Concrete Island A Novel

by Ballard, J. G.

• ISBN13: 9780312420345
• ISBN10: 031242034X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-10-05
• Publisher: Picador

Summary

On a day in April, just after three o'clock in the afternoon, Robert Maitland's car crashes over the concrete parapet of a high-speed highway onto the island below, where he is injured and, finally, trapped. What begins as an almost ludicrous predicament soon turns into horror as Maitlanda wickedly modern Robinson Crusoerealizes that, despite evidence of other inhabitants, this doomed terrain has become a mirror of his own mind. Seeking the dark outer rim of the everyday, Ballard weaves private catastrophe into an intensely specular allegory.

Author Biography

J. G. Ballard is the author of numerous books, including Empire of the Sun, the underground classic Crash, and The Kindness of Women. He is revered as one of the most important writers of fiction to address the consequences of twentieth-century technology. His latest book is Super-Cannes. He lives in England.

Table of Contents

Through the crash barrier	7	(8)
The embankment	15	(8)
Injury and exhaustion	23	(6)
The water reservoir	29	(8)
The perimeter fence	37	(6)
The rain-storm	43	(8)
The burning car	51	(6)
The messages	57	(10)
Fever	67	(6)
The air-raid shelter	73	(6)
Rescue	79	(12)
The acrobat	91	(14)
The fire signal	105	(8)
A taste of poison	113	(8)
The bribe	121	(6)
The food source	127	(6)
The duel	133	(4)
Five pounds	137	(6)
Beast and rider	143	(8)
The naming of the island	151	(4)
Delirium	155	(6)
The pavilion of doors	161	(8)
The trapeze	169	(4)
Escape	173

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