One of the great allegorical novels of the twentieth century, Crash, originally published in 1973, is one of the definitive mile-markers of the transition from modernism to post-modernism.  A novel in the grand tradition of the science fiction cautionary tale, Crash places the car at the center of technologically acculturated concsciousness.  Ballard's clinically precise language is pitch perfect in the creation and presentation of a milleau in which human sexuality is channelled through an eroticization of the automobile in which the act of driving becomes the equivalent of love making which climaxes in collision. (fair warning:  during the reading of this book, you may find yourself feeling disoriented and uneasy when you get behind the wheel; driving may become difficult; you may need to pull over and collect yourself; you might have to just get out of the car and walk)  As part of a special purchase, we've secured a healthy supply of this excellent UK edition (along with two other classic Ballard texts) that we can now offer at a price so low that there's simply no excuse to put off reading this seminal text any longer. 

Posted by on 05 May 17:05 (over 10 years ago)