Date: 2008-06-11 13:59 Subject: Best Science Fiction of J.G. Ballard Security: Public Tags: j_g_ballard, science_fiction, short_stories, uk

The Best Science Fiction of J. G. Ballard (1977)
411 pages - Orbit

'Each of us is little more than the meagre residue of the infinite unrealized possibilities of our lives.' (pg.390)

Seventeen short stories are collected here, selected by the author, spanning ten years, from 1957 to 1967. Some of the highlights are "Concentration City" about people who live in a city so massive they can't imagine anything beyond its borders; "The Waiting Grounds" about a secret on an isolated planet, and "Chronopolis", about a future in which timekeeping devices are banned.

When J.G. Ballard is at his best, he brings a psychological intensity combined with narrative that edges on the border of surrealism. At his worst, his writing is very detached and self-indulgent and lacking in emotion or other human qualities. I would say both sides are on display in this collection.

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