen dripping off some part of a smashed car? But obviously the book was meant to be disturbing. The shock value is necessary. But as I reflected on this, what else is there besides the shock value? The plot is actually almost nonexistant. The sex and violence become repetitive, and at the end, the book is incredibly dull. Perhaps I'm missing something, but I suspect the weirdness of the novel works to conceal the utter tedium of this pointless exercise in twisted eroticism.
Brilliant Ballard. Not for everyone and definitely not your traditional sci-fi, but if you like weird and psychological stuff then maybe this is for you. Hey, David Cronenberg did the movie for this novel, enough said. I place Ballard right next to Philip K. Dick for this type of novel.
I found this book very hard to read, i read more than half of it and decided that i didnt even care what happened. The characters are not believable in the least, the story is very slow, and lots of repetitive scenes involving cars and sexual intercourse. Although i expected something dark and edgy, this book has as much edge as a butter knife.
