false 70256 11 In <i>High-Rise</i>, Ballard once again attacks our uneasy truce with the artificial. Four futuristic high-rise apartment buildings have been built. Catering to the wealthy, these buildings are in fact enclosed worlds, featuring day-care, schooling, swimming pools and grocery stores. As the new tenants adjust to life aboard one of the high-rise complexes, violence escalates and members from adjacent floors break off into tribal factions that roam the corridors at night. It gets more frightening and visceral (if a bit predictable); <i>High-Rise</i> is the 21st century's <i>Lord of the Flies</i>, a sometimes profound statement on what we are doing with technology -- and what technology is doing to us. Additionally, it is a scathing commentary on leisure culture (a topic Ballard returns to in <i>Cocaine Nights</i>). If you haven't yet read Ballard, <i>High-Rise</i> is a great starting point. 2270643 book 1975 High-Rise (Flamingo Modern Classic) total:449|5:146|4:171|3:102|2:25|1:5| 449 1775 765 57 3 3 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Dec 05 13:02:22 -0800 2007 Tue Dec 11 13:48:27 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 3 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1992 Sun Dec 09 12:02:24 -0800 2007 Sun Dec 09 12:53:49 -0800 2007 Lord of the Flies style battle for survival. Consumerism, class struggle, the ingrained tribal tendencies of humans and the...more...]]> 3 3 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 22 09:36:18 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 28 07:38:48 -0700 2009
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Whenever I read JG Ballard I get an uneasy feeling, a feeling of unrest, of apprehension about the world in which we live. It's as if the ...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Nov 16 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 16 09:37:48 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 16 09:50:48 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sun Aug 17 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 18 10:30:23 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 18 05:14:42 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Fri Jul 13 17:34:25 -0700 2007 Sat May 23 11:10:53 -0700 2009 reality TV vibe; the television producer with warpaint, stalking the corridors of the high-rise with his video camera "shooting" his prey.

Unfortunately, this film will probably be dismissed as Fight Club...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Feb 06 15:11:46 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 06 15:17:08 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 03:13:15 -0700 2009 Wed May 20 09:26:10 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Apr 04 00:00:00 -0800 1993 Mon Apr 20 19:24:09 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 19:24:52 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue May 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 17:46:49 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 17:49:23 -0700 2009
It sort of blows my mind just ho...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun May 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 15 10:29:58 -0700 2009 Sun May 17 10:35:53 -0700 2009
What is it with the sixties and sevent...more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Oct 14 06:27:36 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 06:27:36 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Jul 26 14:15:06 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 10 18:23:13 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Jun 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri May 22 07:40:37 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 11 07:55:42 -0700 2009
No matter how many books like this (breakdown of social norms into violence/chaos similar to Blindness), it never ceases to scare the crap out of me because I know this kind of thing is possible even if this story is sup...more...]]> 3 1 true false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Nov 11 20:20:54 -0800 2007 Sat Nov 24 21:16:41 -0800 2007 http://electric-pages.livejournal.com/64...]]> 1 0 false false Fri Jul 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 03 10:23:43 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 31 11:05:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Apr 01 21:03:40 -0700 2008 Tue Apr 01 21:42:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Apr 04 00:57:46 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 04 02:55:27 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Oct 24 07:32:38 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 18:48:23 -0700 2009
All I've got to say here is that Ballard is relentlessly grim, shamelessly depicting the descent from "civilization" to the "state of nature"; scarequoted because I'm not really sure th...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Nov 24 15:33:53 -0800 2008 Mon Nov 24 15:40:08 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=70256