John Sumby
TWO of the most influential books I’ve read, in an intellectual sense …

1. The Drowned World. J.G. Ballard (tho’ ‘The Concrete Island’ is good and probably better than ‘Crash’!)

2. Icehenge. Kim Stanley-Robinson (I buy and give away this book whenever I find it – the question is; ‘What is truth?’)

Well worth finding and reading
Jon

1.
This torrid, powerful 1962 novel was a major turning point in J.G. Ballard’s career. In this future our world has been gradually drowned as global warming melts the ice-caps and primordial jungles and swamps have returned to tropical London, recreating the ancient ecology of the Triassic age. Global temperatures have climbed, and civilization has retreated to the Arctic and Antarctic circles. According to the logic of Ballardian “inner space”, these Turkish-bath surroundings evoke the psychological suction of the deep past, calling the human “hindbrain” back to the enfolding warmth of the womb. The text is rich with dreamy phrases like “the fata morgana of the terminal lagoon” and “the brighter day of the interior, archaeopsychic sun”. As various members of an expedition to London busy themselves with more or less futile schemes like draining Leicester Square in hope of loot, the passive central character Kerans moves in his own “neuronic odyssey” to a strange acceptance of and assimilation by this lushly transformed world, vanishing into a final epiphany of heat and light. There is little narrative drive or sense of story (fans of rip-roaring, action-adventure SF tend not to get on with Ballard). The Drowned World is a potent, sensual mood-piece; static, jewelled and unforgettable. This early novel by the author of Crash and Empire of the Sun is at once a fast paced narrative, a stunning evocation of a flooded, tropical London of the near future and a speculative foray into the workings of the unconscious mind.

2.
The story is part mystery and part psychological drama, divided into three distinct sections.
In the year 2248, Mars is ruled by a Politburo-like committee that actively discourages dissent as well as travel and exploration of other planets. Scientist Emma Weil becomes involved in a covert plot to convert a stolen ship into a self-supporting spaceship. She turns down a chance to accompany the starfarers, and returns to her beloved Mars where she joins the revolution already in progress.

Three centuries later, archaeologist Hjalmar Nederland unearths a governmental cover-up of the true facts behind the old revolution. At the same time, a Stonehenge-like monument is discovered on the north pole of Pluto, and Nederland sets out to prove his theory that the monument is connected to revolutionaries and their contemporaries who left for the stars. Seventy years later, his great-grandson Edmond Doya becomes convinced that Icehenge is a hoax, and attempts to disprove Nederland’s theory.

In addition to futuristic issues such as interstellar travel and the terraforming of Mars, Robinson’s characters grapple with politics, careers, families, and aging.

3. (A suprise!!) Concrete Island (I was enthralled by this story)

A twisted adaptation of Robinson Crusoe, the story’s protagonist, Robert Maitland, a wealthy architect, finds himself stranded in a man-made ‘island’ (a section of fenced-off wasteland in the middle of a motorway intersection), forced to survive on only what is in his crashed Jaguar and what he is able to find. As his condition degrades, it soon becomes difficult to determine whether Maitland is finding sanity or watching his mind fall apart as he finds companions on the island and eventually decides to remain there and forsake his former life. As an allegory of how the technological advancements of society ultimately serve to alienate, rather than unite, us, this short novel provides a quick introduction to one of the recurring themes in Ballard’s work.

Finally, Ballard’s book ‘Highrise’ is also worth a read – hell – anything by Ballard is worth it, well, anything pre-1980, which is when he lost it…