The Book Beat reading group selection for June is The Crystal World by J.G. Ballard. Our discussion will be held Wednesday, June 28 at 7:00 PM online via Zoom and possibly also in person at the new Goldfish Teahouse location (if opened in time). The Zoom link will be sent the afternoon of the meeting to anyone interested in attending. Email bookbeatorders@gmail.com to sign up. Books are in stock now and discounted 15%. Please call (248) 968-1190 for more information.
Published in 1966, The Crystal World is the fourth novel from the acclaimed science fiction writer J.G. Ballard. The novel concerns a physician who journeys through the African jungle to a secluded leprosy treatment facility. While trying to make it to his destination, his chaotic path leads him through a strange and frightening petrified forest. Hypnotic and apocalyptic, The Crystal World is a psychological tale of environmental disaster.
In Ballard’s work there is always this mix of futuristic dread and excitement, a sweet spot where dystopia and utopia converge. — Zadie Smith
Perhaps J.G. Ballard was traumatized at a drive-in theater […] I don’t think I’d care to meet J.G. Ballard. — The New York Times
Beautifully rendered…Ballard the poet in full ecstatic blast. — Anthony Burgess
A haunting vision of diseased beauty…Ballard sustains it with extraordinary intensity. — The Observer
Ballard transports us once more into his own mystical, glittering and poetic universe. — Sunday Telegraph
J.G. Ballard (b. 1930) was the author of numerous books, including Empire of the Sun, the underground classic Crash, The Kindness of Women, and the short story collection The Atrocity Exhibition. He is revered as one of the most important writers of fiction to address the the psychological effects of technological, social, and environmental developments. He is often associated with New Wave science fiction for his post-apocalyptic novels, and some of his work is described as “cli-fi,” or climate fiction.