J G Ballard passed away yesterday. Does anyone else care?

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I'm truly sad.

Give us a clue?

Yes.

I loved Empire of the Sun.

Ignore - I just Googled.

No, can't say that I do care. Never heard of him. Sorry it's saddened you though.

Empire of the Sun was his one book that I never read, actually.

empire of the sun is very moving and his only autobiographical novel, I think?

Oh no, I didn't know.

Wrote an essay on him for my MA.

I've dipped in and out of his novels, but was always struck by how interesting he was when interviewed.

There's a Mark Lawson interview for Radio 4 Front Row that was replayed tonight, if anyone wants to find it on iPlayer.

I was half way through a Ballard when I was 15, reading it in assembly, when a teacher crept up on me and confiscated the book, which belonged to my dad. When I went to the staff room to get it back at the end of the day, the old bag denied taking it, couldn't find it and I never got it back. I was really enjoying it too.

I care! I care lots - I loved him. Am still slightly traumatised from Cocaine Nights, but still - he was a great writer.

Ballard wrote loads of books but the two most significant ones were Empire of the Sun and Crash, which had that controversial film made from it with Woody Harrelson in.
I loved the film Empire of the Sun and have just read the book and his autobiagraphy. His time in Shanghai was very interesting, he really did witness the decline of the British Empire first hand.
Have a look on Wikipedia about him.

I read a few of his books.
Empire of the Sun is one of the best books that I have ever read.

I didn't know I really really love J G Ballard's writings as well. The Atrocity Exhibition prolly my favourite

I've a book published by REsearch about him with lots of interviews and stuff in which is really interesting as well.

Heated - there's a sequel to Empire of the Sun, The Kindness of Women, which is also very good.

I'm sorry he died but I'd assumed he was already dead because when his autobiography came out it was announced that he had terminal cancer and that was a couple of years ago now.

He was enormously original and imaginative and there's an honesty in his writing you don't get in many other places.

His autobiography came out last year and at the end of it, he says he has terminal cancer. So I wasn't surprised to hear he passed away, but still very . Such an original thinker, boldly going where no other author has gone before, so to speak. What a great loss.

Agree that The Kindness of Women is v good. The bit about his wife is sooo shocking - really stuck with me.

Had never heard him talk before yesterday and was surprised he had such a soft, pleasant voice. I imagined he would sound barky and maybe a bit sinister.

I care! I love Empire of the Sun. Did you hear the interview on Front Row last night? It's probably on iplayer if you want to listen.

pixie - The Atrocity Exhibition is my favourite, as well.

I discovered J G Ballard after watching Crash. I was spellbound by that film - couldn't believe that anyone actually thought of those ideas, let alone put them to pen and paper.

Then I read The Atrocity Exhibition

First sentence:

"Apocalypse. A disquieting feature of this annual exhibition - to which the patients themselves were not invited - was the marked preoccupation of the paintings with the theme of world cataclysm, as if these long-incarcerated patients had sensed some seismic upheaval within the minds of their doctors and nurses."

I read it cos of Joy Division Then read Crash - think Richey Manic mentioned that in some interview Then film come out and was a bit disapointed tbh cos thought it looked a bit 80s soft porn robert palmer video overproduced.. these are fuzzy recollections now. Haven't seen in years

"Crash" (film) led me to not only J G Ballard but also David Cronenberg, so I'm eternally grateful. Is the book much better? If so, I should probably read it, especially since there will be no more Ballard books, ever

Before Cronenberg got all mainstream with "A History of Violence", and that latest Russian mafia movie, he put out some very interesting films - eXistenZ, Dead Ringers, Naked Lunch, etc. If you liked The Atrocity Exhibition, I think you should watch these films.