arensb reviewed Crash: A Novel by J. G. Ballard
Review of 'Crash' on 'Storygraph'
2 stars
Have you ever read porn about someone else's fetish? [b:Crash|70241|Crash|J.G. Ballard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1281416649s/70241.jpg|68058] is a lot like that: it centers on a group of people near London's airport who are sexually turned on by car crashes. There's not an awful lot of plot; a lot of it is just lingering descriptions of sperm splashing on dashboards, or the characters fantasizing about the various ways such-and-such celebrity might die in a car crash.
Several real-world people play roles in this novel, including Albert Camus, Jayne Mansfield (or, rather, their deaths in car accidents), Elizabeth Taylor, and the viewpoint character is named James Ballard, the same as the author.
For all that, I didn't get the sense that this is a real fetish. Rather, it feels as though Ballard was trying to provoke, to see what he could get away with. I sort of understand the appeal of BDSM, or of rape fantasies, but …
Have you ever read porn about someone else's fetish? [b:Crash|70241|Crash|J.G. Ballard|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1281416649s/70241.jpg|68058] is a lot like that: it centers on a group of people near London's airport who are sexually turned on by car crashes. There's not an awful lot of plot; a lot of it is just lingering descriptions of sperm splashing on dashboards, or the characters fantasizing about the various ways such-and-such celebrity might die in a car crash.
Several real-world people play roles in this novel, including Albert Camus, Jayne Mansfield (or, rather, their deaths in car accidents), Elizabeth Taylor, and the viewpoint character is named James Ballard, the same as the author.
For all that, I didn't get the sense that this is a real fetish. Rather, it feels as though Ballard was trying to provoke, to see what he could get away with. I sort of understand the appeal of BDSM, or of rape fantasies, but here, it's the accident itself, and its maiming effect on the human body, that the characters find exciting.
As a novel, it's mediocre. As porn, it's not my kink (and probably not yours, either). I started reading it mainly because it influenced a few musicians (like The Normal), and continued reading it after the first few chapters because, well, it was like staring at an accident.