Prima Belladonna

by J.G. Ballard, Roldano Romanelli (Translator)

A Vermillion Sands, nel tempo dell'Intervallo in cui tutto è sospeso e l'infinita estate intorpidisce gli animi, ci si diletta con la cura della coroflora, gli stupefacenti fiori canori in grado di cimentarsi nelle più differenti tonalità e melodie. Fino al giorno in cui nell'assolata città non giunge la bellissima cantante Jane Ciracylides, mutante dalla pelle dorata e gli occhi da insetto la cui voce è in grado di irretire gli uomini a tal punto da far loro vedere cose inesistenti. Ma non solo: le acute tonalità di Jane indispongono tutta la coroflora della città, in particolare una certa orchidea Khan-Aracnide. Chi avrà la meglio su Vermillion Sands?

Il primo racconto scaturito dalla geniale penna di J.G. Ballard, il magistrale autore che ha profetizzato ogni distorsione del mondo contemporaneo.

Tratto da Tutti i racconti. Volume I, pubblicato da Feltrinelli. Numero di caratteri: 29.014

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

25 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 31, 2016

About the author

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 aroused by staging and participating in real car crashes. The story was later adapted into a film of the same name by Canadian director David Cronenberg.

While many of Ballard's stories are thematically and narratively unusual, he is perhaps best known for his relatively conventional war novel, Empire of the Sun (1984), a semi-autobiographical account of a young boy's experiences in Shanghai during the Second Sino-Japanese War as it came to be occupied by the Japanese Imperial Army. Described as "The best British novel about the Second World War" by The Guardian, the story was adapted into a 1987 film by Steven Spielberg.

The literary distinctiveness of Ballard's work has given rise to the adjective "Ballardian", defined by the Collins English Dictionary as "resembling or suggestive of the conditions described in J. G. Ballard's novels and stories, especially dystopian modernity, bleak man-made landscapes and the psychological effects of technological, social or environmental developments." The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry describes Ballard's work as being occupied with "eros, thanatos, mass media and emergent technologies".

Reviews

[Bhuwan Chand · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first story of J G Ballard story I ever read...Brilliant stuff. Here is the true Master of Science Fiction, I am ashamed that I didn't read him earlier. Will try to finish as many of his stories as I possibly can...

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun short with some strange references treated as casual facts to further normalize the sci-fi-ness... Definitely worth the read. The imagery and sound-edgy (?) is very nice, as well.

[James B · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time reading J.G. Ballard, and it's exactly the sort of scifi I'm looking for. Fantastic short story. I was a bit confused about the arachnid at first, not realising it was a plant.