"High-Rise" by J.G. Ballard is a conglomeration between the dystopian and science fiction genres according to its publication in 1975, but by today's standards it leans more towards dystopian. It is a cool, detached novel that follows Richard Wilder (lower class), Robert Laing (middle class), and Anthony Royal (upper class) throughout the degradation of the infamous high-rise community.The high-rises designed and maintained by Royal are a culture in and of themselves. One single skyscraper has all the stores and places a family could possibly need, like a supermarket, swimming pool, brothel, and studio. Residents could get their chores and hobbies done without taking a step out of the building, but here's the catch: there is tension between the classes from the start.The presence of the fifty or so dogs in the high-rise had long been a source of irritation. Almost all of them were owned by residents on the top ten floors – just as, conversely, most of the fifty children lived in the lower ten. Together the dogs formed a set of over-pampered pedigree pets whose owners were not noticeably concerned for their fellow tenants' comfort and privacy, (pg 25).While pampered dogs agitate the lower story residents, rowdy children agitate the upper class. The class war truly uprises once the lower floors gain the courage to step on their toes in return (especially via Richard Wilder). In the beginning the damage done to each other is minimal (they crash parties, dogs continue to disrupt the lower floors, fight over hours at the swimming pool), but as the middle class joins in, the attacks border on murder. The most interesting part about this community is that the feuds happen in disorganized sprints. Ballard compares them to "dormant machinery of disruption and hostility," (pg 33) which only rings truer once all the classes uphold a silent agreement to halt their wars during working hours until all the high-rise occupants return.It is once the middle class joins the inside war that the stakes soar. Why? They are "Self-centred but basically docile members." They are "Puritain and self disciplined, had all the cohesion of those eager to settle for second best," (pg 70). The second best the middle class settles into is a new personality that's wrought on by the high-rise itself: "A cool, unemotional personality impervious to the psychological pressures of high-rise life, with minimal needs for privacy, who thrive like an advanced species of machine in the neutral atmosphere," (pg 43). This personality leads them to barricading, creating tribes between themselves, and ransacking the higher middle class and lower together. Like clockwork. Of course, "It was [the upper class'] subtle patronage that kept the middle ranks in line, this constantly dangling carrot of friendship and approval," (pg 70). Nonetheless, in the latter portion of the book the war rises between the middle and upper class too despite their facade of friendship.There are two continuous subjects that Ballard brings up that make a huge impact on the book: 1) the TVs and 2) his describing the high-rise as a living building. The reason the residents turn on each other is a valid, common one, which is typical class warfare via dogs and children. The reason they continue to crossfire is because of the closed-in nature of the building that has become their world. Something about the cement rials them up; the swimming pool is a continuous point of conflict; the higher levels pressing on their backs makes those who are not on the highest floor scramble to reach higher. As Ballard's creation, the high-rise has a mind and heart of its own, and its one desire is that how the story concludes comes to pass.About the TVs, Laing's thoughts say it best: "He turned down the sound, not out of boredom with these documentaries and situation comedies, but because they were meaningless. Even the commercials, with their concern for the realities of everyday life, were transmissions from another planet," (pg 149). This too ties into the fact that the high-rise is a place of its own with rules and manners of its own.There is so much more I could talk about. "High-Rise" is a novel rich with social commentary, symbolism, and subtle allegory, but I believe it is one each reader has to make their own connections for.Nonetheless, the novel does have flaws. I could suspend my disbelief that the residents did not want to leave their new world despite all the brutality just fine, but I could not believe the residents did not need proper food throughout the feud. True, they're all mad, and I know their goal is not gathering food in the slightest. Still, they are humans that need to eat more than the spoiled foods and canned goods left in the supermarket. What of the children the women come to defend so fiercely? They need proper food more than anyone.I also wished Laing would have had more chapters dedicated to his point of view because once we join him again towards the final chapters, he underwent so much change we did not get to see develop. For being the character that the novel starts off with, he disappears into thin air once Royal and Wilder step in. The two ended up getting more development than him (and mentioned more when they were not the character of focus), which is also a fault I had with the movie adaptation that I hoped would not be in the source.All in all, I enjoyed reading this clever novel, especially the concluding chapters, but the suspension required and losing Laing could not be trumped by all the stunning symbolism, vivid imagery, and eerie, detached narration. I wanted more Laing than Wilder in the end because Laing is a character I as the reader trusted. He was the smoothest channel through the vast veins of river the story was, or the footsteps into the high-rise I could follow.I recommend "High-Rise" to anyone who would like a challenging read. It did open my eyes to the true nature of humanity; such small inconveniences have the potential to strip us of our delicate manners if triggered just right in the proper surrounding. That is both marvelous and petrifying.*Copy pictured is the British and Australian paperback