Chronopolis by J.G. Ballard

Chronopolis by J.G. Ballard

Original Title: Chronopolis ISBN: 0425041913 ISBN13: 9780425041918 Autor: J.G. Ballard

Rating: 3.1 of 5 stars (1785) counts Original Format: Paperback, 371 pages Download Format: PDF, RTF, ePub, CHM, MP3. Published: May 1st 1979 / by Berkley / (first published 1971) Language: English Genre(s): Science Fiction- 18 users Fiction- 9 users Short Stories- 5 users Fantasy- 2 users

Description: Short story collection.

About Author:

James Graham "J. G." Ballard (15 November 1930 – 19 April 2009) was an English novelist, short story writer, and essayist. Ballard came to be associated with the New Wave of science fiction early in his career with apocalyptic (or post-apocalyptic) novels such as The Drowned World (1962), The Burning World (1964), and The Crystal World (1966). In the late 1960s and early 1970s Ballard focused on an eclectic variety of short stories (or "condensed novels") such as The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), which drew closer comparison with the work of postmodernist writers such as William S. Burroughs. In 1973 the highly controversial novel Crash was published, a story about symphorophilia and car crash fetishism; the protagonist becomes sexually aroused by staging and participating in real car crashes. The story was later adapted into a film of the same name by David Cronenberg. While many of Ballard's stories are thematically and narratively unusual, he is perhaps best known for his relatively conventional war novel, Empire of the Sun (1984), a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy's experiences in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War as it

came to be occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army. Described as "The best British novel about the Second World War" by The Guardian, the story was adapted into a 1987 film by Steven Spielberg. The literary distinctiveness of Ballard's work has given rise to the adjective "Ballardian", defined by the Collins English Dictionary as "resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in J. G. Ballard's novels and stories, especially dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments." The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry describes Ballard's work as being occupied with "eros, thanatos, mass media and emergent technologies".

Other Editions:

- Chronopolis and Other Stories (Hardcover)

- Chronopolis: The Science Fiction of J. G. Ballard (Paperback)

- Chronopolis, and other stories (Hardcover)

Books By Author:

- Crash

- Empire of the Sun (Empire of the Sun, #1)

- High-Rise

- The Drowned World

- Concrete Island

Books In The Series: Related Books On Our Site:

- Who Can Replace a Man?

- Nomad Codes: Adventures in Modern Esoterica

- The Pyrotechnic Insanitarium: American Culture on the Brink

- J.G. Ballard (RE/Search #8/9)

- Driftglass

- Case and the Dreamer and Other Stories

- Visionary in Residence: Stories

- Fun with Your New Head

- The Wind from a Burning Woman

- Facing Unpleasant Facts: Narrative Essays

- Axiomatic

- The Moon Moth (Graphic Novel)

- The Mechanical Bride: Folklore of Industrial Man

- Beyond the Rift

- The Best of C. L. Moore

- The Variable Man and Other Stories

- Gene Wolfe's Book of Days

- The Best of Lester Del Rey

Rewiews:

Jul 10, 2012 Ken-ichi Rated it: it was ok Shelves: escape, science-fiction, didnt-finish I read about half of this before deciding most of the stories were pretty similar: atomic annihilation, sleep as a proxy for death, scientific hubris, etc. Some of them definitely contained compelling concepts (time-based autocracy, anti-time autocracy!) and imagery (giant birds!), but the bogus biology and underlying belief in historical and evolutionary determinism got me down. Each of these stories seems to echo the fear of death within the broader fear of death of the world, of civilizations I read about half of this before deciding most of the stories were pretty similar: atomic annihilation, sleep as a proxy for death, scientific hubris, etc. Some of them definitely contained compelling concepts (time-based autocracy, anti-time autocracy!) and imagery (giant birds!), but the bogus biology and underlying belief in historical and evolutionary determinism got me down. Each of these stories seems to echo the fear of death within the broader fear of death of the world, of civilizations and ecosystems reaching their end, and it all just feels a bit old fashioned. Like, we survived the Cold War without blowing ourselves up and now we have other fears, like the fear of fear (also a Cold War thing, obviously, so where's it at, J.G.?), and the fear of lost identity, or false identity. Maybe that's why Phillip K. Dick has more currency these days than Ballard. Or is Ballard's other work different? 2 likes