J.G. Ballard


Born
in Shanghai, China
November 15, 1930

Died
April 19, 2009

Genre

Influences


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 arous ...more

Average rating: 3.69 · 182,538 ratings · 15,726 reviews · 411 distinct worksSimilar authors
High-Rise

3.61 avg rating — 34,615 ratings — published 1975 — 93 editions
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Crash

3.59 avg rating — 26,880 ratings — published 1973 — 67 editions
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Empire of the Sun

3.98 avg rating — 21,272 ratings — published 1984 — 134 editions
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The Drowned World

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3.48 avg rating — 19,215 ratings — published 1962 — 98 editions
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Concrete Island

3.67 avg rating — 9,608 ratings — published 1974 — 56 editions
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The Atrocity Exhibition

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3.78 avg rating — 6,791 ratings — published 1969 — 61 editions
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Cocaine Nights

3.56 avg rating — 6,301 ratings — published 1996 — 42 editions
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Super-Cannes

3.71 avg rating — 4,820 ratings — published 2000 — 42 editions
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The Crystal World

3.60 avg rating — 4,532 ratings — published 1966 — 85 editions
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Running Wild

3.57 avg rating — 3,157 ratings — published 1988 — 45 editions
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More books by J.G. Ballard…
Empire of the Sun The Kindness of Women
(2 books)
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3.96 avg rating — 22,680 ratings

The Complete Short Stories:... The Complete Short Stories:...
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4.38 avg rating — 2,450 ratings

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Quotes by J.G. Ballard  (?)
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“I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world, to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen.”
J.G. Ballard

“Perhaps the future belongs to magic, and it's we women who control magic.”
J. G. Ballard, Rushing to Paradise

“Civilised life, you know, is based on a huge number of illusions in which we all collaborate willingly. The trouble is we forget after a while that they are illusions and we are deeply shocked when reality is torn down around us.”
J.G. Ballard

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