I was very sad to learn of the death of JG Ballard at the age of 78. He had been ill for several years, struggling with prostate cancer, and died on Sunday morning. Ballard is one of my favourite authors, penning such classics as ‘The Drowned World’, ‘Concrete Island’ and ‘Crash’. He said his books were, “picturing the psychology of the future”.
Jim Ballard’s most acclaimed novel is probably ‘Empire of the Sun’, based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China and filmed by Steven Spielberg. Cronenberg directed an adaptation of ‘Crash’, Ballard’s infamous book about the fetishisation and sexual desires stimulated by car crashes. The film caused media outrage and was banned in many parts of the country.
I am a huge fan of Ballard’s post-apocalyptic visions. As a writer he tackled ecological, technological and psychological catastrophe. There is an underlying feeling of violence in the texture of stories about the cult of the celebrity, the edge-lands of cities, motorways and cars and the rise of CCTV paranoia. He gave science fiction a soul and a conscience and he embodied fear of unknown futures.
‘Ballardian’ dystopian visions have been very influential on modern music. Some of these are good and some not so good:
Joy Division’ 1980 album ‘Closer’ has a song called ‘The Atrocity Exhibition’ – the name of a short story collection.
Klaxons named their debut album ‘Myths of the Near Future’ after Ballard’s short story collection published in 1982.
Radiohead’s 1997 album ‘OK Computer’ includes two songs influenced by Ballard’s worldview.
Manic Street Preachers sampled Ballard on ‘Mausoleum’ from the 1994 album ‘The Holy Bible’.
Suede paid homage to Ballard with the cover image of their B-sides compilation ‘Sci-Fi Lullabies’.
Comsat Angels named themselves after a 1960s short story and Empire of the Sun after the novel.
Buggles’ 1979 single ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ is based on the short story ‘The Sound Sweep’.
Hawkwind released a song called ‘High Rise’ on their 1978 album ‘PXR5′, taken from the name of the 1975 novel which is set in a futuristic high-rise building that offers its pampered inhabitants everything they need.
The Tubeway Army song ‘Down In the Park’ is a Ballard-influenced dystopian nightmare and Gary Numan’s 1979 hit ‘Cars’ had themes of technological improvement and alienation.
There are many more. However, rather than watching a film adaptation or listening to band who reference the author, go and read a Ballard novel. We have lost a cult literary genius.
To quote Ballard himself:
“I wanted to rub the human face in its own vomit, I wanted to force it to look in the mirror…”