Cars (and their drivers) in literature

[Sapphire]

I remember a comedian (I think it was Eddie Izzard) who mentioned that there are many car chases in movies (even through densely populated neighbourhoods ), but none in books.

Now I wonder, is this true? I personally can not recall a car chase in a novel, but I really doubt that nobody ever has tried it.
I do think it is possible to describe it, the whole driving experience, the recklessnes, the scare, the inability to stop...

Maybe there is a book in which one of the characters is involved in a car accident due to risky driving? A book in which the accident itself is described, possibly from the (joy rider?) point of view?

I can only think of Toad, I think he and his T-Ford ended up in the lake in The Wind In The Willows...

If nothing comes to mind, maybe a novel in which cars play a central part? Or maybe a poem from the perspective of a guy who's crazy about his car? Or about the experience of driving?

This thought popped in my head because of this thread in the general chat:
Guys and Cars
I thought maybe it would be interesting to read a book from a car driving maniac's point of view

[Dark Muse]

Of course the first one that comes into my mind is The Great Gatsby and though it is not truly an accident or a chase, readding All the King's Men now, it makes me think of how they always talk about Sugar-boy's driving and he seems to be a bit of a recklass driver as they speed down the streets.

[Sapphire]

Found the sketch:

Have you noticed that in films there are lots of car chases? There are no car chases in books, are there? (mimes reading from book) “He looked up in the mirror. Behind him, the man was driving. He looked in the mirror and then he was driving. Oh, they drove faster, faster, driving fast and looking in the mirror. The other guy was pulling a face and driving fast, and then there was a terrible crash.” Just doesn’t work, does it? Anyway…

I still have to read the Great Gatsby. I will look into it.

And I do not recall that about Sugar-boy, another reason to read that book again Thanks for mentioning.

[Dark Muse]

I know I will proabably get stoned for daring to mention this, but if memory serves me correctly I beleive there was a car chase scene in The Da Vinci Code.

[sixsmith]

Crash - JG Ballard

[Drkshadow03]

Great Gatsby immediately came to my mind too. Cars play a significant role in that book.

There was also this short horror story, "Parallel Highways" by James Van Pelt (available for free online) that deals with cars and driving. It's been awhile since I read it; I don't remember loving it.

[bluevictim]

Automobiles and driving play significant roles in Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath and Kerouac's On the Road. A couple of lesser known novels where cars play an important role are The World According to Garp (John Irving) and The Bonfire of the Vanities (Tom Wolfe), in both of which a car accident is a pivotal plot point.

[Sapphire]

Thank you all for these ideas

Especially Crash by JG Ballard sounds interesting. Wiki says: "Finally, the book asks why we, as an enlightened society, accept such a “perverse technology” – that kills a vast number of people yearly – as such an integral part of our culture"

I guess it has much to do with the fact that we like to transport things and transport ourselves and keep in contact. Many accidents might happen on the road, but there also happen quite a few at home.
I am really curious what the book has to say about all this.

I've read the Da Vinci Code, and enjoyed it though I did not think it exceptionally entertaining. It was a nice read, and indeed - there was a car chase I might reread that part, I remember it was quite thoroughly written...

I'll read that short story when I find the time. I do like horror

BlueVictim, I planned on reading The Grapes of Wrath. The other I have not looked into yet.

If anybody knows an other book/story/poem - keep them coming .

[kasie]

It's an interesting thought, the lack of cars in (modern) fiction: is it because cars and ownership are regarded as indications of materialism and therefore unworthy of 'literary' attention?

Fast travel is hinted at, if not actually described, in classic novels - Mr Darcy has to move at considerable speed to intercept Wickham and Lydia in Pride and Prejudice, for example. In the tv production of a few years ago, he entered fresh from his errand of mercy, breathless and in a very dishevelled state, suggesting a hard ride, for all the world the eighteenth century equivalent of a car chase!

Detective novels often use cars as symbols - Inspector Morse in the Colin Dexter books about crime among the dreaming spires of Oxford is associated with his classic Mk II Jaguar, giving him an aura of solid craftmanship, classic design, relaibility, verve and elan - oh, and speed.

Bernard Cornwell wrote a one-off 'detective' story, Gallow's Thief, about a precursor of the Bow Street Runners which I'm sure he wrote as a bet to see if he could incorporate all the attributes of the modern detective story into an historical tale: he managed all of them, the intellectual senior officer, the common man sergeant, the useful contact in the criminal world, the token female, useful for the woman's touch with female suspects, and yes, a high speed road chase - with coach and fours! It was tongue-in-cheek but exciting and well written (and yes, the wheel came off at the appropriate moment.) Hardly 'literature' but entertaining - perish the thought that one should waste one's precious reading time on such trivia....

[Virgil]

The Great Gatsby is the first thing that came to mind. Other than the ones mentioned, I seem to recall that Jason Compson's car noticably breaks down in William Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury.

And I also recall cars being somewhat relevant in Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited.

[Hank Stamper]

Lolita?

[Dark Muse]

Fast travel is hinted at, if not actually described, in classic novels - Mr Darcy has to move at considerable speed to intercept Wickham and Lydia in Pride and Prejudice, for example. In the tv production of a few years ago, he entered fresh from his errand of mercy, breathless and in a very dishevelled state, suggesting a hard ride, for all the world the eighteenth century equivalent of a car chase

It has been a while but I also recall there was a whole thing all about carriages in Northhanger Abby, the young man was bragging about how fast his carraige was, and I think there might been something about them reckless or fast.

[Sapphire]

Yes, I also remember a book in which one of the characters gets run over by a carriage and does not survive... If only I remembered the name Always the same problem: I know there is but not whom or when or what!

Thank you all for the input.

[kelby_lake]

Gatsby, immediately.

Oh, and in Lolita the car is being followed by another car!

[dafydd manton]

There's even a reference in the Bible at 2 Kings 9:20 about Jehu's lunatic driving.