Home > J. G. Ballard

Those who know Ballard from his autobiographical novels will not be prepared for the subject matter that Ballard most commonly pursues, as his most common genre is science fiction dystopia. His most celebrated early novel is Crash, wherein cars stand-in metaphorically for the automation of the world and where city life itself is programmed to death – dragging its inhabitants (the protagonist named after the author included) into a macabre lust. Ballard's disturbing novel was turned into a controversial, and also disturbing, film by David Cronenberg.

Ballard's fiction is literary, sophisticated, and profoundly concerned with creating cognitive and aesthetic dissonance in its readers. Because of his tendency to upset readers to enlighten them, Ballard does not enjoy a strong mass market following, but he is recognized by critics as one of the U.K.'s most prominent writers.

1 Bibliography

1.1 Novels

• The Wind From Nowhere ( 1961)
• The Drowned World ( 1962Events January January 1 Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand January 3 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro January 4 New York City introduces a train that operates without a crew on-board January 8 Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa is e)
• The Burning World ( 1964Events January January 1 Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. January 3 Senator Barry Goldwater announces that he will seek the Republican nomination for President. January 5 In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Ort, AKA The Drought 19651965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). Events January-February January 4 United States President Lyndon Johnson proclaims his " Great Society" during his State of the Union address. January 14 Prime Ministers of N)
• The Crystal WorldOne of the earlier works by J. Ballard, The Crystal World (BooksEnthsiast.com) tells the story of a physician trying to make his way deep into the jungle to a secluded leprosy treatment facility. Yet while trying to make it to his destination, his chaotic pa ( 1966Events January January 1 In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bedel Bokassa ousts president David Dacko and takes over the Central African Republic. January 2 Strike of public transportation workers in New York City ends January 13 January 3 First Acid Test at the Fil)
• Crash ( 1973Events January events January 1 United Kingdom, Ireland, and Denmark enter the European Economic Community now known as the European Union January 3 Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) sells the New York Yankees for $10 million to a 12-person syndicate led)
• Concrete IslandConcrete Island is a novel by J. Ballard (BooksEnthsiast.com). A twisted adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, the story's protagonist, Robert Maitland, a wealthy businessman, finds himself stranded in a manmade island, forced to survive on only what is in his cras ( 19741974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). Events January-February January 5 Dungeons & Dragons officially released. February 4 Patricia Hearst, the 19 year old granddaughter of publisher William Randolph Hearst, is kidnapped)
• High Rise ( 1975)
• The Unlimited Dream Company ( 1979)
• Chronopolis ( 1979)
• Hello America ( 1981)
• Empire of the Sun ( 1984, fictionalised autobiography of his adolescence in a Japanese internment camp in Shanghai)
• The Day of Creation ( 1987)
• Running Wild ( 1988)
• The Kindness of Women ( 1991, follow up to Empire Of The Sun covering his early adulthood)
• Rushing to Paradise ( 1994)
• Cocaine Nights ( 1996)
• Super-Cannes ( 2000)
• Millennium People ( 2003)