Crash and Burn
Another assigned reading, another mind-renewing experience. For those who do not know, I'm taking a Post-Modernism taught by Bruce Powe. I've always had the books on this course's reading list in mind for reading, but unfortunately, never had the chance to explore them. Now, for the first time, I truly appreciate the nature of these questionable and sexually explicit works.
I should perhaps clarify that previous point, I knew the spin that society had put on these books, but I never have let that stop me from reading a book. Rather, it is how I was inspired to read Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. Furthermore, "society" of late is de-evolving into a puritan-fetish-state. As Jeremy noted, the banning of Shrek 2, because of two minor transsexual incidents, really demonstrates that society is itself its own monster.
Now, away from my little society-based tangent, and back to the topic at hand. Next week's assigned reading is J.G. Ballard's Crash. I happened to buy it today at the bookstore, and in about a two-hour span, I completed reading the novel. All at once, it reminded me of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer - a quiet insertion of an author into a space of fantasy-induced reality. The persona of Ballard in the text does not actually exist as a character until the accident occurs. It reminds me that in some way, all of us have our perverse fantasies of death and sexuality. Ballard's book brought out that the melding of sex and machine is a truly deadly combination. Initially, it brought to my mind a scene from Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I know that this book was written only a few years ago, but it shows the syllogism of sex and the speed, impact and brute force that a vehicle can create has not died in modern culture. I am aware that Crash has been made into a movie, but the haunting and primordial language of the book is an image itself.
I should perhaps clarify that previous point, I knew the spin that society had put on these books, but I never have let that stop me from reading a book. Rather, it is how I was inspired to read Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses. Furthermore, "society" of late is de-evolving into a puritan-fetish-state. As Jeremy noted, the banning of Shrek 2, because of two minor transsexual incidents, really demonstrates that society is itself its own monster.
Now, away from my little society-based tangent, and back to the topic at hand. Next week's assigned reading is J.G. Ballard's Crash. I happened to buy it today at the bookstore, and in about a two-hour span, I completed reading the novel. All at once, it reminded me of Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer - a quiet insertion of an author into a space of fantasy-induced reality. The persona of Ballard in the text does not actually exist as a character until the accident occurs. It reminds me that in some way, all of us have our perverse fantasies of death and sexuality. Ballard's book brought out that the melding of sex and machine is a truly deadly combination. Initially, it brought to my mind a scene from Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I know that this book was written only a few years ago, but it shows the syllogism of sex and the speed, impact and brute force that a vehicle can create has not died in modern culture. I am aware that Crash has been made into a movie, but the haunting and primordial language of the book is an image itself.
The book also awakened a feeling of startling deja-vu. The way that Vaughan fantasizes about the death of Elizabeth Taylor brought to mind the death of Princess Diana. The life and death of the famous is crystallized through pictures, much as Vaughan's fetish with the scars induced by crashes.
posted by Vixen at 2:09 AM
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