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/lit/ - Literature

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13109707 No.13109707 [Reply] [Original]

Where do I start with Ballard ?

>> No.13109716

>>13109707

Start with The Best Short Stories. desu I'm not a fan of his novels. They're basically overlong versions of his stories.

>> No.13109732

Ray Brassier
Nick Land
Quentin Meillassoux

>> No.13109844

>>13109707
here
>Report on an Unidentified Space Station
http://geosci.uchicago.edu/~kite/doc/roauss.htm

>> No.13109876

Crash

>> No.13109928

The Drowned World

>> No.13109941

serious answer: depends on whether you want his scifi-stuff (the early "world" novels), the ballardian classics like Crash or High-Rise which he got famous for or the later ones which are more developed (or boring to some) versions of the middle phase

>> No.13110469

>>13109707
Drowned World or Crash, depending on whether you want apocalyptic sci-fi or weird psycho-sexual proto-cyberpunk.

The Day of Creation is probably the best blend of the two styles.

Atrocity Exhibition if you enjoyed Crash. High Rise if you want something more about society.

Empire of the Sun is his best "conventional" novel, but it's still quite Ballardian. I think it's his best work. Good as your second or third read.

I have no idea what his late crime novels are like (from the late 80s onwards). In my opinion, as you go along, his stories lose relevance and don't really keep up with the technological and psychological cutting edge.

>> No.13110485

>>13110469
Super-Cannes is quite entertaining (the only later one I've read) but it doesn't have the balls to the wall viscerality of the earlier works even though psych(opathy) is still a major theme in the book

>> No.13110633

>>13109876
this

>> No.13110667

>>13109707
Are they gonna eat the cat?

>> No.13111434
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13111434

>>13109707
Bro haha what EVEN is that cat DOING there?

>> No.13111559

>>13109707
Don't fuck with Mittens, he's crazy.

>> No.13111577

>>13111434
lol he like a baby but for lonely people

>> No.13112347

>>13110469
Thank you

>> No.13112404

>>13109707
First Ballard book I read was "The Kindness of Women"

It's a kind of sequel to "Empire of the Sun". I really, really enjoyed it, and it made me a life long Ballard fan. I builds off his childhood and experience during the war and progresses through his life and his various relationships with different women over the years. It's a beautiful and moving book.

>> No.13112506

Ballard, J G. The Drowned World. , 2015. Print. ISBN-10: 9780871403629

>> No.13112515

>>13109707

I haven't read Ballard but I find it very interesting that two recent music albums - The Crystal World, by metal band Locrian (an album I'd like to get a physical copy of, and I don't even like metal generally), and Atrocity Exhibition by Danny Brown - took their namesakes from his work. I am fairly confident that Brown did not himself take any interest in Ballard's work, whereas Locrian did-though I could be wrong about this. All this does give me a general interest in Ballard's work as well.

>> No.13112559

>>13112515
Danny Brown took the Name from Joy Division's song.
There are a few Joy Division references all throughout the Album.
Curtis read a lot of Burroughs, Ballard, Gogol, Kafka, Dosto and Feiner and many of his songs were named after their Novels:
>(The penal) Colony
>Dead Souls
>Atrocity Exhibition

>> No.13112567

>>13112559

Helpful post, cheers.

>> No.13112637

>>13112567
You're welcome