I rarely write about the books I read and this is not so much a review as a bit of a ramble/reflection on my reading experience.

Perhaps the most confronting thing for me was how much I struggled with the prose—it's beautiful, in its way, once I got into it, but it's dense, too. And it really brought home for me how lax I've become in my reading habits. I need to retrain my brain!

As for the book itself, I liked it. It was repulsive and compelling by turns, and I'm sure some of the deeper themes went over my head. I wondered if the sex scenes were written so clinically to liken them to the mechanic workings of a car, or if it's just the way Ballard writes? Because they weren't particularly erotic and the starkness seemed more in line with, yeah, likening the way bodies fit together with the way the parts of a car move together and all that. That's about as deep as I got with my thinking, though. ( )

Does the ending mean there's going to be another?!? I don't know why I went into this book thinking it was some sort of duology, but oh my gosh it's not and I'm so excited at the possibility of more books!

In my mind, this series is what happens at Yale, so don't even try and change my mind about it.

The progression of this story is perfection. I loved the start of this book. Getting us intrigued with a scene, then jumping back to about where the last book left off. Such a good teaser. Alex and the rest of the characters experience so much personal growth in this installment and I love it. With Darlington out of the picture, it gives everyone else the chance to step up and be the expert in their own way.

Alex being able to really work through the trauma she left behind when she came to Yale does so much for her character. It plays into every aspect of this story without really beating the reader over the head about it. While her past caught up to her, it also brings new meaning to what's happening in the present. The foreshadowing, wow.

I have to admit, I was a little sad, someone and someone never moved forward romantically but there's always next book right? Or is this sexual tension happening between them in my mind?

If you enjoyed the first book, you're going to be obsessed with this one. Everything that made the last book great is double down on, and we get so much more information about the world without it feeling forced. So many questions are answered, while opening up many more rabbit holes to be explored.

The audiobook is A , switching narrators for POVs and all. Loved it. ( )

Among the most controversial novels of the 20th century, Crash tells the story of a man who finds himself drawn into a group of people who find sexual pleasure in car crashes, often commiting purposeful car accidents in the need to sate their dangerous obsession.

While the basic story itself is interesting, and the novel definitely takes itself into some genuinely disturbing territory with its characters' practices, it gets rather repetitive in most spots, but even more repetitive is the prose. The first-person narration from the lead character is simultaneously graphic and extremely deadpan and clinical. The same handful of words are used in every explicit scenario, of which there are dozens, some very lengthy, and while the dry tone does give a very direct view of the events and doesn't hide anything from the reader, it becomes very difficult to keep interested when the variety of word and phrase usage is so incredibly thin. It doesn't help that the personalities of the characters aren't especially deep either. In the end, it just feels like almost every aspect of this work could have been more thoroughly fleshed out to make a much more overall engaging, and truly upsetting, book.

5/10 ( )

Ballard faz o trabalho indispensável de conectar o desejo social por carros e seus fantasmas com aquilo que retiraria este da banalidade do consumo, além do culto à estrelas e associação de status. Carros moveriam uma sexualidade transgressiva, inteiramente battaliana, apenas soterrada na inocência daqueles que não sofreram acidentes aitomobilísticos. Então, há algo de notável nisso. Mas, e confesso que não gosto de carros em geral, e não tenho apego ao star system em geral, o livro não convence em seu erotismo bizarro, soando interessante mas enfadonho e um tanto prolixo. ( )

Very odd story, worth reading. See also the movie made a few decades past (same title) ( )