J G Ballard a good read?

[sojourner]

I know, sound advice I have to start out with a sense of disassociation - keep some distance between me and the text. Not always that easy for me though. I think Mr VP telling me American Psycho was the most disturbing book he's ever read hasn't helped to be honest

I'm doing American Studies. Officially an 'interdisciplinary' degree but I'm finding myself picking all the literature and cultural modules at the moment.

I did a literature type degree and this is my own branded technique for dealing with 'difficult' books. It's easier if you know that you're reading it for a course, because then you can analyse it as you go along, thereby aiding and abetting the disassociation I did a bit of american studies on my course...another interdisciplinary degree - gives you loads to chuck at the text

 

[Ms Ordinary]

I quite liked Empire of the Sun, & found The Kindness of Women (the rest of his autobiography) even better. Sort of clinical, but very moving at the same time. (& covers the period when he was writing a lot of his earlier stories, so you can try & work out whether you'd actually want ot read them or not).

I can't bring myself to read the recent ones, even though I liked a few of the earlier (and shorter ) books - I do find the upper-middle class / elitist slant to be offputting. I suppose the earlier books had the same type of characters, but the retro-ness takes the edge off it a bit.

I've always meant to read Why I want to fuck Ronald Reagan ever since I read an article where Angela Carter described the effect of reading it aloud to her literature class at a US college, on the day Reagan actually got elected. (The story was written in 1968).

I wish I'd seen some of the South Bank prog I always manage to forget its on, if its someone I'd actually be interested in.

 

[Vintage Paw]

I did a literature type degree and this is my own branded technique for dealing with 'difficult' books. It's easier if you know that you're reading it for a course, because then you can analyse it as you go along, thereby aiding and abetting the disassociation I did a bit of american studies on my course...another interdisciplinary degree - gives you loads to chuck at the text

I know. I've got a degree in lit already (don't ask why I'm doing another - guess I'm a sucker eh?) but I never 'studied' anything disturbing before. I'm half looking forward to the experience, half scared I'll want to skip whole sections To be honest, I think I'm working it up in my mind into something it's not. When I get to read it I'm sure I'll be fine. I mean, as you said, it's only words.

Except, it's ideas too. I suppose it's the ideas that scare me

 

[treelover]

EOTS was one of the best books i have ever read, though haven't read too many recently since the interweb happened

 

[treelover]

btw, anyone got a copy of the S/bank prog? i missed most of it.

 

[Pieface]

I know. I've got a degree in lit already (don't ask why I'm doing another - guess I'm a sucker eh?) but I never 'studied' anything disturbing before. I'm half looking forward to the experience, half scared I'll want to skip whole sections To be honest, I think I'm working it up in my mind into something it's not. When I get to read it I'm sure I'll be fine. I mean, as you said, it's only words.

Except, it's ideas too. I suppose it's the ideas that scare me

American Lit was my favourite part of my course you lucky bugger! Crash is not a great book imo but it's very of its time, a bit like reading Generation X too late - you already know and are sick of the ideas before you read the books that bred them IYSWIM?

Haven't read any other Ballard and tbh I doubt I'll be bothering.

 

[alexG]

I'd second In the Company of Women as better then most, and well worth reading before Millenium People, Super Cannes etc.

It explains a lot about how and where he found himself after the war and the crazy people who influenced him...including where Crash came from.

 

[perplexis]

If you can bring yourself to deal with massively fractured narrative structure then Atrocity Exhibition is well worth the effort.
His later society-falling novels are all quite good fun, but, as many have said, they can get very samey. It's interesting in a way though, he has great ideas and he explores them in (maybe a little too much) depth over the course of several books.
Depends what you want from your reading I guess, and I'd definitely incline to suggets reading his early stuff (though to my shame I've never read Empire of The Sun).