I winced when I returned to this thread this afternoon. I'm afraid to read my earlier posts, as I'd been up for about twenty-two hours when I wrote them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Pablo
As a consequence [of having tried to read Empire of the Sun], I put Ballard on my black list.
From your comments, I gather I am probably wrong, so what would to recommend? I am willing to give him a second chance.
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I wouldn't say you were wrong to put Ballard on your blacklist unless you find you actually like his other books.
Are you a fan of William Burroughs' experimental novels, such as The Ticket That Exploded? Are you not put off by descriptions of sex and violence that are designed to make you feel alienated and queasy (which is how Ballard said he felt when he wrote them)? If so, then you might like The Atrocity Exhibition and Crash, both of which impacted 70s and 80s culture and experimentalism but are not to everyone's tastes.
If not, then avoid those books.
A tighter and less confrontational book might be Running Wild, which contains his disturbing themes without the explicit content and without as many narrative risks re the reader's interest. (Violence in Ballard is often shown in retrospect -- dwelt upon as a thing that has already happened -- which can make the reader impatient.)
If you're a fan of straightforward dystopian SF, in which the landscape consists of frightening wastelands and accidental museums, then you might like The Crystal World or The Drowned World.
If you'd like to try something more succinct, then I suggest the short story collection, Vermilion Sands.
You still might end up hating Ballard, but at least you'll be familiar with the kind of work he devoted his life to writing.