The Drought

by J. G. Ballard

Paperback, 1964

Status

Available

Call number

823.914

Series

Elemente (Feuer)

Tags

Fiction, British

Genres

Collection

Where:MB

Publication

Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1968

Description

With a new introduction by M. John Harrison and a striking new cover design from the artist Stanley Donwood, this acclaimed cult novel sees human existence threatened by devastating climate change. Water. Man's most precious commodity is a luxury of the past. Radioactive waste from years of industrial dumping has caused the sea to form a protective skin strong enough to devastate the Earth it once sustained. And while the remorseless sun beats down on the dying land, civilization itself begins to crack. Violence erupts and insanity reigns as the remnants of mankind struggle for survival in a worldwide desert of despair. Remarkable for its prescience and the originality of its vision, The Drought is a work of major importance from the early career of one of Britain's most acclaimed novelists. This edition is part of a new commemorative series of Ballard's works, featuring introductions from a number of his admirers (including Ned Beauman, Ali Smith, Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs. Neil Gaiman and Martin Amis) and brand-new cover designs.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member allyshaw
Despite its overwritten moments, I loved this book. I am not a big fan of Ballad, having read the companion to this, The Drowned World and Crash-- I found both cold, alienating and hard to get through. But this novel is full of engaging characters put in fascinating situations. It is very cinematic
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 and convincing. In the second half, I couldn't put it down. Now I see these thirsty characters every time I go to Waitrose or stand in line at the post office. How we would not help each other.
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5 more
LibraryThing member stillbeing
One of the creepiest dystopic novels I've read, and certainly one of my favorite Ballard books to date. Perhaps my imagination is a little overactive at times, but I truly could imagine that kind of degredation happening in our mundane world today - whether, socially, we end up in the same
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 situation could be debatable today, but regardless, it makes for a chilling read.
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LibraryThing member john257hopper
I was a bit disappointed by this one, which I didn't think was as good as High-Rise. While some of the description of the catastrophe was haunting, there are only so many dusty landscapes, dry riverbeds, and remains of boats that one can read about before it gets very samey. And the characters
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 didn't appeal to me at all.
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LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
I have particularly mixed feelings about 'The Drought.' On the one hand, it is an interesting exploration of one person's feelings of abandonment, and his desire for isolation; on the other hand, it's allegedly a story about the end of civilisation that doesn't really go far enough in showing what
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 happens when rational society crumbles. Ballard is at his wordiest, with long expository sections that do a wonderful job of relating the inner world of the main character, Ransom, though such wordiness then makes many of the action scenes seem rough and hard to follow. Overall, a good dystopian story that could have been much better.
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LibraryThing member unclebob53703
Starts out a little weird, gets very weird, end's seriously %#@! weird--I'm talking Kurt Vonnegut reading "Galapagos" on helium weird.
LibraryThing member jonfaith
Channel your interior Robbie Krieger and prepare for pondering The End. No. I don’t mean David Beckham’s retirement, but rather closing time, like permanently. One of my criticisms of The Road was its attempt to capture the After with an almost biblical gravity of language. J.G. Ballard appears
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 too savvy for those traps. His exploration is empty. Life is vast and bleak. It isn’t going to rain anymore. We’re sure as hell Doomed, done for. Experiences don’t amount to much anymore. I wouldn’t waste any time on Hope either. It is this arid silence which propels the novel through its second and third sections. After the end is always the challenge. Hobbesean variations usually ensue. Its the wild west (or Somalia) or simply wicked medieval madness. There are hints of both here. A disabled man flitting about on six-foot stilts could be out of Fellini. That said, the characters’ responses are never emotional. That aspect of humanity has been deleted for operating purposes. I was impressed.
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Subjects

Fiction in English

Language

English

Original language

English

Original publication date

1964-08

Physical description

175 p.; 18 cm

ISBN

014002753X / 9780140027532

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