7.4 /10 1 Votes
Language English Pages 176 pp OCLC 3207706 Followed by High-Rise | 3.7/5 Goodreads Publication date 1974 ISBN 0-224-00970-2 Originally published 1974 Country United Kingdom Publisher Jonathan Cape | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Media type Print (Hardcover & Paperback) Genres Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative fiction Similar J G Ballard books, Science Fiction books | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Towards concrete island
Concrete Island is a 1974 novel by J. G. Ballard.
Contents
Concrete island
Plot introduction
In a twisted adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, the story's protagonist, Robert Maitland, a wealthy architect, finds himself stranded in a manmade 'island' (a section of fenced-off wasteland in the middle of a motorway intersection) between the Westway and an imagined spur of the M4 Motorway in west London, and is forced to survive on only what is in his crashed Jaguar and what he is able to find.
Adaptations
In 2011, the Barcelona-based production company, Filmax announced that it was producing a film adaptation of the novel. Scott Kosar was set to adapt Ballard's story, and Brad Anderson was to direct. Actor Christian Bale was announced as the main character. A start date has yet to be announced. Bale, who played the lead in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Ballard's Empire of the Sun, apparently is no longer attached to the project.
In June 2013, BBC Radio 4 aired an hour-long adaptation by Graham White, directed by Mary Peate, featuring Andrew Scott as Maitland, Georgia Groome as Jane and Ben Crowe as Proctor.