Loved itis excellent It's the middle book in the urban disaster Trilogy that goes crash concrete Islands highrise I like high-rise a little more than this... it seems to be mostly to my mind a book about relationships
Concrete island (1974)
Others: Positive A 35-year-old architect is driving home from his London office when his car swerves and crashes onto a traffic island lying below three converging motorways. Uninjured, he climbs the embankment to seek help, but no one will stop for him and he is trapped on the island, where he remains.
- ISBN:
- 9780312420345
- Length:
- 176 pages
Genres: science fiction
Lists: …
Similar books
1 of 6
The Drowned World
J. G. Ballard
1962 · 175 pages · 4 reviews
Others: PositiveFluctuations in solar radiation have melted the ice caps, sending the planet into a new Triassic Age of unendurable heat. London is a swamp; lush tropical vegetation grows up the walls of the Ritz and primeval reptiles are sighted, swimming through the newly-formed lagoons. Some flee the capital; others remain to pursue reckless schemes, either in the name of science or profit. While the submerged streets of London are drained in search of treasure, Dr Robert Kerans - part of a group of intrepid scientists - comes to accept this submarine city and finds himself strangely resistant to the idea of saving it. (via 2014 Fourth Estate edition)
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
On 5+ of the same lists74%Also science fiction19%Bookpilled loved bothPersonalize your recommendations7%The Man in the High Castle
Philip K. Dick
1962 · 249 pages · 12 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveThe Man in the High Castle is an alternate history novel by American writer Philip K. Dick. Published and set in 1962, the novel takes place fifteen years after an alternative ending to World War II, and concerns intrigues between the victorious Axis Powers—primarily, Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany—as they rule over the former United States, as well as daily life under the resulting totalitarian rule. The Man in the High Castle won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1963. Beginning in 2015, the book was adapted as a multi-season TV series, with Dick's daughter, Isa Dick Hackett, serving as one of the show's producers. Reported inspirations include Ward Moore's alternate Civil War history, Bring the Jubilee (1953), various classic World War II histories, and the I Ching (referred to in the novel). The novel features a "novel within the novel" comprising an alternate history within this alternate history wherein the Allies defeat the Axis (though in a manner distinct from the actual historical outcome).
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
On 5+ of the same lists49%Also science fiction44%Bookpilled loved bothPersonalize your recommendations7%Ice
Anna Kavan
1967 · 158 pages · 5 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveAnna Kavan's books have established her reputation as one of the most talented and original contemporary writers - comparable in stature to Virginia Woolf, Anais Nin and Djuna Barnes. A man's search for an elusive girl takes place against a backdrop of nuclear war resulting in total destruction by walls of ice that overrun the world. Imaginative descriptions of a terrifying dreamlike hunt combine with writing of distinction to form an unusual book. (From the book jacket, first british edition published in 1967).
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
On 5+ of the same lists47%Also science fiction45%Bookpilled loved bothPersonalize your recommendations8%High-Rise
J. G. Ballard
1975 · 206 pages · 5 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveHigh-Rise is a 1975 novel by British writer J. G. Ballard. The story describes the disintegration of a luxury high-rise building as its affluent residents gradually descend into violent chaos. As with Ballard's previous novels Crash (1973) and Concrete Island (1974), High-Rise inquires into the ways in which modern social and technological landscapes could alter the human psyche in provocative and hitherto unexplored ways. It was adapted into a film of the same name, in 2015, by director Ben Wheatley.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
On 5+ of the same lists80%Also science fiction12%Bookpilled loved bothPersonalize your recommendations8%Solaris
Stanisław Lem
1961 · 220 pages · 13 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveThe cult-classic by Stanislaw Lem that spawned the movie is now available for your Kindle! Until now the only English edition was a 1970 version, which was translated from French and which Lem himself described as a "poor translation." This wonderful new English translation (by Bill Johnston) of Lem's classic Solaris is a must-have for fans of Lem's classic novel. Telling of humanity's encounter with an alien intelligence on the planet Solaris, the 1961 novel is a cult classic, exploring the ultimate futility of attempting to communicate with extra-terrestrial life. When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are plagued with their own repressed and newly corporeal memories. The Solaris ocean may be a massive brain that creates these incarnate memories, though its purpose in doing so is unknown, forcing the scientists to shift the focus of their quest and wonder if they can truly understand the universe without first understanding what lies within their hearts.
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
Also science fiction48%On 5+ of the same lists44%Bookpilled loved bothPersonalize your recommendations8%Ubik
Philip K. Dick
1969 · 212 pages · 10 reviews
Others: Overwhelmingly positiveNamed one of Time's 100 Best Books, Ubik is a mind-bending, classic novel about the perception of reality from Philip K. Dick, the Hugo Award-winning author of The Man in the High Castle. “From the stuff of space opera, Dick spins a deeply unsettling existential horror story, a nightmare you’ll never be sure you’ve woken up from.”—Lev Grossman, Time Glen Runciter runs a lucrative business — deploying his teams of anti-psychics to corporate clients who want privacy and security from psychic spies. But when he and his top team are ambushed by a rival, he is gravely injured and placed in “half-life,” a dreamlike state of suspended animation. Soon, though, the surviving members of the team begin experiencing some strange phenomena, such as Runciter’s face appearing on coins and the world seeming to move backward in time. As consumables deteriorate and technology gets ever more primitive, the group needs to find out what is causing the shifts and what a mysterious product called Ubik has to do with it all. “More brilliant than similar experiments conducted by Pynchon or DeLillo.”—Roberto Bolaño
Why?
What made the match, strongest first
On 5+ of the same lists65%Also science fiction26%Bookpilled loved bothPersonalize your recommendations9%
Loved it