A while back, I had to submit a sample review while I was trying out for a big reviewer, so here's what I came up with for JG Ballard's Crash, placed here for your entertainment.
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It's a tried and true fact that sex sells, but it is rarely used to sell a scathing critique of our decadent society. However, Crash does just that. The premise of the story alone is enough to get many readers squirming, either in anticipation or terror--the main character, named after Ballard himself, develops a sexual fetish with car crashes that leads him on a series of misadventurous trysts, most notably with fellow disaster enthusiast Dr. Helen Remington, with whom he had his initial crash, and crazed renegade scientist and cult-figurehead Robert Vaughan.
The majority of the characters embody a seeming lack of emotion and non-opposition to free love. The cold, chrome-plated nature of the story and its inhabitants can be seen either as a cautionary peek at where society is headed or a tribute to libertinage in the age of technology. Above all, the book is concerned with the increasing role of technology as a go-between in human interactions.
That said, just because this is a social critique doesn't mean it cannot be appreciated for its steamy love scenes--some of which are quite literally steamy, taking place in crashed vehicles. There is something tender about the technical descriptions Ballard uses to portray his characters as they act out their sexual repertoire in a detached, mechanical fashion. The sex scenes all have a heavy emphasis on scars and injuries, the details of which are mercilessly graphic. The erotic content in this book caters to a niche market, but to those with an inner teratophiliac, it delivers and then some.
If Crash has one weak point, it is the delivery of the climax and ending. From page 1, the first-person narrator tells the reader the tragic ending before recounting the story's events in flashback, and when the reader reaches the conclusion, it feels rushed and unresolved. Compared to the strong development of the characters and world, the plot falls short of expectations towards the end.
In general, this was very different and a good read, especially for those who enjoy a good character story with dystopian elements. I'd definitely recommend it to any open-minded readers who need a break from the ordinary!
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