High-rise - J.G. Ballard

Crash - JG Ballard

Advantages: It's mercifully short
Disadvantages: Unrelentingly unpleasant

's vision does not transfer well to the page; his sledgehammer style is exhausting and unattractive for the reader. I'd go so far as to say that Crash is a bad book, it hints at some of the high concepts that Ballard has claimed but the quality of the writing does not match the intent. The book courted controversy on publication, there can be no surprise there as that was surely the intent. There is graphically described sex and sexual fantasy on virtually every page and written in a cold, detached style these passages are, as I've said, more pornography than erotica. Yet, unless you share the character's automotive fantasies, there is little that is titillating for the reader. I bought this book as the filler in a 3 for 2 deal at Waterstones recently, and chose it with trepidation having many years ago seen the film adaptation by David ...

brereton66 20.05.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Crash - J.G Ballard

Empire of the Sun - JG Ballard

Advantages: Technically superb, a very intimate portrayal of war at it's most cruel
Disadvantages: None

Empire of the Sun is one of JG Ballard's more accessible books. Semi autobiographical, it tells the story of a young boy, Jim, and his experiences in Shanghai during World War Two. Ballard was the same age as Jim and was also interred for the duration of the war. How many of the events in the book are taken directly from his experience is not entirely clear but the fact that he is informed by first hand experience gives the book a chilling authenticity. The book is written entirely from the boy's point of view; all events and situations are described in Jim's own words and grounded in his own experience. Ballard makes no attempt to interject any adult interpretations or provide a retrospective opinion and maintains the integrity of the style throughout. This is no mean feat and is a clear indication of Ballard's talent as a writer ...

brereton66 13.06.2006 · Read full review
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Review of Empire of the Sun - J. G. Ballard

Desert Dystopia

Advantages: Descriptive prose
Disadvantages: Lack of character development.

J. G. Ballard's oeuvre has come to be associated with a certain type of dystopian near future in which human society is overcome either by the trepid forces of nature or some aspect of a technological modernity in which the main alienated characters wander around in bleak man-made landscapes. The Drought, first published in 1962, is one of the four first novels written by Ballard, all of which are variations on themes of natural disaster: The Wind from Nowhere, The Drought, The Drowned World and The Crystal World are all in many ways novels that seem much more prescient now than when they were first published during the 60s and 70s - well before the speculative but inevitable effects of Global Warming became top of the news agenda. The Drought (also originally published as 'The Burning World') is set in a bone dry landscape in which ...

Zmugzy 03.09.2009 · Read full review
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Review of The Drought - J.G. Ballard