Tuesday, April the 21st, 2009
back to: title, date or indexes
I haven't read anything by J G Ballard since I was a teenager. Nor have I read, or enjoyed, much science fiction. A simple statement by Ballard, filmed in 2006 and shown on a Channel Four News obituary last night, makes me suspect I've been missing something. He said:
“The great thing about science fiction is that nobody lives in Hampstead.”
Compare and contrast with this extract from a book review by some airhead a few years ago, which I shall have to paraphrase because I cannot track down the exact quote:
“This is a perfectly-observed portrait of North London literary life, with such telling details as the copy of the weekend Guardian Guide on the coffee table.”
I don't recall which novel was under review, but it could have been one among hundreds, couldn't it?