RIP: JG Ballard

5 comments on “RIP: JG Ballard”

1. Nic says:
   April 19th, 2009 at 1:55 pm

   Wow, he was quite the author. Crash was one of the more emotional books I’ve ever read, so visceral and brutally honest with its subject matter. He didn’t pull punches, and authors like that are few and far between.

2. Roland says:
   April 19th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

   When I read him, I always got the terrible sense that there was a man who saw the world for what it really was. What a life.

3. jrb.naples says:
   April 19th, 2009 at 5:41 pm

   Thanks for the post George – I have learned a good deal by following the flurry
   of authors having recently passed. It is a shame that I have not read more of their
   work but I have added their notable pieces to my required reading list.

4. Marc says:
   April 20th, 2009 at 8:35 am

   Seeing the news of J.G. Ballard’s death has been a shock.

   I never read a lot of Ballard’s books, but I did read CRASH and some of his short stories.
   CRASH was an excellent, if disturbing read–and made into an equally powerful film by David
   Cronenberg. Granted, Ballard wrote from a dark place, and he will be sorely missed, but his
   works will remain.

   Alan Moore (WATCHMEN, V FOR VENDETTA) was definitely influenced by Ballard.

5. Mary Soderstrom says:
   April 20th, 2009 at 9:36 am

   The Empire of the Sun is one of the best coming of age books ever written, and the movie by Steven Spielberg is a rare film made from a book that approaches the book in quality. In my science fiction days I had read a lot of Ballard, but I didn’t realize just what a fine writer (and, apparently, man) until I read Empire. Definitely to be recommended.

   Mary

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