Comments on: 'His personal horizon': Sinclair and Self on Ballard

By: An interview with Nic Clear from the Ballardian « Void Manufacturing

An interview with Nic Clear from the Ballardian « Void Manufacturing — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 05:19:14 +0000

[...] has much at all to do with psychogeographical conceptions of urban space? He appears to have been co-opted into the ‘movement’, such as it [...]

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:53:33 +0000

Ah, fair enough Jude — the curse of the sub-editor strikes again….

By: Jude Rogers

Jude Rogers — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 15:56:03 +0000

Hello – Jude Rogers here. Just to point something out – I’d mention Reynolds’ piece about hauntology when I filed my piece about July Skies and the psychogeographic rock lot, but it didn’t make the cut, and neither did my mention of Debord. Which, I know, is a shame, but, gah, that’s the way it is.

By: johnny strike

johnny strike — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:23:25 +0000

‘re/search used the ’state topics and let him roll’ tactic to great effect.’

are you thinking of the REsearch book QUOTES? but that is a book comprised of quotes from other interviews culled by vale and mike ryan from a myriad of publications, and throughout the years, then arranged under subjects like: pornography, science fiction etc.. it’s one of my favorite ballard books, and probably is the source for my idea, but not the same.

By: johnny strike

johnny strike — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 06:02:11 +0000

for a man who believes so strongly in his obsessions, boredom doesn’t seem quite right, disappointed probably.

By: Simon Sellars

Simon Sellars — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:05:29 +0000

re/search used the ‘state topics and let him roll’ tactic to great effect. i have been quite unimpressed with recent interviewers and their efforts to engage ballard. i’m sure he has been bored, too.

By: johnny strike

johnny strike — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:55:21 +0000

the next five minutes

always interesting reading the articles here. new ballard and ballardian vid clips turn up on youtube from time to time; some good, some not so much. an interesting question was posted by supervert over at reality studios. ‘what would you ask ballard?’ it’s true that many questions are repeated by his interviewers. talking with a creative thinker like ballard, i would mostly state topics, and let him roll. i believe this would lead to more spontaneous segues. i’d be interested to hear what others would ask, or how they’d approach an interview.

i’m sure this 2001interview (imprint, writer in profile) is posted somewhere on this site. i found it so good i watched it twice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7JF02av1ec

By: Martin Jones

Martin Jones — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 19:47:54 +0000

I’m guessing that as both writers were mentioned in glowing terms on one page towards the end of Miracles of Life, they decided to bury the hatchet and strengthen the bond that connects them to Ballard (plus it’s probably hard to avoid one another all the time in the same city if you’re in the same line of work). Although I’m sure Sinclair secretly knows that he has the upper hand over psy******grapher-come-lately Self, a man whose position here in the UK is unclear: touted from the beginning (by others and himself) as a ‘literary bad boy’, riding in on the gaudy coat-tails of Martin Amis, and yet happy to appear on all levels of TV quiz shows, as well as building a reputation as the UK’s Stephen King of paperback blurbs. Sinclair remains the greater writer, in my eyes.

Last word to Colin Wilson’s 1963 novel, Man Without A Shadow:

“‘Let us not be modest about this. We are probably the four most remarkable men in London. How is it, then, that we have come together like this? I believe there is some strange destiny that brings together men who willl have a great effect upon the age. Think of Nietzsche and Wagner, Schumann and Brahms, Goethe and Schiller…. The great men gravitate together.’ I was so flattered by this remark that I didn’t point out that most great men meet when they’ve become sufficiently famous to be able to seek one another out.”

By: Anthony Osborne

Anthony Osborne — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 06:34:44 +0000

Perhaps Sinclair is more kindly disposed to Self in general now, what with Self receiving the official Ballard seal of approval.
The suburbs? I was born and bred near Heathrow, just up the road from Shepperton and I met more certifiable loons and witnessed more wayward behaviour in my formative years than I have ever encountered since moving to the Big Smoke. I’ve always put it down to the high level of toxins and heavy metals in the atmosphere, under those flight paths.