Robinson

I'm not sure I'd put this book in the top 10 of the last 20 years. But it is definitely a quick taut intriguing read in a style similar to, but more accessible than, J.G. Ballard. It's not as absolutely raw and shocking as Ballard either but there's still plenty of dark raw degradation to enjoy.I may not share the other reviewer's absolute rapture with this book, but there's no doubt that it is a serious and well-written novel in the Ballardian vein.

Christopher Petit's "Robinson" is one of the finest and most neglected novels of the last twenty years. "Robinson" is heavily influenced by the notoriously brilliant and controversial, J.G. Ballard (Crash, Atrocity Exhibition). Petit's training in film is an asset to this narrative driven text, unlikely some highly-regarded authors who get bogged down in the quagmire of a complex narrative world of their own creation (with no idea how to keep it moving without clunking like a Humvee with a flat tire -- e.g. David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Franzen, etc...) Events unfold at a hare's pace and the character development is utterly lacking in sentimentality and cutesy irony (thank god!) There is humor and subversive irony to be sure, but not the kind of irony employed by some (Dave Eggers) which is so masturbatory, his self-copulation smacks me in the face when I turn the page. However, I would be doing a great disservice to Petit, if it was not pointed out -- that "Robinson" -- does not read on any level as the work of a film director picking up a quick check. This is a lush, erotic, blisteringly violent, taut, firecracker of a first novel that threatens to set the very pages ablaze as you turn to the shocking climax. This is one hell of a read! It puts most supposedly "daring and dark" literature to shame. If you like Ballard, do yourself a favor and find a kindred Ballardian in Petit. However, if you've never experienced Ballard, do yourself a favor and experience this achingly good trip to the end of the night or the end of the world as projected through a Soho warehouse. Not for the faint or prudish; however, if one is a kindred Ballardian and hopefully after "Robinson", a kindred Petitian, faint or prudish are adjectives not in your immediate vocabulary. There is no reason for this treasure trove of a novel, this walking nightmare of equal parts Max Ernst and Graham Greene, to go unread and unappreciated from this long. Thankfully, it seems brimming over at the Zshops with availibility -- take the chance!