Book Description

Customer Reviews (9)

It's good.
Ballard was on my list of people I might want to read something by, and this book had the highest Amazon rating of his books, so I ordered it. Apparently, it overlaps his Empire of the Sun, following the narrator through his childhood in wartime Shanghai through his time in medical school and as a pilot, on to his later life in London. It chronicles his relationship with the women of his life, who help him hold things together through some pretty rough times. The characters in this well-written book cover a wide range, from the purest to the most perverse. Some of the imagery is fabulous, and although the plot wandered at times, the book holds together thematically. Looking over the titles of his other books, I get the impression that this book is a sort of medley of his work. It has a disturbing Crash chapter (his only other work I'm familiar with) where people have a unique relationship with their cars, and ends with what felt like an autobiographical account of the narrator on a movie set, watching the film adaptation of one of his books. Something Ballard has experienced a few times.

The biography as fiction
Empire of the Sun was one of the best examples of putting your life up to a critical analysis and staring unflinchingly at it . . . Ballard's portrayal of himself during World War II as a child has to rank as one of the more honest (even when it's not so flattering) attempts at a self-charactization that I can really only compare to Norman Mailer's Armies of the Night.Here he continues his own story, using the first person this time out and extending the narrative past World War II and nearly into his present.The beginning is a bit off for those who have read Empire of the Sun since some of the details gone over don't seem to coincide with the events we learned in the previous book but he manages to again evoke its' dreamlike qualities.From there it's mostly episodic and carried by Ballard's keen eye for events and gift for description, through his eyes the sixties and beyond become almost a shared hallucination, something that you wake up from and you're not sure if it really happened or not.There's no overarching narrative to the book, though his quest to overcome the wounds that were opened by his time in the internment camp is a running theme that partly gets resolved in the end, during the time of the making of the Empire of the Sun movie.Still, like real life there are jagged loose ends, lost characters and a graceful melancholy that holds everything together well.Perhaps the only complaint are the sex scenes, far from offensive, they seem almost cold and sterile, like Ballard was sitting there taking notes during the acts themselves, which could be the point for all I know.Because it covers so much more time it doesn't have the searing focus that the previous novel did, but the wide variety of events and times are engaging in their own right and just when you think Ballard has exhausted his ability to put a new spin on describing things, he pulls another effortless phrase out that can't help but stick in your head.A book you probably have to experience more than read, those coming out of Empire of the Sun wanting to see more will probably come away satisfied.

Important for Ballard fans....
I got this book in a used bookstore in Vermont and perhaps it illuminatedBallard moreso than criticism, etc. ever could. This tells about his lifefrom the end of "Empire..." until the eighties and.... hmmm....well... explains a lot about where he was drawing source material from forbooks like "The Atrocity Exhibition" which, without this, seems alittle bit more extreme than perhaps with it it is.

Aside from that, itis an engaging story. You care about the characters, and you care about theauthor. You meet people and see things and have a good time.....

I wouldsuggest this book as not something for someone who is just looking for aread but more for someone who is into Ballard and wants clarification...and details... about him....

Wonderful
Truly an excellent book. Important to read Empire of the Sun first since this is something of a sequel.

Profoundly depressing attempt at pornography
Sets out to be pornographic, succeeds in being profoundly depressing. "Vermillion Sands", written at the beginning of Ballard's career, remains, sadly, the best thing he ever wrote. The rest was all promise andnow even that is gone. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Litcrit Hit.
This is an excellent book. It clearly (if occasionally being a bit too dense and academic) examines JG Ballard's work from first novel to latest and explores major themes in his books. It's clearly, logically reasoned, very well researched, very intelligent and very illuminating. Gasiorek is a very sharp writer and analyst of the surrealist innerspace psychonaut's wordwork and has obviously put a great deal of time and effort into his critique. This book is an absolute must for those interested in the work of JG Ballard, his psyche and his means of expressing it on the page. Buy this book. You won't regret it if you're a Ballard fan.

Check out www.laurahird.com/newreview/jgballard.html for a more in-depth version of this review. ... Read more

Product Description
J.G. Ballard has been hailed as "one of the most sensitive and enigmatic novelists of the present day" (The Times Literary Supplement). In his novels he weaves together nature, technology, sexual fantasies, and isolationism to create dark visions of humanity that are by turns repulsive and compelling, haunting and strangely beautiful.... Whether they explor the murky depths of human emotions or the majestic outer reaches of the cosmos, these three books show J.G. Ballard at his unparalleled best. ... Read more

Book Description
Over the course of his career, J.G. Ballard has revealed hidden truths about the modern world. The essays, reviews, and ruminations gathered here-spanning the breadth of this long career-approach reality with the same sharp prose and sharper vision that distinguish his fiction. Ballard's fascination for and fixation upon this century take him from Mickey Mouse to Salvador Dali, from Los Angeles to Shanghai, from William Burroughs to Winnie the Pooh, from the future to today. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Ballardophile
Ballard describes this collection of published essays and reviews as a continuation of his fiction "by surreptitious means".Those accustomed to Ballard's imaginative gifts will be pleased to discover them no less diminished in describing the extravagances and banalities of ourfin du monde era.Above all, Ballard's distinctive, fluid flashes markthis book.On Max Ernst's "The Eye of Silence": "Thisspinal landscape with its frenzied rocks towering into the air above theslent swamp, has attained an organic life more real than that of thesolitary nymph sitting in the foreground.These rocks have the luminosityof organs freshly exposed to the light.The real landscapes of the worldare seen for what they are--palaces of flesh and bone that are the livingfacades enclosing our own subliminal consciousness."Ballard's wordsand worldview are always intelligent, if not always welcome.For those whocan keep up, this book offers marvelous vistas.

Continuing Iconography in the World According to Ballard.
In this, the first I believe, collection of J. G. Ballard's non-fiction writings, Ballard is again writing about his favorite themes and obsessions. Dali, Burroughs and Mae West all appear. This time, however, he is writing about them in reality, for book reviews and the like, not as characters and archetypes in a hallucinatory fictional landscape. Despite our knowledge that we a reading an alleged non-fiction collection, the overwhelming presence of the Ballard worldview remains and makes one wonder if perhaps the non-fiction of reality and the imagination of Ballard are more closely linked that we would like to admit. Ballard's prose and style shine through illuminating the seemingly mundane subject matter. Also the careful categorization of the essays/reviews furthers the reader's impression that this is indeed a Ballard collection. The chapter headings of Film, Lives, The Visual World, etc. and titles such as "Hitman for the Apocalypse" adorning the review of a book on Burroughs bring to mind the headers and chronology of The Atrocity Exhibition. This in not necessarily a book for Ballard beginners. Another point of entry would better initiate a reader new to Ballard. But if you are familiar with his work and his common themes and elements, it is fascinating to watch his skill as a writer and constructer as he creates vehicles of ideological validation from Sunday supplement subjects. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Good Angle on Ballard with Angle Between Two Walls
I read the only information that Amazon had posted on this title, a seemingly dry academic table of contents, and decided to go for it.I was desperately curious to see what kind of analysis this was about Ballard,and my chance was richly rewarded.I do have one caveat:this IS a denseacademic analysis.As an intense Ballard fan and possessing a graduatedegree, I fell in love with the book.As author Roger Luckhurst pointsout, Atrocity Exhibition is a hard title to have a discussion about.Ifyou've been searching for someone to analyze Ballard with, get this titleand join Roger.

The title refers to Ballard's nebulous place betweenmainstream and science fiction, the "angle between two walls." Luckhurst points out the attempts that have been made to categorizeBallard, but that's the last thing he is attempting to do here.InsteadLuckhurst focuses on several of the major themes and processes at workinside Ballard's fiction: surrealism, globalism, catastrophe.The chapteranalyzing Vermilion Sands was amazing.Reading Roger discuss thereadability AND unreadability of Ballard's work, I knew I had found akindred Ballardian.Hardcore fans, this is the second most requiredabout-Ballard title after the Re/Search #8/9 Ballard book. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (18)

A real gem; shiny, smooth, hiding smoky depths and possessed of a undeniable gravity of presence.
Some short novels beg to be fondled long after being read. This volume is just such a lush curio.

I also find this to be Ballard's most readable, or should I say stylisticallyrestrained, work.

Perfect introduction to Ballard
This short, clinical, unflinching novella about the violent end of a gated community is a perfect introduction to the priceless talents of J. G. Ballard.Adopting the persona of a forensic psychiatrist investigating the mass murder of the occupants of a London residential estate, Ballard explores the dangers inherent in even the most privileged manifestations of social control - the fabricated society is an attempt to lock danger out, but its regime of repression is more likely to lock danger in.You'll solve the mystery of what happened in Pangbourne Village within the first ten pages, but that isn't the point.It's not whodunit that matters, but why.Ballard's epigrammatic summary, when it comes, is slightly trite and hardly does justice to what's come before it: a chilling work of distilled intensity.It isn't the best exploration of Ballard's searing sociological vision, but it's a delicious appetizer.Readers who enjoy this will probably find "High Rise" to their taste, too.

Don't listen to the bad critics - this book rules
The only bad thing i can say about this book is that it is very obvious what the plot-twist is going to be - so obvious that it isn't even a real surprise, but this book is still a very good read for people who like shocking but good litterature.

Nothing Great
Quick.If you want a quick read for a rainy afternoon, this is it.Don't expect much.There are no surprises, there is little to look forward too.I've read much better shorts in Harper's and Atlantic Monthly.Anyone who thinks this book is "shocking" and "chilling" really hasn't read much.How this even got published _as a book_ surprises me still.

Nonetheless, if it's a rainy day and there's nothing else to read.....

nothing wild about it...
this was the most boring book i have read in quite some time.i read it in a total of about three hours, constantly looking for some sort of twist or something other than the obvious.although presented as a mystery, crime-solving novel, you know exactly what's going to happen from reading the back cover.this book certainly shouldn't be compared to chuck palahniuk's amazing and thoughtful work.a complete dissapointment. ... Read more

Book Description
Eden-Olympia is more than just a multinational business park, it is a virtual city-state in itself, built for the most elite high-tech industries. Isolated and secure, the residents lack nothing, yet one day, a doctor at the clinic goes on a suicidal shooting spree. Dr. Jane Sinclair is hired as his replacement, and her husband Paul uncovers the dangerous psychological vents that maintain Eden-Olympias smoothly-running surface. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

Problem with Kindle version
The book was pretty good, but I wanted to leave a note about a small problem I had with the Kindle version. If you go to location #956, you'll see there's some text missing. One paragraph ends (..."faint but potent scent."), and the next one begins in the middle of a sentence ("over my wine glass."). Probably not a huge gap, but there is a new character in the scene who wasn't there before, so there must be at least a line or two missing.

I notified Amazon about this, just to be a good citizen. They told me they saw the problem too, opened a trouble ticket and told me they'd write me back when the problem was fixed. (They also gave me a $5 credit for my trouble, which was nice.)A few weeks later I got the e-mail that the text had been corrected, and to please re-download.Which I did, but nothing had been fixed at all; it was exactly the same as it was before.So I told them so, and re-explained the problem. Well, I got another message back from a different support person, saying they were sorry but they didn't understand what the problem could be...?It struck me as a bit lame, but whatever.Maybe I should have written to the publisher instead.

Waste of time...
I got this book after reading the glowing reviews on the back of the jacket, such as "A magical hybrid that belongs to no known genre, a masterpiece of the surrealist imagination."I envisioned reading a real brain-buster, something that would blow my mind as a masterpiece of modern literature.
That was not what I got.
From the start, the book read like a punchy pulp mystery, with a main character sporting an IQ well below most mystery protagonists.I got very frustrated with his constant approaches to the "elite" of Eden-Olympia - the author made the character seem really quite stupid to persist in trying to reach people that were so obviously not being helpful.
Secondly, the protagonist was a complete wimp - and that spinelessness translated into a dull book - he didn't get heavily involved in the psychotic behavior, but he didn't take a bold stand throughout most of the book either.
The author has a heavy handed approach that makes the book splashy and unrealistic, not in an exciting "wow, I never would have believed something like this!" but in a "you really expect me to believe that people would say this?" kind of way.
And the characters were shallow, and flexible to suit the author's direction - he didn't make them real.
Anyway, I really felt like it was a waste of time.Could have easily been 200 pages shorter if the author wasn't so eager to watch himself write.

Disaster!
From the beginning of "Cannes", I feel like I am re-reading Cocain Nights. Nothing new! What a bad plot! We have got a hero, whose adventure resembles to the events which happens to the Rare Window's main character. Believe me, you should still read, as having been read 200 hundred pages, someone saying: "Paul! Be careful! Eden-Olympia is a strange or mysterious place etc. etc."
Actually Ballard takes the old idea that, in the contemporary world, our only way for escape from the business world is "sex-sport". Or maybeone must dive or fly or climb etc. etc.Now exaggerate that, here is the Eden-Olympia's lust and murder therapy!
It is just dissapointing for modern novel.
One of the editors describes this book as surreal. If you look for something surreal and really enjoyable, read Aragon's Anicet or Panaroma!

I want to be sedated!
What a bore!You can find everything that is
wrong with the modern novel in this book.
A thread of a plot, a turgid pace, style
over substance, ... This is the worst
novel I read in years.It could have
been a pleasing short story, but stretched
out into 400 pages, why?It's not a thriller,
way too sedated, not a crime story, not
a social critique, a juvenile poor caricature of
the ruling corporate class. Don't waste
your money, and especially, don't waste your
time on this shallow rag.

Brilliant Slow Burn Ballard
This book's story is told through the eyes of an english pilot (Paul Sinclair) who is recovering from knee injuries and unable to fly.The book begins with Paul accompanying his young wife Jane to Eden-Olympia - a semmingly utopian business park overlooking Cannes.They arrive to discover that they are taking over the house of Jane's predecessor - Greenwood - an englishman who went on an armed killing rampage through the park before turning his gun on himself.Sinclair detects that something is wrong with the whole Greenwood story and sets out to uncover the truth behind Greenwood's actions.From then on you sense that Ballard has the peices on the board just where he wants them.Truths about the overachieving inhabitants of Eden-Olympia are uncovered piece by piece as Ballard sets about laying down his vision of a possible near future gone wrong.Super Cannes isn't as "in your face" as some of Ballard's other works - this is very much an enjoyable slow burn.There are Ballard's usual themes of casual sex and mob violence - but they are carried out in the comfortingly civilised context of Super-Cannes and therein lies the point.This is a most enjoyable read that will please fans of Ballard's other works.There is a plenty to think about here and this cautionary tale deserves a wide reading. ... Read more

Book Description
Led by a charismatic and slightly unhinged woman, a group of environmentalists wins control over a small atoll in the Pacific and sets up a utopian community. Breeding other threatened species and among themselves, these homesteaders slowly transform an Eden of their own into a much darker place. A savage send-up of environmentalism, feminism, and extremism of all sorts, Rushing to Paradise is also a brave new exploration of that strange territory J. G. Ballard has illuminated over the course of his career. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Ballard bites off a big chunk with this one
And I'm glad to say it was easy for him to chew.This is a perceptive and actually pretty nasty take on the more extreme ends of enviromentalism and feminism, the points where the former becomes psychosis and the latter becomes sexism of a virulent and violent sort.

What I love most about Ballard is his willingness to probe the darker corners of the human psyche.It's a rare gift to want to explore these places, let alone use them to comment on our society.This is an excellent book and worth your cash!

An important book about Political Correctness.
An extremely important work and one that should be read by anyone interested in the uses of Political Correctness for repression. In ordinarycircumstances a person like Dr. Barbara would either remain harmless orwould swiftly be judged an intellectual fraud and a homocidal maniac. Whatthis woman succeeds in doing, however, is to use the "liberal"predilections of other people against them tocontrive dystopiccircumstances that are extraordinary, putting her outside the possibilityof judgment and allowing her to murder at will. The models for Dr. Barbaraderive from such ancient sources as the myth of the Women of Lemnos andsuch modern ones as Moby Dick: she is a feminist Captain Ahab and isendowed with all of Melville's madman's persuasiveness and executiveskills. A brilliant book, which belongs on the same shellf with Brave NewWorld, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Lord of the Flies.

Not your average book
I really liked Rushing to Paradise and I don't see how it generated such negative reviews; except to say that it IS a "politically incorrect" book.Author Ballard has strange, almost hallucinatory descriptive powers which he delivers in cool, matter of fact language. Above all, the book resonates with a twilight of the gods atmosphere. Maybenot for everyone, but this doesn't make it a bad book.Quite the contrary.

The WORST book I have ever read
I bought this book after reading the totally amazing "Crash". It took my a week to just get halfway through it before I said to myself, "You know, reading for fun isn't supposed to be a CHORE." I thenthrew it in the garbage. I didn't even want to donate it to the locallibrary for fear that someone might make the same mistake I did. Utterdoo-doo.

Rushing to purgatory
In Rushing to Paradise, J.G. Ballard paints a memorable and disturbing picture of idealism run amok within the paradise of a Pacific atoll. It is a book that glitters with dark ironies; from the opening paragraphs, withderanged femme-fatale Dr. Rafferty bullhorning slogans to the desertedbeaches of Saint-Esprit, to her commune's timely rescue from this obsessedwoman by the hated French military.Rushing to Paradise is likely tooutrage some with its dry send-ups of environmentalism and feminism. Nonetheless, it is worthy book; strange, vivid, unpredictable, and attimes...wonderful.I recommend buying two copies in the event one is lost. ... Read more

Book Description

Term paper due tomorrow? Need to cram for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Novels for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by Thomson Gale--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: plot summary; character analysis; author biography; an overview of the novel's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Novels For Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: Thomson Gale--and "Novels for Students."Download Description

Term paper due tomorrow? Need to bone up for a test? Or just looking for the best information about a favorite literary work?

Turn to "Novels for Students" to get your research done in record time. Brought to you by the Gale Group--the world's leading source of literary criticism and analysis--this e-doc contains: plot summary; character analysis; author biography; an overview of the novel's themes, style, and historical context; a compendium of in-depth critical material; study questions; suggestions for further reading; and much more.

Why choose "Novels For Students"? Because no other source offers so much in such a compact package. Trust the experts: The Gale Group--and "Novels for Students." ... Read more