Weird-Ass Books #5: The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard

Chris discusses The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard, 98 stories spanning 5 decades.
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[@troygaspard6732]

I got this collection upon reading a review in The Atlantic, and it blew my mind. He is master of the short story.

[@lesliegordon2313]

I've just stumbled upon your review. Fantastic. Probably the most mature opinion of Ballard I have come across on You Tube. Thank you.

[@anticensorshipsociety1063]

My favorite sci-fi book of all time. So different. I'll never forget "Chronopolis" and other brilliant stories from it.

[@CMDR_Verm]

Thank you for some modern recognition of this masterful artist. I began to read Ballard in the 1970's and, at first, I found his writing very hard to ''get my head around''. All I knew was that I was mesmerised by his themes, which approached my favourite genre from a completely different angle than most of the other authors I'd found so far. ''Crash'' sealed it for me and, if you have yet to read it, I envy you. What I always enjoyed about any work by Ballard, whether it be short story or novel, is that I felt he was being honest. I've read about him and watched interviews with him and the last adjective I would use would be ''pretentious''. James Ballard came across as a man who believed in his writing, albeit with a (sometimes) wry sense of humour. His passing was a great loss to literature, I feel, but hopefully his worldview and any warnings he felt the need to express will stay around as long as they are discussed. His characters weren't frightened of change, they embraced it.

[@barrymoore4470]

I loved and was haunted by Ballard's beautifully evocative short story "The Drowned Giant", one of the few Ballard works I have so far read (all short stories to date), and the one I have most appreciated.

[@sulate1]

In terms of Music - John Foxx's Metamatic is pretty much Ballard to music (Foxx's early Ultravox! albums also have significant links to Ballard). Magazine's Motorcade and The Normal's Warm Leatherette are also key tracks.

[@simeonbanner6204]

I'm a British fan of Ballard's work and have been for a long time. He is indeed like a tonic when you need some insight into what and where humanity is going. I've had the complete short stories though hadn't worked my way through many of them. You inspired me to read "The Drowned Giant". It is very moving, the level of description too. It occured to me that Ballard, of course, was writing before mobile phones so I imagined what would happen nowadays. Great review of the book.

[@OtakBolong]

read JG Ballards' short stories collection because of this video and boy oh boy I'm not disappointed. The weirdness is just unapologetic and so casually written. Really what I've been looking for! I'll get into Thomas M. Disch after this so thank you for your weird books recommendation I hope you'll make more of these 🙏

[@VildhjartaFanGurl]

Just ordered myself a hardcover. Gotta give it a look.

[@bookssongsandothermagic]

Fantastic video that really shines a light on a lot of stories - it's definitely inspired me to delve more into Ballard's work.

[@ABrionesAutor]

Great review, I just got the book last year and it has a bunch of great stories.

[@rickartdefoix1298]

Some Ballard short stories were great. Think the ones being in Vermilion Sands and those in The Terminal Beach were some of the best. Anyway, Ballard was a clever and good writer. Whose psychological thrillers were page turners. Liked Ballard a lot and can't help but recommending him. A very interesting writer. 💎❤️🆗👍🙏

[@thekeywitness]

Also recommend The Unlimited Dream Company

[@wonderworld1928]

Very well articulated review.

[@henrirousseau9541]

Just lettin' you know I was a Ballard enthusiast from 1963 and by dissin' Ballard's 'early work' this guy misses out on a lot. The Voices of Time. The Volcano Dancers. It has been interesting to watch Ballard's development through the years. At least he mentioned 'End Game'.

[@vaishuuppulury4164]

The video sound is pretty good, beyond my imagination

[@skumleren]

If you are a sci Fi reader like me and don't necessarily want to get stuck in pages with obsessive personalities(although unable to escape in Ballards work it would appear), I can highly recommend: "report from an unidentified space station", "the message from Mars". "Billenium", "Concentration City", "The watchtowers", "Having a wonderful time". Outside the sci fi, "The Recognition" was my strange haunting favourite.

[@davidtester3239]

I heard his name is pronounced buh-lard. At least according to Ellison in Dangerous Visions.

[@donaldkelly3983]

Just found your page and really like Weird Ass Books! I started with Ballard, since he is a hero of mine. When I was in high school I read "The Terminal Beach" and I was hooked! Other writers' short fiction you might want to feature are Robert Aickman and Primo Levi. Aickman penned "weird fiction" that is akin to Ballard, but more based in horror. Try Ringing the Changes" or "The Hospice". Levi wrote science inspired fables like "Excellent is the Water" or "The Mirror Maker." I'm going to look at your postings on Aldiss and Disch, also.

[@PrisonforKids]

Thanks for watching and thank you for the recommendations!

[@TheJonBallard]

I agree

[@craigdreisbach5956]

Wow! Amazing discussion. Like listening to a professor of modern English Lit.

[@PrisonforKids]

Thank you!

[@davechittenden1657]

Great review..I've never really gotten into the 'sci fi' stuff ..I always thought he was a socialogical writer first and foremost. Gotta say even though my mind is quite disgusted with what I read ..I'm drawn back again and again

[@LieuTran-nh6lh]

You try to give the video more brightness it will be great if you do

[@xedasxedas]

Jesus, i'm watching books/writers reviews! How did i arrrived here? Let me click on the next meme video...

[@joebeamish]

I wonder if you also like Robert Aickman?

[@PrisonforKids]

I’ve haven’t read any of his work, where should I start?

[@joebeamish]

@@PrisonforKids Your description of Ballard reminds me a little of Aickman, another British writer who is impossible to categorize. My favorite collection of his short stories is called “The Wine Dark Sea.”

[@joebeamish]

@@PrisonforKids By the way, I ordered a collection of Ballard’s short stories, which is on its way from Ebay.

[@PrisonforKids]

Thanks for the recommendation!