Oh, man, J.G. Ballard is just having the time of his 1930-2009 life! You'll have to pardon him; you see, he just read The Onion's lol-tastic Libra horoscope referencing him, and now he's trying to stifle a laugh.Looking at this distinguished gentleman as he partakes in a rather boisterous guffaw, you'd think he's a slightly loony Oxford professor, or perhaps the real-world equivalent of the Mad Hatter - but little would you suspect that he's actually been adapted by our own D-Cro of Toronto!
So let that be a lesson to you! Don't judge postmodernists solely by the striped blue of their ties, or the recession of their hairlines.
Empire of the Fun?! Yeah, that's lol-tastic.
ReplyDeleteJust discovered your blog and very much appreciate your subject matter - not to mention your wit. I'm big fan of JG Ballard and wondered if you read 'Kingdom Come' (2006) and what you made of it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for the kind words! The truth is that I've hardly read any JG Ballard, but I'm interested in learning more. Hopefully the rest of the hive mind that is Happy Postmodernists (we may have more contributors than readers) will be able to discuss this more. Which of Ballard's books do you think is the best introduction? And of course, if there are any other postmodernists you'd like to see featured, let us know!
ReplyDeleteThe...um...the ones I've read.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Those are the best.
I guess I took the opportunity to ask about 'Kingdom Come', because it was his last novel and I feel pretty conflicted over whether I actually liked it or not. It has a familiar theme - a dystopian account of consumerism - but somehow I didn't find it as gripping as usual. As far as an intro to his work, I guess I'd say some of the earlier (60's and 70s) short story collections - the only one springing to mind right now being 'Myths of the Near Future'. That said, my favourite novels are definitely 'Crash' and 'High Rise', which are both wonderfully disturbing (and often hilarious) dystopias of modern 'lifestyles'.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks a lot for the recommendations, and for reading/commenting in the first place! To the nearest used bookstore I go...
ReplyDeleteSame here...well, except maybe the library, because I'm poor and I love socialism.
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