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The Drowned World

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This is the first novel I read by J.G. Ballard. I first heard of the author 12 years ago after seeing "Empire of the Sun". At that time I had no idea that Ballard's early works were science fiction.

"The Drowned World" (Ballard's first novel) is set in a future where most of the planet is underwater or covered in lush jungle. Melting ice caps have caused the sea level to rise, and an altered climate has forced the population to flee to the areas of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. Intense sunlight is causing the temperature to rise all the time, making the environment increasingly hostile to human life. The only creatures that thrive in the new conditions are fish, insects and reptiles, which are all growing bigger and bolder.

The mood of this book is brooding and melancholic. The small group of characters, who live in a tropical, submerged London, have dreams linked to a world millions of years in the past, as the Earth's ecology reverts to a prehistoric wilderness. There is an interesting discussion about the built-in "race memory" in the human psyche. People's fear of snakes and lizards can be linked to the time when early mammals lived in fear of the reptiles, who were the dominant lifeform millions of years ago. (And are becoming so again.)

I think some of the inspiration for "The Drowned World" may have come from John Wyndham's "The Kraken Wakes", which also featured a submerged London (although the climate was getting colder, not hotter). In turn "The Drowned World" may have been the inspiration for that much-maligned film "Waterworld". Ballard's writing style is descriptive like H.G. Wells and M.P. Shiel: poetic and elegant, if a little flowery.

Throughout the book there is an undercurrent of pessimism. This is not about adventure and discovery, but a world in decline (for humanity at least). In a planet prone to change, Earth has changed radically. Ballard plays with the theme of transformation in other books:"The Wind From Nowhere", "The Burning World" and "The Crystal World". In Ballard's series of disaster novels "The Drowned World" is, to use a cliche, the beginning of the End.

The cover of my version has a lizard sitting quite happily on some poor guy's face, which is the only part of his body sticking out of the water. For some reason, I really like it. This would be considered atypical SF if it came out today, I can't even imagine the reaction back in the sixties when this was first published, especially to an audience that had been raised on an audience of big guns and fast spaceships and heroes who solved problems by punching aliens in the face. Ballard's novel isn't about saving the world, in fact, the world is well past that point by the time the book opens and it's only going to get worse, all the people left can do is figure out how to live with the changes. As you can probably surmise from the title, climatic changes and the melting of the polar ice caps have caused the water levels in the world to rise, putting most cities under water and turning the world nearly into one big tropical ocean. This change is more than just cosmetic since it's apparently resurrecting racial memories buried deep within the collective unconscious, thus people start having weird dreams about times when the world used to be like this. Action packed? Not really. Hallucinogenic? At times. Different? You bet. Ballard succeeds mostly on the strength of his ability to convey this flooded, humid world in all its declining glory. The protagonists wander about almost aimlessly, not even sure why they do what they do. The "villains" of the piece provide a nice counterpoint to all the gloomy stuff but in the end serve as little more than a distraction, albeit a strangely entertaining one. In the end it doesn't cohere as nicely as the slightly better (in my opinion) "The Crystal World" where Ballard's prose is more finely polished in all its hazy glory, while the protagonist can be more easily identified with by the reader. The stuff with the pirates that take up most of the middle of the book is fun, but serves as little more than a backdrop and a soggy world just doesn't have that eerie outerworldy quality of a planet slowly turning to crystal. Also, the whole "racial memory" thing, while you could probably write a book on it, isn't really dealt with in any sort of detail here, it sort of pops up again when it's convenient. Still, for a debut this is a heck of a lot better than anything I could do and it's safe to say Ballard got a lot better real fast. Even then, this is a fine book well worth your time, because whatever Ballard does, he does better than just about anyone else.

Unlike most entries in the post-apocalyptic fiction genre, J. G. Ballard's "The Drowned World" deals not with the immediate aftermath of a global calamity, but with the long-term psychiatric implications of such an event. Set some eighty years after an increase in solar activity has rendered most of the earth a tropical swamp, Ballard explores the human reaction to such a rapid change in geography and society at the most primal level.

As such, it has more in common with the likes of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" than "Alas, Babylon" or other contemporary works of apocalyptic fiction. In fact, in many ways it presents itself as a post-modern retelling of Conrad's journey into man's baser instincts. The main character, Dr. Kerans is an admirable stand in for Marolow, as like his literary predecessor he is both drawn to and repelled by his surroundings and what they do to him and those around him. Likewise, his aptly named nemesis Strangman is so reminiscent of Kurtz, including his almost cult-like relationship with Africans (more on that later) it is difficult not to picture him as a Marlon Brando type character.

However, what separates the two novels, and keeps "The Drowned World" from being entirely derivative, is that Marlow has a civilization, a real civilization, to fall back upon. No matter his descent into the unknown, both internally and externally, there is always a thread, however tenuous, that he can use to pull himself back up out of the primitive. Kerans, on the other hand, is stuck in a global Congo, and the so-called civilization he could fall back upon is a mere shell of what it was, scratching out an existence above the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. As such, his backward drift into the primeval is both more intense and ultimately irrevocable.

It is this backwards drift into something more primitive, but somehow better adapted to this new world that forms the compelling core of the narrative. His discussion of genetic memory, of the hard-coding of our response to our environment by millions of years of evolution is both believable and engaging, and has at least some foundation in fact as reflected by man's near universal dislike of such things as spiders and snakes. Wisely, Ballard doesn't attempt to draw any definitive conclusions, but rather leaves open the question of whether evolution is a one way street, or whether mankind is truly as adaptable as we suppose.

Nicely juxtaposing this inner change is the change in society that necessarily attends such a radical change in the environment. Most of what is left of civilization is regimented under a quasi-military system, apparently under the auspices of the U.N., and what is left of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Existing outside of this society are those who either refuse to let go, or who scratch out a living in a piratical sort of existence. Strangman is one of the latter, and he forms Ballard's most compelling character.

Not explicitly bad, although almost certainly insane, he forms the question of whether the necessities of survival trump twentieth century morality, or if the two need not be mutually exclusive. As I mentioned above, his troop of African's forms the most puzzling aspect of "The Drowned World". It is unclear whether Ballard is indicating that because they are black they are more primitive mentally, or because they came from a more primitive setting geographically, they are better equipped for survival in this new world. Based upon the overall context of the novel I'm inclined to argue that the latter is the case, but I would be hard-pressed to categorically refute those who see racist overtones.

Ultimately, "The Drowned World" is worth reading for its uniqueness in the genre. Forgoing questions of surivival which are taken as a given, it plumbs the depths of the human psyche looking for a more profound response to natural disaster. As Kerans slips deeper into his own mind the reader is left to question just how robust a creature man is. With our long-term survival left in doubt, Ballard leaves open the possibility of man evolving into something else or just going extinct. Although sometimes a little prone to lecturing, "The Drowned" world is still a fascinating and genuinely original contribution to the genre.

Jake Mohlman

This is one of my favorite Ballard novels and it's certianly got the hothouse waterworld-meets-heart-of-darkness atmosphere going to stir up that primordial fear in your gut. You can feel the sufficating swamp gas in the air like you are in a giant pressure cooker! (actually the waterworld comparison is pretty cheap on my part because it was an incredibly silly movie and has little in common with this book other than taking place in the future where the world is virtually covered with water...but you get the idea). Ballard has the uncanny ability to burrough under your skin with somewhat hypnotic prose. Definitely a mood piece and not your typical sci-fi. Don't order from Amazon.com though beacuse 20 dollars too expensive for a 190 page paperback and you'll get it a lot quicker (about 5 days total) from Amozon.co.uk (since it is unfortunately only published in the UK). One of my three favorite Ballard novels.

Ballard's first novel is a prefigurement of the dark themes that color much of his subsequent work: cataclysm, entropy, devolution, obsession...redemption. An atmosphere of tension and menace haunts his stories which are set in landscapes that Ballard details with an almost febrile intensity. Moreover there are few happy endings in his fiction. And yet it works. Ballard's great imagination; his vivid, erudite prose; his seemingly limitless vocabulary and a willingness to take risks have resulted in a unique body of work which reveals an artist not just for our times, but perhaps for all times. In The Drowned World Ballard describes an inundated earth. Temperatures have risen, melting the ice caps,and the planet gradually reverts to a paleontologic state. Above the once great cities of the world the tops of skyscrapers rise like islands, serving as neo-mesozoic eyries for plant and animal. Ballard peoples a sunken London with various deserters from the human cause. Living in abandoned penthouses they struggle to come to terms with this new world, and their own inner changes. If Ballard's short stories are like "condensed novels", The Drowned World is like an elongated short story. The pace is leisurely and the book fades out rather than ends. Still, it is an invigorating read and a great first effort for an exciting and original talent.

I loved this book only recently read even if its writing is up to '60s.

The world is covered by water, cities are blue lagoons surrounded by jungles and reptiles and iguanas. Men are dying: everywhere the temperature rises and the sun becomes bigger and bigger in the eyes of the survivors...

Ballard depicts the new environment with scientific precision, but it is the psychological analysis of the characters that strucks deeply the reader: humankind is regressing to the triassic era and the humans ancestral fears and obsessions take hold of their mind. Rationality progressively disappear and only the sun remains, beating as a colossal red heart in the mind of Kerans.

Wow, the water of the lagoons is a warm primordial soup and Kerans looks forward to plunge into it and to never resurface again...

Oneiric and strangely realistic.

Every article, biographapical sketch or plaudit for J. G. Ballard must mention the fact that he was never popular, but hugely important due to his influence on later SF writers. Ballards lack of popular success is hardly inexpliccable. All of his writing explores his philosophical views on the human race: imminent decline, helplessness of the individual, frailty of the human genome and human civilization. These ideas, while powerful, don't generally lend themselves to compelling plots and characters. Perhaps for this reason, Ballard was best as a short story writer. His novels, including "The Drowned World", tend to start strong but finish weak.

We find ourselves with Kerans, one of a reconaissance group sent to explore the jungles of Europe. The narrative informs us that solar flares and atmospheric disintegration sparked massive global warming, upheaving the world's climate and wiping out most of civilization. A few survivors cling to existence in the arctic regions, but most of the world is overgrown with new plants and ruled by giant reptiles. Moreover, the heat and sunshine are having strange psychological effects on the remaining people; one character suggests that lingering racial memories from before the dawn of man are the cause.

This is the good section of the novel. The ideas are clear, the actions are logical, and Ballard's writing is, as always, lavish:

"Overhead the sky was vivid and marbled, the black bowl of the lagoon, by contrast, infinitely deep and motionless, like an immense well of amber. The tree-covered buildings emerging from its rim seemed millions of years old, thrown up out of the Earth's magma by some vast natural cataclysm, embalmed in the gigantic interval of time that had elapsed during their subsidence."

Ballard does an excellent job of capturing how this environment affects the men with sluggishness and gradually breaks down their resolve.

Regrettably, anyone who published a science fiction novel in the 60's had to fulfill certain expectations, along the lines off strutting heros and villains, damsels in distress, shoot-outs and last-minute rescues. Ballard delivers all this in the second (and lesser) half of the novel, when a strongman named Strangman and a gang of uncivilized toughs arrive from the south. These elements never quite fit with the mood established earlier in the book. Ballard's purpose, obviously, is to suggest that these folk have accepted the new order and humanity's new place in the world. However, their behavior doesn't catch on as realistic, and the book suffers as a result.

***SPOILERS***

J.G. Ballard's second novel, THE DROWNED WORLD (1962), follows a small group of scientific researchers and army personnel. Their job is to explore and catalogue the flora and fauna which have changed significantly, following a natural catastrophe which has heated the earth.

Most of humanity (which doesn't figure in the story directly) is now located on or near the poles, which are the best areas for human habitation; there is less radiation, and the ice-caps melted long ago, raising the global water level, submerging many major cities.

The novel begins and ends with biologist Dr Robert Kerans, who is studying a series of lagoons which formed, as we are later to learn, over London, England. Kerans feels that the environment is reverting back to Triassic Period conditions; the blazing heat, and the increased size of the plants, animals, and insects are indicators of this phenomenon.

But the main reason for reading this short novel, in my opinion, is for Ballard's flair for description. The jungle, and the moody atmosphere created by its description, is reminiscent of Conrad's HEART OF DARKNESS.

I think there is also a nod to a figure from Dante's THE DIVINE COMEDY: Beatrice. In both works, Beatrice leads the hero through an unsavoury locale (to say the least!) towards some kind of deliverance. If my surmise is correct, then it adds meaning to Beatrice's wanting to stay in the lagoon, once the party has decided that it is no longer habitable. It also paints Kerans' exit in a more positive light, and explains why all of the villains are attempting to hang onto the trappings of civilization. In essence then, this is a science fiction ode to nature and our natural instincts: an updating of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the State of Nature as a normative guide.

I enjoyed the tone of the first half of the book more than the second. I found the swamp much more menacing and mysterious than the human agencies, which are introduced in the latter portion. I wished it would have kept describing and developing Kerans' psychological descent instead.

I read this book more than 40 years ago, but I remember it almost like it was yesterday. When the book was first published, the realm of speculative fiction was awash with visions of apocalyptic eschatology, including the darkly humorous work of absolute genius, Cat's Cradle. That was the Zeitgeist. However, what Ballard achieved was a kind of tour de force that combined science fiction with the ripping yarn of an HG Haggard adventure, and his own particular brand of mystical, experimental literature. In this, the work proceeds not unlike a dance of seduction, such as Ravel's Bolero. The opening context is shocking enough, a submerged London with few survivors in a Venice like setting that is becoming increasingly Tropical and over-run by your typical post-breakdown War Lords, Pirates and sundry mercenary savages. In this I hear the echoes of Joseph Conrad. At first the story focuses on the demands of survival in the face of a brutal reality. But the Dreamtime presses in on the heros. For as the world is slowly transforming into the Jurassic era of giant ferns, so are the old voices of the collective unconscious waking from the slumber of millennia and singing to their Hosts. All the world it seems, is bent on returning to its origins, and the Humans too, are irresistibly drawn, like salmon swimming up stream, towards the Heart of Darkness that is our origins, the arboreal world from whence we came. This, to me, is what sets it apart from other tales of survival in a world bereft of its institutions. It takes on a mystical character that is strangely effective in its ability to communicate a subtle spiritual and psychological transformation that appears to be taking place, along with all the environmental changes. To call this visionary is to reduce his achievement. This was the book that caused me to rush off to the library(no internet in those days) to research the topic of what was called 'greenhouse effect' in those days, (and whatever opinion you hold today, I encourage you to do your homework on the subject and learn the state of the art on the current science. Not to do so is to let yourself be victimized. You don't want that do you? Of course you don't. Nobody does.). The topic of industrialisation altering the behavior of the atmosphere was hardly tinged with political overtones in those days. The energy conglomerates felt no threat, and hadn't yet poured millions into black op campaigns to impugn the science and confuse the non-scientific public opinion. I never would have thought it possible, 40 years later, that not only the theory but the measurable consequences would still be so controversial to the public at large, at least in the US, when only a few old cranks among the scientific community are holding out for more evidence. This book should not be forgotten; it shows the first attempts at imagining a world that is surely coming, day by day. I am convinced that nothing will be done to prevent it and the remainder of humanity will look back in anger till the end of it's hot and watery anguish filled days. If I was to criticize the novel at all, it would be Ballard's fairly exclusive focus on rising oceans and the return to earlier periods of the Earth's history. He did not anticipate the wildly fluctuating and powerful weather related events such as massive hurricanes, tornados, endless droughts, disappearing of the snowpack, drying up of the rivers, crop failure, human starvation, climate migrations northward. It would appear that turning the river and seaport cities of London and New York into the new Venice would be the easiest of the impacts to bear. Nonetheless, he gets cudos for being a pioneer in the field of imagining one possible outcome, and I applaud his recognition of the myth of the Eternal Return, and the dialogue between Modern and Archaic Realities that almost surely has begun.

Before climate change there was radiation and fears of the nuclear, but in this 1962 novel the seas have risen just the same and the remaining cities of the old world, flooded, supra heated, abandoned, reverting back to the prehistoric are all that remains.

As much a novel of the psychological reversion as it is to do with any plot or great events, this is a strange but compelling kind of science-fiction. It is one of Ballard's earliest work and his language is ornate and his love of the extravagant simile here in abundance.