Crash (Ballard novel)

Crashis a novel by British authorJ. G. Ballard, first published in 1973 with cover designed byBill Botten. It follows a group of car-crashfetishistswho, inspired by the famous crashes of celebrities, become sexually aroused by staging and participating in car accidents.
The novel was released to divided critical reception, with many reviewers horrified by its provocative content. It was adapted into a controversial1996 film of the same namebyDavid Cronenberg.
The story is told through the eyes of narrator James Ballard, named after the author himself, but it centers on the sinister figure of Dr. Robert Vaughan, a former TV scientist turned "nightmare angel of the highways".James meets Vaughan after being injured in a car crash nearLondon Airport. Gathering around Vaughan is a group of alienated people, all of them former crash victims, who follow him in his pursuit to re-enact the crashes ofHollywoodcelebrities such asJayne MansfieldandJames Dean, in order to experience what the narrator calls "a new sexuality, born from a perverse technology". Vaughan's ultimate fantasy is to die in a head-on collision with movie starElizabeth Taylor.
The Papers of J. G. Ballard at theBritish Libraryinclude two revised drafts ofCrash(Add MS 88938/3/8). Scanned extracts from Ballard's drafts are included inCrash: The Collector's Edition,ed. Chris Beckett.
In 1971,Harley Cokelissdirected a short film entitledCrash!based on a chapter inJ. G. Ballard's bookThe Atrocity Exhibition, where Ballard is featured, talking about the ideas in his book. British actressGabrielle Drakeappeared as a passenger and car-crash victim. Ballard later developed the idea, resulting inCrash. In his draft of the novel he mentioned Drake by name, but references to her were removed from the published version.
Crashhas been difficult to characterize as a novel. At some points in his career, Ballard claimed thatCrashwas a "cautionary tale", a view that he would later regret, asserting that it is in fact "a psychopathic hymn. But it is a psychopathic hymn which has a point".Likewise, Ballard previously characterized it a science fiction novel, a position he would later take back.
Jean Baudrillardwrote an analysis ofCrashinSimulacra and Simulationin which he declared it "the first great novel of the universe of simulation". He made note of how the fetish in the story conflates the functionality of the automobiles with that of the human body and how the characters' injuries and the damage to the vehicles are used as equivalent signs. To him, the hyperfunctionality leads to the dysfunction in the story. Quotes were used extensively to illustrate that the language of the novel employs plain, mechanical terms for the parts of the automobile and proper, medical language for human sex organs and acts. The story is interpreted as showing a merger between technology, sexuality, and death, and he further argued that by pointing out Vaughan's character takes and keeps photos of the car crashes and the mutilated bodies involved. Baudrillard stated that there is no moral judgment about the events within the novel but that Ballard himself intended it as a warning against a cultural trend.
The story can be classed asdystopic.
The novel received divided reviews when originally published. Onepublisher's readerreturned the verdict "This author is beyond psychiatric help. Do Not Publish!"A 1973 review inThe New York Timeswas equally horrified: "Crashis, hands-down, the most repulsive book I've yet to come across."
However, retrospective opinion now considersCrashto be one of Ballard's best and most challenging works. ReassessingCrashinThe Guardian,Zadie Smithwrote, "Crashis anexistentialbook about howeverybody uses everything. How everything uses everybody. And yet it is not a hopeless vision." On Ballard's legacy, she writes: "In Ballard's work there is always this mix of futuristic dread and excitement, a sweet spot where dystopia and utopia converge. For we cannot say we haven't got precisely what we dreamed of, what we always wanted, so badly."
The Normal's 1978 song "Warm Leatherette" was inspired by the novel as was "Miss the Girl," a 1983 single byThe Creatures.
TheManic Street Preachers' song "Mausoleum" from 1994'sThe Holy Biblecontains the famous Ballard quote about his reasons for writing the book, "I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit. I wanted to force it to look in the mirror."John Foxx's albumMetamaticcontains songs that have Ballardian themes, such as "No-one Driving".
An apparently unauthorized adaptation ofCrashcalledNightmare Angelwas filmed in 1986 by Susan Emerling andZoe Beloff. This short film bears the credit "Inspired by J. G. Ballard".