J.G. Ballard discussion
General Chit Chat
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A folder 'His Life and Thoughts' sounds good to me; there's plenty of interesting JGB opinions to post there. I always enjoy small wake up calls from the rich mind of Ballard.
Be nice if we could have some active discussions here. So many groups start wel but then fizzle out.
OK Larry, how about the Time cover article (Feb 11 2013 issue) 'Rise of the drones'? There's a Ballardian atmosphere in there. I had to think about JGB throughout. Not in a technological sense, because it doesn't matter that they're robots, but in the psychological sense: through my (domestic) drone everything I do has an impact on your life, but never on mine. Because I am there but not really. Now there's some psychopathology waiting for a Ballardian take.
Im afraid I dont get Time magazine, Not for me.
Wasn't JGB an avid Time and Life reader? Lots of inspiration in there. But never mind, just imagine a domestic drone (basically a drone developed by the US Army that's now put to use for other purposes) hovering over your garden. Who's that watching you barbecue? The police, checking if you're growing marihuana in your garden or smoking without a permit or entertaining underage girls by your pool? Or is it your employer checking on you? Who is it? It raises questions about the presence of someone who's really not there — and as it turns out the soldiers operating the drones suffer psychological damage while they're hundreds or thousands of miles from combat. For a writer like Ballard this must have been very inspiring; or perhaps he used this already? If that's the case I'll read about that soon enough.
It appears that "High-Rise" has just occurred on a cruise ship in the Gulf of Mexico http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wor...“People are fighting over food and stuff - that's a bunch of savages.”
Haha. Read that yesterday, it did seam a bit surreal.
More info here http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles...The beginning reads exactly like the opening to a Ballard novel. One small accident sets off a cascade of catastrophic events, leading to the collapse of modern amenities.
Mod
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/25...
Amazing list for me - lots of new stuff. I see Ian Watson in there; could it be that he also wrote for TV and movies? At this point I have nothing to add to your list, only to learn. Thanks!
Watson wrote several drafts of AI for Stanley Kubrick at some point in the '90s. He wrote about it here http://www.frc.ri.cmu.edu/~hpm/projec...Apparently it was "a mindfuck in four dimensions." Kubrick was a genius, but he wasn't easy to work with.
Well that's a breathtaking read! Everything about Kubrick sound very much 'in character'. Good thing AI eventually see the light of day, for Ian, with his name on the bill.
I don't think Watson was credited in the final film - or any of the others who worked on it, including Kubrick. Steven Spielberg was the only writer listed, as he wrote the final draft.
I beg to differ, Benjamin! I have the official AI poster on my kitchen wall and it states quite clearly: "Screenplay by Steven Spielberg - Based on a screen story by Ian Watson - Based on a short story by Brian Aldiss." (Funny how I'd forgotten about all this myself...)
Hm... Right you are. I stand corrected.
So do I! Anyway it's good to have Ian Watson on my scope now as he's written some interesting stuff.
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I'll start. As you may have noticed I've organized the group in folders. What do you guys/gals think?
I'm not sure about calling a folder "His Life and Thoughs". Although that's exactly what it's for, it just sounds too pretentious. Any other suggestion?
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Also, if you've got any goodreads friends that might be interested in joining this group be sure to let them know.
We're still a small group of people and I bet there's a lot of Ballard fans in here that would be interested in joining up.