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Conference noted::sf

Title:Arcana Caelestia
Notice:Directory listings are in topic 2
Moderator:NETRIX::thomas
Created:Thu Dec 08 1983
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1300
Total number of notes:18728

753.0. "J.G. Ballard query" by RELYON::HIGINBOTHAM (heh?) Thu Feb 23 1989 19:39

	If anyone cares to chat about J.G. Ballard, I'm more than
	willing, having read nearly all his works. But the main thing
	I'm asking here is concerning his newest hardcover, "Memories
	of the Space Age". I believe this is a collection (correct me
	if I'm wrong). I'd like to know the titles of the stories
	therein. Does anyone have this information?

	Thanks,
	Brent
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753.1Not Realy My TasteARTMIS::GOREIFri Feb 24 1989 09:365
    
    	I read "The Terminal Beach" many years ago but didn't enjoy it (too 
    "new wave"). Is this typical of his writings?
    
    		Ian G.
753.2RELYON::HIGINBOTHAMheh?Fri Feb 24 1989 13:2015
    
>>    	I read "The Terminal Beach" many years ago but didn't enjoy it (too 
>>    "new wave"). Is this typical of his writings?
    
  
		Yes and no, Ian.
		Check out a discussion we had in BOOKS notes 504.*
	
	(Is Ballard's appeal too "lit'ry" for our little SF ghetto? I'm
	 surprised to see no previous discussion of the man's works
	 here in SF, when so many SF writers, right down to the cyberpunk
	 school, acknowledge his influence.)
	
		Again, if you've seen his newest, fill me in
753.3ULTRA::SIMONThe exquisite corpse will drink the new wine.Mon Feb 27 1989 16:086
    I recently read Ballard's novel "High Rise" and thoroughly enjoyed
    it. A devastating satire, dark and grim, with subtle insights into
    individual and mob psychology. Highly recommended.
    

    -Rich
753.4After I finish EMPIRE.STRATA::RUDMANP51--Cadillac of the Skies!Thu Mar 02 1989 19:584
    Re: -.1  Really?  I picked this up 2 yrs. ago but haven't
    started it.  Guess I should...
    
    						Don
753.5ULTRA::SIMONThe exquisite corpse will drink the new wine.Wed Mar 08 1989 12:458
    
    RE: -.1 (Don)
    
    Yep, really. I picked it up in a bookstore determined not to buy
    any more books (too many on my "to be read" list) and made the mistake
    of reading the first paragraph. That did it.
    
    -Rich
753.6.0 + 10 mos.KISHOR::HIGINBOTHAMUncle Scrooge vs. Richie RichTue Nov 21 1989 13:469

	original question still unanswered:

	can anyone give me the titles of the stories that make up
Ballard's "Memories of the Space Age"? The book is published by Arkham
and none of the bookstores I've checked carry it.

	help!		Brent
753.7RUBY::BOYAJIANSecretary of the StratosphereWed Nov 22 1989 06:3810
    I don't know if the stories therein were actually published
    previously elsewhere.
    
    As for the book, have you tried Avenue Victor Hugo on Newbery
    Street in Boston?  I'm sure that they carry the Arkham House
    titles. You might want to ask for Spike MacPhee (who used to own
    and run the Science Fantasy Bookstore in Harvard Sq.) -- tell
    him I sent you.
    
    --- jerry
753.8KISHOR::HIGINBOTHAMUncle Scrooge vs. Richie RichMon Nov 27 1989 12:3912
	Jerry,

	I know that at least half of the stories have come from 
	elsewhere (Interzone, F&SF etc.), as I have read most of
	the one's I have heard discussed and critiqued. Its the 
	one's I _haven't_ heard discussed I'm wondering about.

	I'd heard Spike was involved over at Ave. V. H. and look
	forward to seeing him. I'll tell him you said hello.

	Brent
753.9"Running Wild"YUPPY::DEMBINAPaulus DembiniusFri Jan 19 1990 12:5413
    Recently out in paperback in the UK. This is a novella (only 80
    pages long - and rather overpriced) relating a psychiatrist's
    investigation into a mass murder in an exclusive housing estate
    leaving 32 people dead and 13 children missing. The solution is
    not too difficult to spot (in fact I think that the hardback version's
    cover blurb gives the "secret" away) but it has a certain amount
    of logic.
    
    It's not one of his best , but still a nice filler until the next
    novel comes along.

    Paul
    ----
753.10recent Ballard opinions?LABRYS::CONNELLYylerab...tset rorrim eht dessap IMon May 06 1991 00:327
Can anyone comment on Ballard's more recent novels?  I haven't read anything
by him in a long time, but his novels from the late '60s (like _The Drowned
World_ and _The Crystal World_) are among my favorites, and his short stories
up to the point of the retrospective collection _Chronopolis_ were very high
quality stuff too.
									paul
753.11Good but not SFDRUMS::FEHSKENSlen, EMA, LKG2-2/W10, DTN 226-7556Mon May 06 1991 12:548
    My impression is that Ballard has left the genre and is now writing
    "regular" fiction.
    
    I have seen a few reviews in the New York Times Book Review, mostly
    positive.
    
    len.
    
753.12RUBY::BOYAJIANOne of the Happy GenerationsTue May 07 1991 06:137
    re:.10
    
    Len is right. Ballard writes mainstream fiction these days. His
    most well-known work at this point is undoubtedly EMPIRE OF THE
    SUN because of the Spielberg film version.
    
    --- jerry
753.13TECRUS::REDFORDWed May 08 1991 21:0115
    I believe his most recent novel is "The Day of Creation", which
    is not SF, but has fantastic elements.  "Magic realism" is probably
    the trendy term to use.  It's about a white doctor who lives near
    a dry lake in a barren African country.  A spring suddenly
    appears in the lake, which floods and overflows into a river.  He
    follows the river to its end, believing that he is its creator
    and seeing the growth and decay of life that the water brings.
    Well-done, but with Ballard's depressing tinge of despair.
    
    Incidentally, I've heard that David Cronenberg ("Scanners",
    "Videodrome") is directing a version of Ballard's novel "Crash". 
    The book links sex, cars, and death, and is pretty strong stuff. 
    I couldn't stomach it, actually, but the movie could be impressive.
    
    /jlr