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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
R.I.P. J. G. Ballard: Understand His Development as a Writer Through His Lesser Known Works,
By directions "neuralbuddhist" (Space Time Foam) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Complete Short Stories (Hardcover)
J.G. Ballard's death was a concluding chapter in a life that in some ways had been stripped of humanity. Which is a not uncommon experience. After being stalked online, abandoned by half of the people I know after having acquired (and under official study for) tardive psychosis, tardive dysphrenia and tardive dysmentia and close to death each day one wonders if life gets worse. Or is that a bad thing in itself? I would say J.G. Ballard's passing would be one clear sign as being a living embodiment of "The Atrocity Exhibition" (his most surreal work) I could not ever communicate with him (in real world terms). But his life was certainly not just a fictional depiction of some sick and depraved imagination. If you read the book (far better than the movie) "Empire of the Sun" you can understand that his traumatic experiences shaped him to see the darker side of the human imagination. In "The Complete Short Stories" we see his evolution as a relatively conventional science fiction writer to outright warped dissertations on humanity ("Why I Want to F*** Ronald Reagan", written around the time of his true masterpiece "Crash") to more conventional stories along the lines of "Empire of the Sun". A typical story is "The Comsat Angels" (yes I did pick that one first being that it inspired one of my favorite post punk bands) where as it turns out "boy geniuses" are being cloned for quiz shows. But instead of a science fiction schema it instead depicts the true depersonalization and commifidication of the media (and this being in the 60's, update it now to the internet). So now in being trapped some world physically a step towards death but yet not entirely towards it (one we will all inhabit someday) its perhaps a bit depressing to have a fellow traveler depart. But in seeing how the world has totally lost its humanity perhaps it might make you pause for thought. Or at least keep reading. And please do so. Every page is worth it.
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Complete Short Stories by J. G. Ballard (Hardcover - November 4, 2002)
Used & New from: $52.11
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