In praise of J.G Ballard

Earlier this year sadly j.G Ballard past away provoking as you can imagine a slew of tributes in the national press. One of the more inventive ways to mark his passing came from the Guardian which published one of his final short stories and tributes.

it was through reading that final short story, about a trip to the leaning tower of Pisa, that i finally understood what Ballard was about. he was holding up a mirror to the man made world around us then bending reality slightly and writing about the consequences on society and individual human behaviours.

That led to reading the Millennium People, Drowned World, High Rise and soon to be more.

if there is a lesson from the experience it has to be that making a judgement on a writer based on a book you read many years ago, in this case Empire of the Sun, can be a real mistake. there is probably something to ponder as well around the idea of having to wait for someone to die before appreciating them.