'The Atrocity Exhibition' by Ballard
Finished reading The Atrocity Exhibition by J.G. Ballard. This is the 'expanded and annotated edition'. No illustrations though. It's sort of an experimental novel where each little paragraph takes a big jump from the one preceding it.
I did sometimes get a bit of that Ballard-esque vibe, but I do like him a lot more when he sticks to more standard narrative. This is probably as experimental as I ever want to get with literature. I could sometimes piece together some of his points and ideas, but I think they would have been better served in a regular story (and they have been subsequently); and I don't see what advantage this form has other than letting the author write randomly and freely without needing to work it into something more coherent. The annotations, provided several decades later, actually present a more interesting voice, and prove Ballard's much more reasonable and rational than his own work sometimes is.
note: entry transferred from: http://aras-55555.livejournal.com/122793.html
I did sometimes get a bit of that Ballard-esque vibe, but I do like him a lot more when he sticks to more standard narrative. This is probably as experimental as I ever want to get with literature. I could sometimes piece together some of his points and ideas, but I think they would have been better served in a regular story (and they have been subsequently); and I don't see what advantage this form has other than letting the author write randomly and freely without needing to work it into something more coherent. The annotations, provided several decades later, actually present a more interesting voice, and prove Ballard's much more reasonable and rational than his own work sometimes is.
note: entry transferred from: http://aras-55555.livejournal.com/122793.html