Nothing could have ever prepared me for J.G. Ballard's Crash. It's up to you if I'm exaggerating but seriously, it's unlike anything I've ever read before. This is a late review and I have labored finishing through what could've been a breezy read. The second-hand copy I found in one of the booksales here and bought for 35 pesos is not the book cover posted here. I could've dismissed it even for its abstract cover on a usual abrupt breeze-through in the pile's mishmash of forgotten titles. But Anthony Burgess, author of one of my favorite books A Clockwork Orange, sorta says something about the grandeur of Ballard's imagination, and the three-pronged "blood, semen, and engine coolant" sure sparked a hell of interest (*evil grin*). The 1996 film adaptation is directed by David Cronenberg and starred James Spader and Holly Hunter. Crash narrates the ultra-unique and violent adventures of then-TV scientist Vaughan and his avid friend-follower James. Vaughan believes that humanity's fate is in the fast lane and death ultimately is a malevolent but orchestra-ic concoction of car-crash and human carnage. Vaughan envisions his final death scene with Elizabeth Taylor, while experimenting on different variations of automobile collisions. Pretty grand, huh? It solders violent sex into the concept of orgasm and automobile crash as a perfect junction in achieving a different state of nirvana. In a dreamy scene inside a car, James watches Vaughan and his wife perform rigorous, mechanical sex while the automobile is car-washed. Some fetishistic sicko, huh? But no, like the 'underground literature' that it claims it is, the novel is uncompromising in its imagination, and for believing so much in the notion of Vaughan's obsession, this is a great diversion. The psychological exploration of man is just an after-taste. You should be entranced in the hallucinatory and hypnotic ride.
5 comments:
hi, Jay. I like you already because you also love A Clocwork Orange =)
I haven't read Crash but I've seen the movie. It turned me on. I'm probably one of those people who get turned on by blood and gore. Should I slip into my straightjacket now? hehehe
JG Ballard is next on my list though. I've been eyeing Cocaine Nights and Kingdom Come at Virgin the past few weeks but I'm still in the mood for some lad lit and comedy. August seems to be a good month for darkness, we'll see =)
I like Clockwork, both the book and movie. The book because reading that nadsat is such fun. The movie because no one can bring adaptation as good as Kubrick, plus considering how the movie stirred controversy when it was shown. I've read somewhere it took 20 something years before it finally got released in the UK. And oh, I saw Malcolm McDowell guest-star in Heroes.
Like the class in violence myself in movies esp. the Scorsese, Tarantino-Rodriguez stuff.
Tell me about it! I'm a Kubrick fan (ie my G4M handle is Kubrick lol). His style is so evident even in his earlier works and all his films (well, those that I have seen) are masterfully done.
On violence...I love Fight Club. After watching that movie I wanted to get punched on the face, after reading the book, I wanted to start my own club heehe
But violence aside, what gets me interested in a movie is if it challenges the beliefs and norms of society. And that's why A Clockwork Orange is a gem, and so is Fight Club and Contact.
I'm reading Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer right now, and the 'mangled' English is as enjoyable as Nadsat. Oh, and I did buy Cocaine Nights already hehehe couldn't resist it =)
I've been meaning to look for the film adaptation of that one (EII)but haven't read the book either.
Hay naku, ipapamana ko na lang sayo hehehe ok?
I might finish EII in two weeks hehehe bagal kasi ako magbasa e. And the DVD is just waiting for me at Virgin.
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