Customer Rating:  
Summary: Cheated!!
Comment: The reason that I have only given this book 2 stars, is that it tells the story, albeit in brief of The Empire of The Sun, which I feel is 4*. This book is billed as a sequel and I feel that to spend the first part of it re-telling the earlier book in a watered down version is very unfair to purchasers and readers of both books. I felt cheated.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Ballard at his Best
Comment: I have read most of what Ballard has written; and I can't understand why this novel is so neglected, compared to The Atrocity Exhibition or Crash. To me this is the best thing he has written in the long form. Some of his short stories may be a bit better; but this is an absolute masterpiece, and it's probably the book I'd first give a friend to allow him or her to discover the Ballard World. It's a complex and astounding mix of facts and fiction, of visionary imagination and down-to-earth realism. The parts about the death of the protagonist's wife, the end of the war, the making of the movie Empire of the Sun in Shepperton should be in anthologies of English literature. His prose is dazzling, and this is probably the only long book by ballard where we don't meet his stereotypical characters only, but a wide variety of persons. All in all, a must-read for those who think Ballard is only Empire of the Sun and Crash.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book
Comment: This is a great book, full of good ideas as well as the usual Ballard themes (emasculated accountants, TV cameras, acts of violence, cars and planes). It basically revolves around Jim's life after returning from China, focussing in particular on his relationships with women. I'm enjoying this much more than Empire of the Sun, which I found to be a bit tedious, more than High Rise, and almost as much as Super Cannes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the greatest books of the last centuary
Comment: This book fills in around "Empire of the Sun" and goes a long way to explaining the perversities of "The Atrocity Exhibition" and "Crash". Compulsive reading for almost anyone. The story of Ballards life (more or less). I can only say read it. Then read it again and give it to someone.
Customer Rating:
Summary: An autobiographical tour-de-force
Comment: Ballard shows his mastery of narrative by giving us glimpses of the turning points in his life. Rather than opting for a straight chronological narration, he illustrates the defining role the women of his life have played, and the impact they've had on both his personal life, and his creativity as an author. At times hilarious, at times unsettling, the novel never fails to spark the senses and leaves the reader with a sense of an irresistable lust for life. Eminently readable on its own, but also a great companion read to Empire of the Sun.
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