High Rise, J.G. Ballard

High Rise
J. G. Ballard
ISBN: 9780871404022
Re-read in February 2014 and August 2, 2014

I first read this in high school, when I was on my giant dystopian kick; 1984, Brave New World, Animal Farm, Utopia, Herland, Handmaid's Tale... For a pretty class-ignorant southern American, it was a real eye-opener to the enduring class consciousness and prejudices in England.

I re-read it again in a happy daze when I first heard that Ben Wheatley was going to be doing a film version of it, and I never finalized my draft review because I realized it was more about my hopes and fears for the movie than it was about my thoughts on the book.  I read it again just this weekend in hopes of clarifying, but I don't know that I much have.

On the one hand, this is a really enjoyable read.  We have three "protagonists" who are from the highest class of society, the middle class, and the lowest class.  We learn in great detail what jobs and heritages compose the three classes, and about the worries, fears, and aspirations of the three specific individuals we follow through the book.  The chaos is well-drawn, the situations are fun and gory and individualized, and the premise of a horde of a thousand citizens reverting to animalism is wildly entertaining.

On the other hand, there are some massive problems with the world of the book.  Firstly, despite the crazed activities, it's part of the narrative that the residents still go out to work regularly until nearly the bitter end, and despite them falling asleep on their desks, and eventually not coming in at all, no one outside seems to care - the police arrive once or twice, tentatively, and are gently rebuffed, seemingly unconcerned at the vanishing of a thousand people from work and life.  The time skips don't make much sense - a week here, a month there; time just vanishes between pages.  The supply situation is likewise a bit peculiar - the food begins to run short after the first week or so, and the water lines and pools are vandalized early on, but no one seems to die from dehydration, and only a few are shown starving.  Dogs only go so far.

Finally, the decline is just odd to consider.  On the one hand, it seems too quick - the slide from polite and civilized citizens and neighbors to cannibalistic speechless pre-humans is a shock.  On the other hand, (given the supply concerns noted above) the process takes too long - the looting and rioting and destruction aren't over in one quick galvanized shudder, but a series of slow protracted military campaigns that advance and retreat the tide of chaos over a few months.

As an adult, I appreciate more the subversion of the three endings, but I do wish that more hints had been dropped throughout the narrative, because before the end, I (even knowing what's coming) get very misandric towards the protagonist characters and their personal views of women.  This is also where I note that I remain confused that Wilder's wife is named Helen, until the end where he thinks she's named Judith.  Now, Judith is a totally appropriate name for that ending, but if she changed her name, or was given that name somewhere, I've missed it each time I read the book.  That makes me a little twitchy.  This is also where I'll note that when considering his own ending, the character of Dr Laing is an interesting one for Mr Hiddleston to choose, given his current rabid girl fanbase.

As an adult, I finally realize that the names of our three leads give us insight into their characters - Royal, Laing (better perhaps as Lying, or Laying) and Wilder - all show very clearly what drives them, as well as what their ending is to be.  A nice touch that I either totally missed as a younger person, or totally forgot about.