J.G. Ballard Book Reviews by Mac Tonnies Related links: J.G. Ballard's official website J.G. Ballard: 20th Century Chronicler THE DAY OF CREATION Ballard's 1987 novel "The Day of Creation" is a sinuous odyssey through a surrealized Africa drunk on the potential of Western technology. Ballard's narrative voice is rich and engaging, the fluctuating exterior and interior landscape rendered with delirious conviction. "The Day of Creation" reads like a particularly brutal 20th century fable, deftly pointing the cool lens of technology on our secret fascination with the Dark Continent. "The Day of Creation" has been compared to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." But Ballard's novel is at once deeper and more topical; by infusing his story with a compelling and unlikely romance, Ballard reveals a sensual versatility lesser writers would gladly kill for. Read as an adventure story or as erotic allegory, "The Day of Creation" is a pleasure. WAR FEVER Ballard's slim, highly effective collection "War Fever" showcases some of the author's most outrageous and experimental work, including the chilling "Memories of the Space Age" (see the excellent collection of the same name), the convoluted "Notes Toward a Mental Breakdown" and "The Index" (a story told in the form of an index to a nonexistent biography). The title piece is a wicked Philip K. Dick-style satire featuring Ballard's harrowing sense of inevitability. "The Secret History of World War 3" is the funniest story in "War Fever"as well as the scariest. This collection traverses the badlands of the collective Western psyche with wit and courage. | |
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