J.G. Ballard: Quotes
by J.G. Ballard
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Book Summary Information
Author: J.G. BallardEditor: Mike Ryan
Editor: V. Vale
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-11-30
ISBN: 1889307122
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Re/Search Publications
Book Reviews of J.G. Ballard: Quotes
Book Review: The Ballard Book for the Rest of Us
Summary: 5 Stars
I've never actually gotten through any Ballard books, I'm embarrassed to admit. I know that he's great, and many people whose opinions I respect absolutely love him-- but for me, his fiction, and even sometimes his essays, have been a hard slog. I remember one sophisticate friend telling me that Crash was *supposed* to be boring, that that's part of the whole point. If so, then the work demands a bit too much from this lazy reader.
That's why J.G. Ballard: Quotes is such a delight. It gives people like me exactly what we do love about Ballard, his provocative, far-out ideas, in their purest, most compact form-- without having to wade through any context. Reading this book is like freebasing Ballard.** You can pick it up and get some quick idea hits at any time, and put it down whenever without losing your place. (Who wants to buy the mobile message network rights?) In this way, it's more like the Analects of Confucius or even a tarot deck than the kind of volume you'd sit down and read through sequentially. But it's fun to have around, and for what it's worth, also a great shortcut to understanding Ballardian thought. Most of the topics he discusses-- politics and media, the future, art, infrastructure and topography, etc.-- are just the things I'm most interested in.
My main criticism is that ideas sometimes repeat-- you'll occasionally read a quote that's similar to one that you read a few pages before. When it develops the idea, it's fun to see how Ballard carries and expands on his concepts from one work to the next. But when he says almost the exact same thing in two different books, I'd just as soon only read the earlier quote. Note that this doesn't happen often. But a good book review should be critical, and this is really the only thing I could come up with.
**Judging from what little I know about the practice of freebasing.
Summary of J.G. Ballard: Quotes
Ballard's books have remained fresh decades after they were first published, and the thoughts collected in J.G. Ballard: Quotes have worn equally as well. Small enough to fit in a pocket, this book brings together J. G. Ballard's trenchant thoughts on music, film, celebrity, the rise of corporate media, the death of reality, and much more. Grouped by topics such as "Sex: Relationships, Sex x Technology equals the Future, Pornography" and "Surrealism, Imagination," these quotes are both concise and clear, and provide a strong beacon for readers who are used to a baffling daily assault of advertisements, phone calls, and e-mails. They are also an excellent resource to help readers better understand Ballard's novels, which stand among the most visionary, provocative literature of the 20th century. A Ballardian glossary, the essay "Guide to Virtual Death," and a bibliography round out this excellent resource.
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