Comments on: Thy Kingdom Come, JGB Will Be Done

By: Rick McGrath

Rick McGrath — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 14:29:32 +0000

Not all of us took the same critical approach as the newspapers. My comments on the novel focus on the character of adman Richard Pearson and his “mad” campaign for the Metro-Centre. Surely one of the most unusual fictional ad campaigns ever. And you can read it here: http://www.rickmcgrath.com/jgballard/jgb_kingdom_come.html

By: mark k-punk

mark k-punk — Tue, 19 Sep 2006 00:22:23 +0000

If someone has got to 2006 without realising that Ballard is repetitive, there really isn’t much hope for them…. The repetition is the point, and what separates Ballard from middlebrow meddlers who can ‘turn their hand to anything’… After all, a word such as ‘Ballardian’ – like the word ‘Kafkaesque’- could only have purchase if it designates a mode of repetition (as I argued in this post on Millennium People: http://k-punk.abstractdynamics.org/archives/005135.html)...

By: FJ Torres

FJ Torres — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 01:43:36 +0000

“Everyone speaks with the same voice (cultural-studies seminar contribution), the same phrases recur with only slight variations, and each novel features a near-identical array of character-types … ”
So? He could be describing any Ballard text! Its called style. Could it be that MAYBE Ballard is doing it on purpose?