Hi Tech, Low Life (High-rise - J G Ballard)

Member Name: Ian Proudfoot

Product:	High-rise - J G Ballard
Date:	06/07/01 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good writing, Great read

Disadvantages: Obvious metaphors, Dated?

How to write a JG Ballard novel. Take one obvious social metaphor, set the story in the near future and write a tale about the dehumanising effects of modern life and mankind’s necessary return to noble savagery. Flourish with beautifully descriptive characterisations and a touch of pathos. Maintain a constant feeling of alienation and separation between the reader and the story. Serve up to critical plaudits and enjoy your position as one of the greatest British modern authors. Well of course it’s not that simple, but what is?

High Rise is a book that easily fits the above criteria. We start with one of the most obvious metaphors I have come across since the dawn of the written word. You see in High Rise there is this new building (the High Rise) which is divided into many floors. The bottom floors are where the manual and blue-collar workers live, the middle floors are where the white collar and semi- professional workers live. Whilst the top floors with their gleaming penthouses are where the successful business people and professionals live. Overseering the whole building on the top floor is the architect who designed the building. For the non-sociological minded out there this of course obviously represents the stratification of modern society. Wow! JG Ballard in deep metaphysical mystical alignment hidden symbolism shocker! Not!

If you can get over the obvious metaphor behind High Rise, (which I had great problems with myself) then you are left with another familiar aspect of Ballard’s writing and that it the concept of the breakdown of modern society created by the intrusion of technology into human behaviour. Where as many of Ballard’s short Sci-fi stories are written after the breakdown has happened, High Rise actually begins with an almost Utopian view of the future. The High Rise is seen initially by it’s inhabitants as a dream house with all the mod cons set to make living easier and peaceful. However ev
ery Dream house has it’s heartache and for the various inhabitants of the High Rise this initially takes the shape of initial minor failures in electricity supplies and services.

As the story progresses these breakdowns become worst, but instead of contacting the people who run the High Rise to fix the faults the inhabitants blame each other. The in built class system of the High Rise then comes into play. The lower floors blame the higher floors, the higher floors blame the lower. This soon accelerates into the complete breakdown of the building’s services and the rise of tribalism and savagery amongst the occupants.

The story might sound all a bit trite and unbelievable, especially since no one tries to leave the urban jungle that the High Rise becomes, but Ballard manages to bring the main characters to life. The story revolves around three male characters from the various class/tribal groups. Ballard exquisitely and skilfully constructs these characters, explaining the reasons why they stay in the madhouse of the High Rise and depicting their descents into madness. Characters initially seem to be two-dimensional servants of a pacified and sanitised modern world. Ballard slowly pumps these lone actors with their own neurosis and twitches as they finally find liberation but resorting to their animalistic instincts.

Where Ballard does fail with High Rise is in creating any strong female characters. The women in High Rise seem nearly invisible and subservient to the male characters. Where the males appear strong and courageous the women seem timid and move in packs compared to the lone wolves that the men become. This is however balanced with the general sense of detachment and isolation that Ballard creates. If most writers left you feeling remote from the characters it would normally make a book a cold read. Ballard however uses this to create a feeling of distance, which fits the sterile environment of the High Rise. As th
e story develops connections are made to the characters and you begin to fell involved in their struggle. A masterstroke by a seasoned and thought provoking author.

High Rise is a good read from cover to cover, but is a long way from reaching the standards of other Ballard novels. It lacks the narrative brilliance of Empire of the Sun or the kindness of Women, the intrigue and gritty realism of Cocaine nights or the conceptualism and vision of Crash. My main problem with High Rise is the aforementioned class metaphor, This is probably due to the fact the book was written several decades a go in a different social environment. In today’s context in seems heavy-handed and too obvious. The influence of High Rise can however been seen in one of today’s modern masterpieces and that is Judge Dreed and the world of Mega Cities and massive housing blocks where the inhabitants live in (in) perfect isolation.

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