'Crash' was my first Ballard 1983 and I never looked back. I had already read Burroughs which helped, plus I'd begun immersing myself in the authnetic New Wave of 'New Worlds'. There are two types of people in the world as the cliche runs- those who have read 'Crash' and the rest! Happy New Year, Matt!
Happy New Year man, nice 'interview'. Lucid, thoughtful, and eloquent as always. The best BookTuber doing it at the moment for my money. Also, 'narrative austerity' is a lovely turn of phrase.
I read Crash for the first time when I was 17 -- it was one of the many transgressive works that were given to me to read by a teacher of mine. Definitely an interesting one to read when your brain is still forming, haha. I thought I remembered you saying that you weren't interested in ever reading it and was bummed, so I'm glad you went for it.
@@cindyo6298 Most of what he gave me was standard good lit but there are some standouts that without context are concerning lol, also got Lolita and American Psycho to name a few.
If it is pornography, it’s pornography so clinically detached from the flesh that it’s like an AI attempting to understand sex through statistical analysis..
@@DKHolbrook11 true, being about arousing or emotion can illicit that kind of response, but of course thats what its about more so than being, err, umm, useful pornography itself.
I love Crash. I too was really struck by that sentence about the energy of the twentieth century being expended “to maintain this immense motionless pause”
Ballard had a talent to show human desire taken to the extreme or being used against the user at times. This was and still is a bjg step from how a lot of dystopia fiction is even today.
I remember watching this film when it was released with my French & Spanish Lit major gf at the time and spending quite some time afterwards discussing the different layers of meanings over dinner. Lit and art was our primary touchpoint and this was a quite radical experience as it forcibly pulls you into this alternate perspective. I'm not sure how I'll react to the novel and also concerned that I may not want to experience it.
Fantastic review! Crash is on my TBR and I'm not going to lie, I'm a little scared of it. The most extreme fiction I've ever read was Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami, which used violence as a kind of catharsis, but this sounds even more intense! I did love Concrete Island by Ballard, so maybe this one will be good as well!
You're a better man than I, Matt, immersing yourself in Ballard and Ballardian literature. It's all too disturbing to my sensibilities but you wade into it and really capture its essence when you present your perspective. I always look forward to your posts and have never been disappointed. Best wishes for a drama-free 2025. Happy New Year. Cheers.
Your comment near the end about missing things in reading The Drought because you were still reeling from the impact of Crash was interesting. I just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the very next day I read James Blish’s VOR. I found myself subconsciously (and sometimes consciously) being drawn towards thinking about the PKD book rather than what I was currently reading because it left such a mark. That’s one way you can tell a book is truly special. Thanks for talking through Crash so eloquently and honestly. I have a couple Ballard’s on my shelf ready to be read. But I’m sure before I crack them open I’ll take a moment to prepare myself. He’s clearly a generational writer and thinker from what you’ve said about him. Cheers Matt and here’s to a happy and healthy 2025!
Great vid as usual. You should read Ballard’s Unlimited Dream Company. It’s often overlooked, surreal and transgressive. It’s also a good idea to read or watch interviews with Ballard as it opens up one’s understanding of his fiction. As for the film of Crash, it’s worth hunting down but it is inherently different from the book. That being said, Cronenberg was the right filmmaker to take on the challenge and does a “good” job.
I think it's the mark of a great book to be so difficult to discuss. And the mark of a great reviewer for you to be able to put into words your feelings as you did. Great content as always Matt, thank you!
Great stuff, love your enthusiasm for the book and his work. I was doing an M.A. in 20th Century English Literature in 1981-2, and our little group was asked to bring a book for the group to read and discuss - I brought Crash. Oh my lord, the trouble I've seen ... 😊 Of a group of about 8, at least half were horrified and looked at me with distinct side-eye after that, including a young woman who went on to become an editor at one of the serious publishers. I think I set her mental health back 5 years. Coincidentally I've spent the last six months getting back into Ballard, re-reading all the early disaster books before starting on the trilogy Cocaine Nights, Super-Cannes and Millennium People, which I'm about to finish. I'd recommend you read these too, though they're not ostensibly science fiction. They're set in the contemporary world, around the turn of 2000, and concern the degeneration of culture - and people - as the 21st century begins. He's vicious about the British, and European, middle and business classes, but his writing is staggering, with amazing insight, great use of imagery, metaphor and simile, and a really interesting view of what we're going through. At one point he even predicts the rise of Musk and Trump to political power. Who'd a thunk it? Well, Ballard did.
I fkg hated Crash. My first and for a long time only Ballard, turns out it was a bad place to start. Me and JG have declared a truce. Recently read and enjoyed The Crystal World. Happy New Year Matt. 👍
I recently found your channel as I’ve rekindled my love for science fiction. Can I ask, how do you find such incredible vintage books? When I hit a thrift store, it’s mostly James Patterson and Jodi Picoult books. Where do you find these Sci fi gems?
Glad you're alerting your audience to Ballard's fiction. Crash is a favourite, but it's just to-me-- topped by High-Rise which is another neurotic map of modern life. I will re-read Crash though in 2025.
When I read Crash I was probably too young to fully appreciate it. The movie had just come out and I was basically just looking for weird stuff. But I've been reading more Ballard lately. Vermilion Sands was my favorite book that I read in 2024. I probably should give Crash another try, especially after your great interview about it. 😉
Just bought Crash for my girlfriend for Christmas after we watched the Cronenberg movie a few weeks ago. She has no idea what she's in for and I can't wait to read it after her. 😂
There is pre reading crash and post. Welcome to the the fold! The more Ballard I read the more I think he's the most important writer of the 20th century.
The fact the book made your brain short out is incredibly high praise. I'll pick this one up. I wish you were right that no one truly believes in the promise of a 1950s style beatific path of progress. I unfortunately have to deal with venture-capital backed "science-enthusiast" vampires as part of my job. They're still out there, keeping the world ending fire alive.
I read this as a teenager many, many years ago. I picked it up knowing nothing about it other than it was in the sci-fi section at the bookstore. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I would like to read it again since I really couldn't understand it at the time.
I tried reading it but didn't see the point. And I do like Ballard, e.g. Vermilion Sands. He writes wonderfully. But all I got from the first chapter of Crash is that he is processing some serious trauma. Apparently he witnessed a soldier brutally murder a civilian when he was 15. Okay, but we don't need to read the 300 pages of brutal clinical descriptions of death that he wrote to deal with it.
Nice. I understand. Ballard is an amazingly conceptual writer. His Vermillion Sands is a collection I read every year. He reminds me of a kinder, gentler version of PKD, my alltime favourite author.
Surprised you've never read this before, but glad you enjoyed it, you might want to try Closer by Dennis Cooper or Notice by Heather Lewis next if you're interested in going further on this sort of trajectory.
I really love your channel. Because you mentioned the importance of Ballard for the Cyberpunk movement to appear, I was wondering what is your opinion of Thomas Pynchon( i haven't come across of him in any of your videos)? :) Thanks. I plan on reading "Crash" in a near future.
By the way... Is there any list out there which books you have already reviewed? I constantly find me asking: did he already review, E.g. 'A Voyage to Arcturus', to name just one book that really deserves an in depth view... And I still curious about your opinion about 'Lord of Light', a book beloved by so many, that it seems like you are avoiding it deliberately...!?
You’ve convinced me to read this book. I read Empire of the Sun awhile back because I like WW2 fiction and I gave it a 3/5 because it was so run of the mill and flat.
I read it in 1982 because the bass player for Siouxsie and the Banshees said it was THE novel of the punk rock/post punk era. It was a slog. Not my cup of tea. I still enjoy Siouxsie and the Banshees, though....
Ballard was a fantastic writer but at the same time very demanding. I have read ten of his books, discovered quite quickly that one or two at most per year was enough. He has made me unbelievably irritated any number of times but in a positive way.
I've read most of Ballard's output, and he can challenging, but Crash pushed me right out of my comfort zone. I did not enjoy. He wrote an earlier experimental piece, the Atrocity Exhibition, that covers much of the same themes. Crash seemed to me a more standard novel form rewrite of the earlier work. I can't decide much I found more disturbing.
I don't think the traditional view on the link between sex and violence can still hold water in recent decades, considering the media, since the 80s, has made any form of graphic violence an 'art form', while eroticism has never reached a comparable level of acceptance whatsoever. In the 80s, a Bruce Lee movie was equally labeled as 'adult' as any flick which featured full frontal nudity. But this has changed drastically: stuff like John Wick or Deadpool and other hyper violent horror and gore movies are widely praised and accepted now, while anything erotic is more censored than it was 20 years ago. I simply don't get it why this unhealthy development isn't discussed much more among critics and intellectuals. And what is also quite obvious to me: you are normally reluctant to praise anything sexual in books that is actually and openly arousing - while a completely sobering and detached view on sex like the one on 'Crash' is obviously your thing!? Interesting, from a psychological point of view...
I just found your channel. Good stuff. I searched and searched but could not find a review of The Children of a Time. It’s hard to believe you haven’t read this masterpiece. Did I miss it?
I dont understand how you can call books "genius and profound" and blah blah....on your recommendation I started reading Blind Sight...it starts off with modern street pros and modern day curse words and read so much like woke modern trash I had to stop...Its incredible what people find "brilliant" for books.
What a great review of Crash. I recently posted on FB: "I often feel (and I mean this in a good way) that the whole purpose of the story premises J.G. Ballard dreams up is simply to give him an excuse to do what he does best: write incredibly vivid visual descriptions." Your discussion of how Ballard structures the material in Crash reminded me that it's not just the descriptions, but the framework they're set in: the symbols, the repetition and elaboration, etc. He really does create his own form.
![I Went Rummaging for Masterpieces in History’s Discard Pile [4 Books Reviewed]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HIx4AKDDUiU/mqdefault.jpg)
'Crash' was my first Ballard 1983 and I never looked back. I had already read Burroughs which helped, plus I'd begun immersing myself in the authnetic New Wave of 'New Worlds'. There are two types of people in the world as the cliche runs- those who have read 'Crash' and the rest! Happy New Year, Matt!
2025 already looking good with a new book pill.
If you are into Crash then the Atrocity Exhibition is a must read.
Good album too
the 1990s illustrated re/search graphic photo novel is the definitive way to read atrocity exhibition. i cherish that tome it's just amazing.
Happy New Year man, nice 'interview'. Lucid, thoughtful, and eloquent as always. The best BookTuber doing it at the moment for my money. Also, 'narrative austerity' is a lovely turn of phrase.
I read Crash for the first time when I was 17 -- it was one of the many transgressive works that were given to me to read by a teacher of mine. Definitely an interesting one to read when your brain is still forming, haha. I thought I remembered you saying that you weren't interested in ever reading it and was bummed, so I'm glad you went for it.
UM. The fact that your teacher gave that to you is slightly concerning lol.
@@cindyo6298 Most of what he gave me was standard good lit but there are some standouts that without context are concerning lol, also got Lolita and American Psycho to name a few.
@@cindyo6298 oh, you know those awful, woke, horrible public school teachers. better to be home schooled.
If it is pornography, it’s pornography so clinically detached from the flesh that it’s like an AI attempting to understand sex through statistical analysis..
It is decidedly not pornography, as it is not intended for masturbating to. Explicit sexual content is not in this case the same as arousing.
@ I don’t know about that..people get aroused by all sorts of things. One of the things Ballard explores in the book is the nature of paraphilia..
@@DKHolbrook11 true, being about arousing or emotion can illicit that kind of response, but of course thats what its about more so than being, err, umm, useful pornography itself.
I love Crash. I too was really struck by that sentence about the energy of the twentieth century being expended “to maintain this immense motionless pause”
The way you describe books makes me feel like I'm listening to a very sophisticated audiobook. It's fun to hear you talk.
Ballard had a talent to show human desire taken to the extreme or being used against the user at times. This was and still is a bjg step from how a lot of dystopia fiction is even today.
I remember watching this film when it was released with my French & Spanish Lit major gf at the time and spending quite some time afterwards discussing the different layers of meanings over dinner. Lit and art was our primary touchpoint and this was a quite radical experience as it forcibly pulls you into this alternate perspective. I'm not sure how I'll react to the novel and also concerned that I may not want to experience it.
Perhaps others have pointed this out... Spielberg's movie Empire of the Sun is adopted from Ballard's autobiographical novel.
Fantastic review! Crash is on my TBR and I'm not going to lie, I'm a little scared of it. The most extreme fiction I've ever read was Coin Locker Babies by Ryu Murakami, which used violence as a kind of catharsis, but this sounds even more intense! I did love Concrete Island by Ballard, so maybe this one will be good as well!
You're a better man than I, Matt, immersing yourself in Ballard and Ballardian literature. It's all too disturbing to my sensibilities but you wade into it and really capture its essence when you present your perspective. I always look forward to your posts and have never been disappointed. Best wishes for a drama-free 2025. Happy New Year. Cheers.
Your comment near the end about missing things in reading The Drought because you were still reeling from the impact of Crash was interesting. I just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the very next day I read James Blish’s VOR. I found myself subconsciously (and sometimes consciously) being drawn towards thinking about the PKD book rather than what I was currently reading because it left such a mark. That’s one way you can tell a book is truly special.
Thanks for talking through Crash so eloquently and honestly. I have a couple Ballard’s on my shelf ready to be read. But I’m sure before I crack them open I’ll take a moment to prepare myself. He’s clearly a generational writer and thinker from what you’ve said about him.
Cheers Matt and here’s to a happy and healthy 2025!
honestly i would start with something like super cannes and ease into crash.
the Complete Fiction of Ballard though unwieldy at over 1K pages is a great value, esp the early stories from New Worlds.
should have said the complete SHORT fiction.
The story "Why I want to fuck Ronald Regan" is what lead me to read crash. I had to see what crash was like after it.
Great vid as usual. You should read Ballard’s Unlimited Dream Company. It’s often overlooked, surreal and transgressive. It’s also a good idea to read or watch interviews with Ballard as it opens up one’s understanding of his fiction. As for the film of Crash, it’s worth hunting down but it is inherently different from the book. That being said, Cronenberg was the right filmmaker to take on the challenge and does a “good” job.
Unlimited Dream Company.... the birds, the birds.
I think it's the mark of a great book to be so difficult to discuss. And the mark of a great reviewer for you to be able to put into words your feelings as you did. Great content as always Matt, thank you!
Great stuff, love your enthusiasm for the book and his work. I was doing an M.A. in 20th Century English Literature in 1981-2, and our little group was asked to bring a book for the group to read and discuss - I brought Crash. Oh my lord, the trouble I've seen ... 😊 Of a group of about 8, at least half were horrified and looked at me with distinct side-eye after that, including a young woman who went on to become an editor at one of the serious publishers. I think I set her mental health back 5 years. Coincidentally I've spent the last six months getting back into Ballard, re-reading all the early disaster books before starting on the trilogy Cocaine Nights, Super-Cannes and Millennium People, which I'm about to finish. I'd recommend you read these too, though they're not ostensibly science fiction. They're set in the contemporary world, around the turn of 2000, and concern the degeneration of culture - and people - as the 21st century begins. He's vicious about the British, and European, middle and business classes, but his writing is staggering, with amazing insight, great use of imagery, metaphor and simile, and a really interesting view of what we're going through. At one point he even predicts the rise of Musk and Trump to political power. Who'd a thunk it? Well, Ballard did.
I fkg hated Crash. My first and for a long time only Ballard, turns out it was a bad place to start. Me and JG have declared a truce. Recently read and enjoyed The Crystal World. Happy New Year Matt. 👍
I recently found your channel as I’ve rekindled my love for science fiction. Can I ask, how do you find such incredible vintage books? When I hit a thrift store, it’s mostly James Patterson and Jodi Picoult books. Where do you find these Sci fi gems?
Glad you're alerting your audience to Ballard's fiction. Crash is a favourite, but it's just to-me-- topped by High-Rise which is another neurotic map of modern life. I will re-read Crash though in 2025.
Thanks for putting this on youtube, love your patreon
Yes! Was my second Ballard, and after it I knew I'd read everything he wrote. His prose is probably my favorite of all writers.
mine too, after atrocity
When I read Crash I was probably too young to fully appreciate it. The movie had just come out and I was basically just looking for weird stuff. But I've been reading more Ballard lately. Vermilion Sands was my favorite book that I read in 2024. I probably should give Crash another try, especially after your great interview about it. 😉
"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
Sigmund Freud
Just bought Crash for my girlfriend for Christmas after we watched the Cronenberg movie a few weeks ago. She has no idea what she's in for and I can't wait to read it after her. 😂
Like when Homer got Marge a bowling ball for her bday.
I read Crash in my early teens at the local library, where it was shelved alongside Ballard's dystopian science fiction and some non-sf novels.
There is pre reading crash and post. Welcome to the the fold! The more Ballard I read the more I think he's the most important writer of the 20th century.
The fact the book made your brain short out is incredibly high praise. I'll pick this one up.
I wish you were right that no one truly believes in the promise of a 1950s style beatific path of progress. I unfortunately have to deal with venture-capital backed "science-enthusiast" vampires as part of my job. They're still out there, keeping the world ending fire alive.
I read this as a teenager many, many years ago. I picked it up knowing nothing about it other than it was in the sci-fi section at the bookstore. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I would like to read it again since I really couldn't understand it at the time.
Just the tip?
Extreme inter-penetration.
I read this book about 35 years ago. I have never forgot it.
JGB is the best SF writer of all time
I tried reading it but didn't see the point. And I do like Ballard, e.g. Vermilion Sands. He writes wonderfully. But all I got from the first chapter of Crash is that he is processing some serious trauma. Apparently he witnessed a soldier brutally murder a civilian when he was 15. Okay, but we don't need to read the 300 pages of brutal clinical descriptions of death that he wrote to deal with it.
Crash is a perfect evocation of the dystopic nature of car culture.
Fascinating as always. Not sure if I want to read this or not!
Amazing timing - I am currently reading Crash and absolutely loving it. ✨🚘💥
Nice. I understand. Ballard is an amazingly conceptual writer. His Vermillion Sands is a collection I read every year. He reminds me of a kinder, gentler version of PKD, my alltime favourite author.
Surprised you've never read this before, but glad you enjoyed it, you might want to try Closer by Dennis Cooper or Notice by Heather Lewis next if you're interested in going further on this sort of trajectory.
I really love your channel. Because you mentioned the importance of Ballard for the Cyberpunk movement to appear, I was wondering what is your opinion of Thomas Pynchon( i haven't come across of him in any of your videos)? :) Thanks. I plan on reading "Crash" in a near future.
The movie adaptation for Crash is great
By the way... Is there any list out there which books you have already reviewed? I constantly find me asking: did he already review, E.g. 'A Voyage to Arcturus', to name just one book that really deserves an in depth view... And I still curious about your opinion about 'Lord of Light', a book beloved by so many, that it seems like you are avoiding it deliberately...!?
You’ve convinced me to read this book. I read Empire of the Sun awhile back because I like WW2 fiction and I gave it a 3/5 because it was so run of the mill and flat.
Movie to recommend for you My Dinner with Andre.Very interesting
This review was dope, sweet beard.
Hell yeah literally just finished listening to the SFULTRA episode before seeing this on my homepage lol
I dnfed it but now i want to retry it. I might do that.
Good interview. Keep em coming.
I read it in 1982 because the bass player for Siouxsie and the Banshees said it was THE novel of the punk rock/post punk era. It was a slog. Not my cup of tea. I still enjoy Siouxsie and the Banshees, though....
you have a happy house
What do you think about Empire of the Sun?
An incredible film version by David Cronenberg 1996. Didn't know it was based on a book.
Best interview ever.
I find that style 'trading journal'.
Thanks for your fantastic videos, i’ve gotten so many wonderful suggestions from them. Looks like I’ve got a red Crash.
I've read a few of his novels. I don't get them, maybe I'm too dim but whatever he's trying to say eludes me!
Ballard was a fantastic writer but at the same time very demanding. I have read ten of his books, discovered quite quickly that one or two at most per year was enough. He has made me unbelievably irritated any number of times but in a positive way.
Matt the absolute GOAT. Great stuff as always
Will request it from the library!
Depending on your library system, that’s a “maybe”
@disconnected22 One of the linked libraries in the county/state has it & I'll get it soon! ☠️😱🪓🥶📔
You did this video just so you squeeze in a "just the tip", didn't you?
Histoire de l'œil (The Story of the Eye)
Book by Georges Bataille
I've read most of Ballard's output, and he can challenging, but Crash pushed me right out of my comfort zone. I did not enjoy.
He wrote an earlier experimental piece, the Atrocity Exhibition, that covers much of the same themes. Crash seemed to me a more standard novel form rewrite of the earlier work. I can't decide much I found more disturbing.
Video is interesting but the book may be not for me :)
I don't think the traditional view on the link between sex and violence can still hold water in recent decades, considering the media, since the 80s, has made any form of graphic violence an 'art form', while eroticism has never reached a comparable level of acceptance whatsoever.
In the 80s, a Bruce Lee movie was equally labeled as 'adult' as any flick which featured full frontal nudity. But this has changed drastically: stuff like John Wick or Deadpool and other hyper violent horror and gore movies are widely praised and accepted now, while anything erotic is more censored than it was 20 years ago.
I simply don't get it why this unhealthy development isn't discussed much more among critics and intellectuals.
And what is also quite obvious to me: you are normally reluctant to praise anything sexual in books that is actually and openly arousing - while a completely sobering and detached view on sex like the one on 'Crash' is obviously your thing!? Interesting, from a psychological point of view...
Pretty sure you've seen a film like Crash before though.
you should read Dune.
Excellent interview
Hahaha sorry
I just found your channel. Good stuff. I searched and searched but could not find a review of The Children of a Time. It’s hard to believe you haven’t read this masterpiece. Did I miss it?
Whaooo very heavy......
Crumpling metal with a splash of semen. Great book. The movie was disappointing.
5/10 says Chromium too many times
fair!
I didn't understand a single thing from this video
I dont understand how you can call books "genius and profound" and blah blah....on your recommendation I started reading Blind Sight...it starts off with modern street pros and modern day curse words and read so much like woke modern trash I had to stop...Its incredible what people find "brilliant" for books.
What a great review of Crash.
I recently posted on FB: "I often feel (and I mean this in a good way) that the whole purpose of the story premises J.G. Ballard dreams up is simply to give him an excuse to do what he does best: write incredibly vivid visual descriptions."
Your discussion of how Ballard structures the material in Crash reminded me that it's not just the descriptions, but the framework they're set in: the symbols, the repetition and elaboration, etc.
He really does create his own form.