Monday, August 07, 2006

Revisiting Crash?

Oooop! It seems I've upset some followers of J.G. Ballard with the review I wrote of Crash some time back, confessing that I put it down after the first fifty pages. Had no idea that Ballard had such a passionate following and am getting a grilling in the comments and on the Ballardian website.

Vaughan who runs the website has set me a challenge I don't think I can refuse:
sharon, i’ll do a deal with you…read the whole book and i’ll print your unvarnished opinion here on this site. i’d be interested to know if your view would alter.
Once life is back to normal (or the nearest version of "normal" my life is capable of) and my sister and her family have gone home, I will pick Crash up again. And I challenge any readers of my blog who have not read it yet, to read it along with me.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

it's hardly a grilling, sharon! seems pretty light-hearted to me. and the thing that seems to be causing amusement is the reader who called ballard a wanker and ate sushi to get over the book...

bibliobibuli said...

don't worry, barry, i'm enjoying the exchange of ideas and viewpoints ...

Anonymous said...

After the post in question, I went out to buy Crash and absolutely enjoyed it, though it is true that after so many descriptions of sexual acts I merely skimmed over a good many paragraphs.

So good that I read it again right after I finished the first time! I read most of the book in a car (I carpool to work), and later on, I realized just how much of my days -- and interactions -- are spent sitting in a car.

I find myself contemplating the book every now and then. It is one of those reads that linger in your mind purely for its outlandish yet perfectly plausible story -- the other day I saw a nasty accident and wondered if someone had found it erotic.

Would love to compare notes with you!

bibliobibuli said...

machinist - let's have a "crash" get-together with whoever is interested to eat and discuss (persuade mrs ammar and hubby?) the book a month or so hence??

Anonymous said...

that would definitely be fun... at the airport perhaps?

Coudal Partners' Field-Tested Books project is very interesting.