The Atrocity Exhibition

Easily one of the 20th century's most visionary writers, JG Ballard still lives far ahead of his time. Called his "prophetic masterpiece" by many, The Atrocity Exhibition practically lies outside of any literary tradition. Part science fiction, part eerie historical fiction, part pornography, its characters adhere to no rules of linearity or stability. This reissued edition features an introduction by William S Burroughs, extensive text commentary by Ballard and four additional stories. Of specific interest are the illustrations by underground cartoonist and professional medical illustrator Phoebe Gloeckner. Her ultra-realistic images of eroticism and destruction add an important dimension to Ballard's text. --Joaquim della Mirandella

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The 'atrocious' exhibition - Rated
'The Atrocity Exhibition' is a very apt title, because I have never read a more atrocious book. 'Experimental' translated means 'Avant-Garde', He mentions rape, torture, paedophilia, people who are aroused by Vietnam's child napalm victims and people who are aroused by viewing car crashes. As if this weren't bad enough, he writes the book in a willfully obscure, difficult, awkward style - hence the 'experimental' label.

Essentially what Ballard is trying to do is dazzle us with his expansive vocabulary, but it cannot change the fact that the novel is meaningless. I for one am not impressed by someone who uses ten-syllable words continuously.

Barely a paragraph goes by where he isn't making some crude or unpleasant outlandish sexual reference, even to the point where he is implying that anyone who is an anti-war protestor is sexually inadequate. There are numerous of these bizarre and disturbing thoughts.

I fail to see how anyone could 'enjoy' this novel, as it is not the kind of novel you can enjoy. Once you have come to terms with his style of writing, the novel just becomes tedious. I do not think there is an overall point. Avoid this obscene and tedious novel at ALL costs!

Truly visionary - Rated
Will Self describes this book, on the cover, as representing "the zenith of the experimental novel in English. Ballard's marginalia are a tour de force, a wholy original work in their own right."

This annotated edition with an excellent introduction by William Burroughs and Ballard's own chapter notes, written with over twenty years hindsight, further enhances a novel that already made Ballard stand out as one of greatest soothsayers of the twentieth century.

Obsessively documenting his obsessions and preoccupations, this novel cuts deep into the fabric of contemporary society. Not an easy read but an invaluable testament of our time, now with added historic perspective.

Every good novel should change your life - this will alter your perceptions in an astonishing and radical manner. Not to be missed.

Best book I ever read! - Rated
Yes, this is a difficult and complex book. Yes, it is dense, cryptic and multi-layered. Yes, it lacks a clear linear plot. Yes, it is packed with complex and repetitive images. It is also Ballard's finest work, a collection of frames from a film that evokes all the obsessions and symbols of the latter years of the twentieth century.
And to answer the last reviewer, yes, I think it is great.

amazing - the geometry of virtual un-reality - Rated
ballard himself said that every paragraph of this frightening, obscure and obtuse puzzle-fiction is a condensed novel. it's true and puts most other writers to shame: experimental and totally transgressive.
the imagination and wayward-intelligence behind the ideas here might lead you to think it was written by an maverick escapee of a mental asylum (maybe travis, trabert, talbolt or traven)but ballard, like orwell and huxley, knows exactly what he's talking about.
there's abandoned airfields where recreations of the jfk assassination take place, studies of the geometry of bits of car in relation to calculated sexual poses, the encyclopedia of imaginary diseases, dali, max ernst, the death-crashes of james dean, albert camus.
first published as a collected 'novel' in 1969 it embodies the start/end of the space race, psychopathology of the modern icon and the possibilities of celebrity car-death.
the annotations by ballard in this edition are very helpful in creating an understanding of some of the less obvious content without detracting from the ferocity of the ideas.
'atrocity exhibition' is the only title this book could possibly have.

Worst Book I Ever Read! - Rated
Perhaps not a popular opinion.
If you can get through a page of this book without finding the words 'geometry' or 'algebra' or 'equation' somewhere in there...
He uses these words EVERYWHERE, for no good reason. Uh. I just didn't like this book. But you probably think it's great.