I've always felt that Empire is the skeleton key that opens up the door to understanding the formation of Ballard's inner space. It doesn't explain it; but does open the way. The trauma provided for an alchemical transmutation of how he perceived reality. His psyche expanded; but this expansion first required demolition. The resilience of boyhood itself kept him alive. If he had been any older, I don't think he would have become an artist. Thank you, Outlaw. Yet more books to pile on my TBR. Thank you for effort. I know it must have been a pain to have un-shelve and re-shelve so much, not to mention actual production.
I first read climbers more than 30 years ago, but I still remember really vividly the scene at the wake which perfectly exemplifies that male obsession that you were talking about
Thank you so much for mentioning Mick Farren! He is one of mine absolutely favorite writers and nobody is talking about him... He deserves more recognition. He maybe wasn't the best but he's one of the most original writers out there. Cyberpunk people should absolutely read him.
Agreed. He remains a cult figure as a novelist, despite being a hero of music writing- and his work is poorly represented these days in that respect too, a compilation of his rock journalism would be most welcome now.
The first Ballard I ever read, Empire of the Sun - probably not the best place to start but it is indeed beautiful. His experiences in the SIS clearly resonate in his earlier writings
Well I've been binge watching your episodes, some for the second time....because you've been on my mind since your "switching to model trains" speech 😎. I've just jotted down so many notes about books you talked about, things I wanted to say to you. But for today just an odd anecdote. I'm a Vietnam war vet, 2 tours, Purple Heart etc. I've been thinking earlier today "I wonder if there are any sf books related to the war?".,.I decided no, how could there be. Then just today I listened to you discuss "The Forever Wars" by Haldeman and his historical novel "1968" ( the year I first arrived there....and what a year it was!) How strange is that. I've only to think a thought and you provide. Sounds lie something out of a PKD novel. Thanks for the recommendations. I'll give you a review when done.
The presentation might be Bradfield-esque but _what_ a fantastic video! 😍 Pleased to discover that I have already read quite a few of these: Ballard, naturally (including the two novels which immediately followed it), Wyvern (totally agree, brilliant novel!) ALL of Aldiss's mainstream novels (heck, I've read all his novels, period; wonderful writer). Tender Loving Rage, Spider Kiss (of which I have three editions: '70's & '80s paperbacks and the '90's hardback). Got the Garry Kilworth collection with the short story you mention, but really must track down those novels... 🤔
I ordered a copy of Witchwater Country and just finished it. It is one of my favorite books now. I ordered a paperback and sought out the hardcover for my shelf. I got nuances of Robert Westall and Alan Garner from this wonderful yarn. It would have been deserving of a Carnegie medal IMO. I also ordered Radix and this is also starting off as a wonderful adventure. I e-mailed Mr. Anastasio with a question about the “Radix Tetralogy” and mentioned your show. I sent him this link and he was very grateful for your appreciation of his work.
I'm very pleased you enjoyed 'Witchwater', Chris- Garry did get mentioned in relation to the Carnegie I believe, but I don't think any of his children's books was commercially successful enough to get the award- this shouldn't be a factor, of course, but it often is in reality, I've found. Wow, emailing AAA- cool!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal One more thing, have you ever heard of the novel “Random Acts of Senseless Violence” by Jack Womack? (Originally Grove Press, but recently republished by Orion SF Masterworks with a quote from William Gibson on the cover. Gibson was very fond of it and said it was the most underrated book ever.)
You make me buy too many books! Empire of the Sun made a huge impression on me; it's the first Ballard book I read. I picked it up because my father was in a Japanese camp in Indonesia, and I hoped it might be informative. To me, it didn't really feel like a kid on an adventure because of that connection. It was actually the first time I understood some of my father's character traits (no worries, nothing too bad), and it left me with a lot of questions. Sadly, he had already passed away, so I never got the chance to ask them. On another note, I've seen Vurt secretly peeping over your shoulder in a couple of episodes. That's another book that had a big influence on me; it sparked my quest for sci-fi. I think I read most of Noon's books around 20 years ago, so maybe they're not as good as I remember, but I'm always surprised that no one ever mentions them in top sci-fi lists.
I love Byzantium Endures, as well as M. John Harrison's and Iain Banks' mainstream novels. They really do get a bit of a boost from the author's having worked within SF, especially compared to the authors that try and go in the other direction. I also remember reading Aldiss' Hand-Reared Boy though haven't yet read the sequel. I think anyone who enjoys New Wave authors already has one foot in literary fiction anyway and it's an easy jaunt to Ackroyd, Carter, McGrath, Winterson, Atwood etc.
A superb selection of books ! I like to read a variety of subject matter and boy was there some variety . Some things I’ve read and loved then some stuff I’d not heard of all of which I found fascinating. The tale of willys rats and the things they carried now on radar. Garry kilworth I have never read anything by SF or otherwise and may just start with spiral winds or witch water country which you sold me on. Another inspirational flow don’t know how you do it but pleased you do . Trilogy!!!After all that ranting we did about them Lol as it was William Gibson let you off. May the wind always be at your back my man🫡
If you want to read some of Garry's SF- I've mentioned him a lot on the channel this year, so check out my top 10 sf books to read in summer for more on him.
I find myself coming back to Radix every five years or so, having read it when it was first published and thinking okay but probably won't reread, but....
Maybe do a sequel about the reverse: non sf writers writing sf. Though the results won't be as good: John Updike, Herman Wouk and others have embarrassed themselves trying their hand at sf in the past. Tom Disch called Delany's The Mad Man a career nadir, and incorrectly described it as supporting the claim that HIV does not cause AIDS. When I read it years ago, I literally almost puked. A few weeks later, I ran into Delany himself on the street. I thanked him for all his good work. Radix is one of those books that everyone says you must read; I've finally taken it down from the shelf, will start reading tomorrow. Keep these videos going, Steve, it's not about you anymore. This is too good to stop.
Yes, that idea did occur to me, will do it someday. Yes, 'The Mad Man' is strong stuff, it was the appendix that Disch was probably referring too, I'd say. 'Radix' is somewhat overwritten, but compulsive, a must read even if it doesn't always work.
fantastic to see Mick Farren in here, only books i've read from him are Give the Anarchist a Cigarette and Speed-Speed-Speedfreak, which of his SF books would be a good one to start with?
Great video as always. Funny you should mention Roman novels, I did an event with Smon Scarrow on Wednesday and I have another with Harry Sidebottom on the 9th December so I'll be very interested if you do bring out a video on the subject, even though i haven't read much in the genre (although I do of course have a copy of "The Boat of Fate".
First: greetings from Belgium. Second: I discovered Ballard in 1980 when I was a 18 year 'old' teenager and I was hooked from the first page of The Burning World. After reading Empire of the Sun I even had the bold courage to write him a letter - and to my complete surprise he send me a postcard from Shepperton with a thank you note, which has become a special item. About 15 years ago I discovered a first print copy of The Wind from Nowhere, which was by Berkeley January 1962 - I was born in January 1962. Coincidence?
Yes, JGB was a lovely guy, we had a number of interactions, I have a letter from him too, he once asked his partner (who was the basis of Dr Helen Remington in 'Crash') to take me to lunch when she was attending a short University course on the campus where I ran a bookshop for ten years- sadly, I was on holiday that week. I was gutted!
And the winner of this year's Booker prize is an SF novel by one Paul Lynch! Not that one would know that by reading the reports in the media. I haven't read it myself, will do eventually but it sounds like Houellebecq'a 'Submission' and many other things - maybe the prose elevates it, but it doesn't sound original.
Yes, a pleasant surprise, political dystopia of course, it's actually been on my TBR but I decided to wait for the paperback. I'm wondering how it will measure up to similar books....
Interesting stuff Steve, and you wax lyrical, fluent as ever. I accidentally (in that I didnt realise it wasnt SF) picked up Zero History the other day.
I saw that video and every time you visit that shop you leave books on the shelf I think you should buy, but that's my taste sometimes- the thing with 'Zero HIstory' is that it FEELS like SF, but it isn't which says a lot. Good to hear from you as ever mate!
@outlawbookselleroriginal i am always happy to have my shelf errors pointed out by my elders and betters! I grabbed that Spinrad yesterday, the one i missed previously. Russian Spring was it?
@@SciFiScavenger That's the one, cracking book! Glad you bought that 'Centauri Device', very uncommon in the panther edition, a mindbending decadent space opera, hope you like it....
They are quite different in tone and I've met people who loved the MJH but disliked the Salter. 'Climbers' is in print in the UK and not difficult to get.
An interesting video, Steve, thank you. I've read many of those, but not the Haldeman or the M. John. I have up on Gibson at about the turn of the century. It seemed to me that his writing wasn't going anywhere, he was marking time and being too affectedly William Gibson. Aldiss' "Forgotten Life" is part of what he called The Squire Quartet. All four are very good books.
Yes, read the Aldiss series. Can't agree re Gibson, I've really, really enjoyed the Blue Ant books, though I can see what you mean about his self-consciousness of style. Amazed you've never read 'Climbers', fantastic book- you must remedy this, James.
Great video. Charles Platt tells the story of getting the manuscript for Tender Loving Rage in the new (2021) expanded editions of Dream Makers, very sad circumstances. I thought there was a Savoy book that got banned?
Didn't realise Dream Makers had been reissued, thanks for that, I never got volume 2. The Platt book that was banned is covered in a video I posted here around 4 months ago 'The Time They Banned Delany and Platt'.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal The new editions are wonderful, the added retrospective material doubles their value I think. The interviews with Andre Norton and Hank Stein (now Jean Marie Stein) were left out and I don't know why
“A Vampire stole my lunchbox…” what do people think of Robert Calvert’s (Hawkwind) book ‘Hype’? I love the cover on the copy of ‘Pattern Recognition’ featured, much nicer than mine. I had to read it twice in order to “get it”.
@@keithreynolds No, it's not a great book, just a competent bit of exploitation fiction, though it does have a certain rock and roll authenticity to it.
Empire of the Sun is one of my favourite Spielberg movies. It came out of nowhere after his SF pictures. Christian Bale and John Malkevich were wonderful. I was there for the sentimentality. This is probably the first adjacent book I will look for out of today’s cornucopia.
This is interesting, because the book is anything but sentimental: Spielberg always layers on a cosy feeling he feels audiences need in able to relate to the story- not that I have problems with sentiment in the right places, but the film is very different in tone to the book- one instance is that it's even more obvious in the text that Malkevich' character is only exploiting Jim. I'll be interested to see what you think of 'Empire'- as it's key to understand where Ballard's unique point of view arises- from these childhood experiences.
I think that might have been a partial inspiration, but I'm not sure of the dating of the legend. 'The Rat Race' was published mid 50s, between 'The Demolished Man' and 'Tiger! Tiger!'. Obviously the Oz movie is before either, but...
A bit late to this video, but I'm slowly catching up with your back catalogue, and I wanted to make an observation about what you said about 'banned books' - because it's a subject that grinds my gears, as they say. The situation in the US at present, with Democrats and far left activists fuming about 'banned books', is a deliberate misrepresentation of what groups like Moms for Liberty and others are arguing, and it's not comparable with the obscenity trials that we had in the UK back in the 1960s. As much as I expect I would disagree with the political and religious views of members of Moms for Liberty, myself, they are not calling for the State to ban books; instead, they, and parents angry at their school boards, are questioning the age-appropriateness of some books and demanding they be removed from use by activist teachers in lessons and available on open shelves in school libraries. We are talking about books with explicit sexual content aimed at pre-pubescent children, books that normalise the dangerous idea that children can change their sex through drugs and surgeries, and books that seek to sow racial division by promoting critical race theory and the idea of inherent white supremacy and permanent black victimhood. Any parent who wants their children to read these books is free to buy them privately, or to access them in public libraries. They are not banned. It would be like arguing, that if the Delaney novel you discussed, The Mad Man, was used in UK state junior school lessons (ie 5-11 years) and pupils encouraged to read copies in the school library, that if parents objected on grounds of age-appropriateness, it would be legitimate to claim that the book was being 'banned' or that the religious right were restricting children's right to freedom of education or their free speech rights. I'm a BIG free speech advocate, and I abhor book banning and censorship - whether by the Right or the Left - but I'm also keenly aware of the importance of child safeguarding, something that Woke activists are keen to undermine and will call anyone a bigot for taking seriously. This is not the same as the UK State denying adult readers the right to buy Naked Lunch, Ulysses or Lady Chatterley's Lover. (And Woke activists, of course, have their own books they are keen to ban; hence the 'purification ceremonies' in Canada that have seen the burning of Harry Potter books, activists hiding copies of gender-critical books in branches of Waterstones or in public libraries here in the UK, like Kathleen Stock's Material Girls or Helen Joyce's Trans, or young activists working in publishing in the US pressuring their employers not to publish books they find politically 'offensive'.)
Completely understand what you are saying and what is going on Stateside- my comment is really more about RUclipsrs making clickbait videos re 'banned books'. I very much agree about the manner in which the young are being exposed to dangerous theories about gender which can and have led to terrible outcomes. Incidentally, I've read the Kathleen Stock book and 'Time To Think', a close look at the Tavistock clinic.
Apologies for jumping on you for an aside, and not commenting on any of the books that you discussed (!) - I haven't read any of them, apart from the Moorcock, not even the Ballard (although I did buy a copy of Climbers recently after hearing you praise it in another video, to lend to a friend, so I will read that at some point when he's finished with it). I will definitely read the Tim O'Brien. I've read very many Vietnam War books, my favourite so far being Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie, which is non-fiction. My favourite novel on the subject would have to be Greene's The Quiet American, closely followed by Marlantes' Matterhorn. More to add to an impossibly long wish list. 🙂
@@carltaylor6452 I like 'The Quiet American', good book. My favourite green is 'The Human Factor', however. I usually visit his former writing retreat when I go to Capri.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal no point just a bookmark;) I like to be able to drop in and out whenever and it helps make people's channel more visible, so I understand
Had to stop this video because I can’t buy anymore books ever again. But I feel like I keep robbing myself by not reading Ballard!!! I own only 3 digital books, and one of them is Ballard’s complete stories, and I love the ones I’ve read. I’m doing this Haruki Murakami thing, where I’m not only reading everything by him, but stuff that compliments his work as well, like everything by Delillo (who is kind of an sf writer?) maybe everything by Graham Greene, and some PKD. After that, I think I’ll transition into a Ballard period.
It's a good thing to stick to a few authors and read thier entire oeuvre- I've done this many times and it was a marker of my reading as a youth. Ballard is very special and deserves attention. Delillio has done some SF, but I don't think he's very good at it- a frustrating writer, have read 8 of his books and hated 4 of them, loved the others, very uneven I find. Greene? Yes! PKD Yes again!
And your point is? Bester wrote 'The Rat Race' inbetween his two famous SF novels. Censorship really plays no part in any of this topic. The only Golden Age writer I cite here is Bester and his GA output is small (Golden Age is 1939-1949 latest). New Wave authors always had the ability to write mainstream novels due to their facility as writers. The Haldeman book was written and published before his SF novels.
I've always felt that Empire is the skeleton key that opens up the door to understanding the formation of Ballard's inner space. It doesn't explain it; but does open the way. The trauma provided for an alchemical transmutation of how he perceived reality. His psyche expanded; but this expansion first required demolition. The resilience of boyhood itself kept him alive. If he had been any older, I don't think he would have become an artist. Thank you, Outlaw. Yet more books to pile on my TBR. Thank you for effort. I know it must have been a pain to have un-shelve and re-shelve so much, not to mention actual production.
Yeah, that's the true significance of 'Empire' - he showed us where the rest came from!
I first read climbers more than 30 years ago, but I still remember really vividly the scene at the wake which perfectly exemplifies that male obsession that you were talking about
Yes, a superb sequence- great novel at every level.
Thank you so much for mentioning Mick Farren! He is one of mine absolutely favorite writers and nobody is talking about him... He deserves more recognition. He maybe wasn't the best but he's one of the most original writers out there. Cyberpunk people should absolutely read him.
Agreed. He remains a cult figure as a novelist, despite being a hero of music writing- and his work is poorly represented these days in that respect too, a compilation of his rock journalism would be most welcome now.
I agree. First read the DNA Cowboys novels in my teens and have read Phaid and the Texts of Festival since. Must broaden that a bit in the future.
The first Ballard I ever read, Empire of the Sun - probably not the best place to start but it is indeed beautiful.
His experiences in the SIS clearly resonate in his earlier writings
Be interested in an extended take on mainstream literary authors who have had a bash at writing SF novels - exempting the usual (Ishiguro, Orwell)
There will be more on this topic on the channel next year.
Well I've been binge watching your episodes, some for the second time....because you've been on my mind since your "switching to model trains" speech 😎.
I've just jotted down so many notes about books you talked about, things I wanted to say to you.
But for today just an odd anecdote. I'm a Vietnam war vet, 2 tours, Purple Heart etc. I've been thinking earlier today "I wonder if there are any sf books related to the war?".,.I decided no, how could there be. Then just today I listened to you discuss "The Forever Wars" by Haldeman and his historical novel "1968" ( the year I first arrived there....and what a year it was!)
How strange is that. I've only to think a thought and you provide. Sounds lie something out of a PKD novel. Thanks for the recommendations. I'll give you a review when done.
The presentation might be Bradfield-esque but _what_ a fantastic video! 😍
Pleased to discover that I have already read quite a few of these: Ballard, naturally (including the two novels which immediately followed it), Wyvern (totally agree, brilliant novel!) ALL of Aldiss's mainstream novels (heck, I've read all his novels, period; wonderful writer). Tender Loving Rage, Spider Kiss (of which I have three editions: '70's & '80s paperbacks and the '90's hardback). Got the Garry Kilworth collection with the short story you mention, but really must track down those novels... 🤔
Scott is my bathing buddy chum and I love his videos and have read him on and off since the 80s, great guy.
What a wonderful idea for a video!
I'll have to take this one in chunks and savor it.
Enjoy, my friend!
I ordered a copy of Witchwater Country and just finished it. It is one of my favorite books now. I ordered a paperback and sought out the hardcover for my shelf. I got nuances of Robert Westall and Alan Garner from this wonderful yarn. It would have been deserving of a Carnegie medal IMO. I also ordered Radix and this is also starting off as a wonderful adventure. I e-mailed Mr. Anastasio with a question about the “Radix Tetralogy” and mentioned your show. I sent him this link and he was very grateful for your appreciation of his work.
I'm very pleased you enjoyed 'Witchwater', Chris- Garry did get mentioned in relation to the Carnegie I believe, but I don't think any of his children's books was commercially successful enough to get the award- this shouldn't be a factor, of course, but it often is in reality, I've found. Wow, emailing AAA- cool!
@@outlawbookselleroriginal One more thing, have you ever heard of the novel “Random Acts of Senseless Violence” by Jack Womack? (Originally Grove Press, but recently republished by Orion SF Masterworks with a quote from William Gibson on the cover. Gibson was very fond of it and said it was the most underrated book ever.)
@@chrisnewman6047 Yes, I started reading his work when his first novel ('Ambient') came out in the late 1980s.
I've been reading Radix and you're right -- there are "fireworks going off in my head" -- love it and will read more of his work.
Yes, it is quite something- it has that 'Woahhh!' factor so often missing in SF that should always be there- cognitive estrangement. Entrancing!
Next? Possibly Frontera or Dr. Adder or City Come a-Walkin-I’m undecided! 😅
@@thekeywitness In order of literary importance: 'Dr Adder', 'Frontera', 'City Come A-Walkin''.
...Speed-Speed,Speed freak, A Fast History of Amphetamine by Mick Farren is also very good & comes in a pill shape (Feral House)...
Feral House, great little publisher.
You make me buy too many books!
Empire of the Sun made a huge impression on me; it's the first Ballard book I read. I picked it up because my father was in a Japanese camp in Indonesia, and I hoped it might be informative. To me, it didn't really feel like a kid on an adventure because of that connection. It was actually the first time I understood some of my father's character traits (no worries, nothing too bad), and it left me with a lot of questions. Sadly, he had already passed away, so I never got the chance to ask them.
On another note, I've seen Vurt secretly peeping over your shoulder in a couple of episodes. That's another book that had a big influence on me; it sparked my quest for sci-fi. I think I read most of Noon's books around 20 years ago, so maybe they're not as good as I remember, but I'm always surprised that no one ever mentions them in top sci-fi lists.
If you watch my video from a couple of weeks back - 'Deports from the Deep End' multi-author signing, you'll see Jeff Noon in it.
I love Byzantium Endures, as well as M. John Harrison's and Iain Banks' mainstream novels. They really do get a bit of a boost from the author's having worked within SF, especially compared to the authors that try and go in the other direction. I also remember reading Aldiss' Hand-Reared Boy though haven't yet read the sequel. I think anyone who enjoys New Wave authors already has one foot in literary fiction anyway and it's an easy jaunt to Ackroyd, Carter, McGrath, Winterson, Atwood etc.
Agree 100%.
A superb selection of books ! I like to read a variety of subject matter and boy was there some variety . Some things I’ve read and loved then some stuff I’d not heard of all of which I found fascinating. The tale of willys rats and the things they carried now on radar. Garry kilworth I have never read anything by SF or otherwise and may just start with spiral winds or witch water country which you sold me on. Another inspirational flow don’t know how you do it but pleased you do . Trilogy!!!After all that ranting we did about them Lol as it was William Gibson let you off. May the wind always be at your back my man🫡
If you want to read some of Garry's SF- I've mentioned him a lot on the channel this year, so check out my top 10 sf books to read in summer for more on him.
I find myself coming back to Radix every five years or so, having read it when it was first published and thinking okay but probably won't reread, but....
Maybe do a sequel about the reverse: non sf writers writing sf. Though the results won't be as good: John Updike, Herman Wouk and others have embarrassed themselves trying their hand at sf in the past.
Tom Disch called Delany's The Mad Man a career nadir, and incorrectly described it as supporting the claim that HIV does not cause AIDS. When I read it years ago, I literally almost puked. A few weeks later, I ran into Delany himself on the street. I thanked him for all his good work.
Radix is one of those books that everyone says you must read; I've finally taken it down from the shelf, will start reading tomorrow.
Keep these videos going, Steve, it's not about you anymore. This is too good to stop.
Yes, that idea did occur to me, will do it someday. Yes, 'The Mad Man' is strong stuff, it was the appendix that Disch was probably referring too, I'd say. 'Radix' is somewhat overwritten, but compulsive, a must read even if it doesn't always work.
fantastic to see Mick Farren in here, only books i've read from him are Give the Anarchist a Cigarette and Speed-Speed-Speedfreak, which of his SF books would be a good one to start with?
Probably 'The Song of Phaid The Gambler', but any you can get hold of worth a look.
Great video as always. Funny you should mention Roman novels, I did an event with Smon Scarrow on Wednesday and I have another with Harry Sidebottom on the 9th December so I'll be very interested if you do bring out a video on the subject, even though i haven't read much in the genre (although I do of course have a copy of "The Boat of Fate".
Yes, I've not done Scarrow or Sidebottom, but I have with a number of others, always enjoyable.
First: greetings from Belgium. Second: I discovered Ballard in 1980 when I was a 18 year 'old' teenager and I was hooked from the first page of The Burning World. After reading Empire of the Sun I even had the bold courage to write him a letter - and to my complete surprise he send me a postcard from Shepperton with a thank you note, which has become a special item. About 15 years ago I discovered a first print copy of The Wind from Nowhere, which was by Berkeley January 1962 - I was born in January 1962. Coincidence?
Yes, JGB was a lovely guy, we had a number of interactions, I have a letter from him too, he once asked his partner (who was the basis of Dr Helen Remington in 'Crash') to take me to lunch when she was attending a short University course on the campus where I ran a bookshop for ten years- sadly, I was on holiday that week. I was gutted!
I'm going to check out some mick farren. I think my mate will have some of his. Ta.
And the winner of this year's Booker prize is an SF novel by one Paul Lynch! Not that one would know that by reading the reports in the media. I haven't read it myself, will do eventually but it sounds like Houellebecq'a 'Submission' and many other things - maybe the prose elevates it, but it doesn't sound original.
Yes, a pleasant surprise, political dystopia of course, it's actually been on my TBR but I decided to wait for the paperback. I'm wondering how it will measure up to similar books....
Interesting stuff Steve, and you wax lyrical, fluent as ever. I accidentally (in that I didnt realise it wasnt SF) picked up Zero History the other day.
I saw that video and every time you visit that shop you leave books on the shelf I think you should buy, but that's my taste sometimes- the thing with 'Zero HIstory' is that it FEELS like SF, but it isn't which says a lot. Good to hear from you as ever mate!
@outlawbookselleroriginal i am always happy to have my shelf errors pointed out by my elders and betters! I grabbed that Spinrad yesterday, the one i missed previously. Russian Spring was it?
@@SciFiScavenger That's the one, cracking book! Glad you bought that 'Centauri Device', very uncommon in the panther edition, a mindbending decadent space opera, hope you like it....
Just ordered Witchwater Country . Dandelion Wine in East Anglia did it for me.
Let me know how you get on with it.
I would love to find the M. John Harrison. As a climber, I absolutely loathed Solo Faces.
They are quite different in tone and I've met people who loved the MJH but disliked the Salter. 'Climbers' is in print in the UK and not difficult to get.
An interesting video, Steve, thank you.
I've read many of those, but not the Haldeman or the M. John. I have up on Gibson at about the turn of the century. It seemed to me that his writing wasn't going anywhere, he was marking time and being too affectedly William Gibson. Aldiss' "Forgotten Life" is part of what he called The Squire Quartet. All four are very good books.
Yes, read the Aldiss series. Can't agree re Gibson, I've really, really enjoyed the Blue Ant books, though I can see what you mean about his self-consciousness of style. Amazed you've never read 'Climbers', fantastic book- you must remedy this, James.
Great video. Charles Platt tells the story of getting the manuscript for Tender Loving Rage in the new (2021) expanded editions of Dream Makers, very sad circumstances. I thought there was a Savoy book that got banned?
Didn't realise Dream Makers had been reissued, thanks for that, I never got volume 2. The Platt book that was banned is covered in a video I posted here around 4 months ago 'The Time They Banned Delany and Platt'.
@@outlawbookselleroriginal The new editions are wonderful, the added retrospective material doubles their value I think. The interviews with Andre Norton and Hank Stein (now Jean Marie Stein) were left out and I don't know why
“A Vampire stole my lunchbox…” what do people think of Robert Calvert’s (Hawkwind) book ‘Hype’? I love the cover on the copy of ‘Pattern Recognition’ featured, much nicer than mine. I had to read it twice in order to “get it”.
I meant to include 'Hype' but didn't get around to it- I've read it three or four times, bought it early 80s when it was heavily remaindered....
@@outlawbookselleroriginalperhaps I’ll read it again because it’s Calvert, but I wasn’t impressed decades ago when I got it.
@@keithreynolds No, it's not a great book, just a competent bit of exploitation fiction, though it does have a certain rock and roll authenticity to it.
Empire of the Sun is one of my favourite Spielberg movies. It came out of nowhere after his SF pictures. Christian Bale and John Malkevich were wonderful. I was there for the sentimentality. This is probably the first adjacent book I will look for out of today’s cornucopia.
This is interesting, because the book is anything but sentimental: Spielberg always layers on a cosy feeling he feels audiences need in able to relate to the story- not that I have problems with sentiment in the right places, but the film is very different in tone to the book- one instance is that it's even more obvious in the text that Malkevich' character is only exploiting Jim. I'll be interested to see what you think of 'Empire'- as it's key to understand where Ballard's unique point of view arises- from these childhood experiences.
Thanks for the video Dad 😊
You got it.
Is Bester's The Rat Race by any chance predicated on the urban legend of the "Hanged Munchkin" from the Wizard of Oz movie?
I think that might have been a partial inspiration, but I'm not sure of the dating of the legend. 'The Rat Race' was published mid 50s, between 'The Demolished Man' and 'Tiger! Tiger!'. Obviously the Oz movie is before either, but...
I came for the “flakey counterculture books” and stayed for the inevitable Ballard discussion. 😊
A Ballard discussion is always inevitable when looking at SF's evolution as it grew more sophisticated in the 1960s. Makes me smile too!
A bit late to this video, but I'm slowly catching up with your back catalogue, and I wanted to make an observation about what you said about 'banned books' - because it's a subject that grinds my gears, as they say. The situation in the US at present, with Democrats and far left activists fuming about 'banned books', is a deliberate misrepresentation of what groups like Moms for Liberty and others are arguing, and it's not comparable with the obscenity trials that we had in the UK back in the 1960s. As much as I expect I would disagree with the political and religious views of members of Moms for Liberty, myself, they are not calling for the State to ban books; instead, they, and parents angry at their school boards, are questioning the age-appropriateness of some books and demanding they be removed from use by activist teachers in lessons and available on open shelves in school libraries. We are talking about books with explicit sexual content aimed at pre-pubescent children, books that normalise the dangerous idea that children can change their sex through drugs and surgeries, and books that seek to sow racial division by promoting critical race theory and the idea of inherent white supremacy and permanent black victimhood. Any parent who wants their children to read these books is free to buy them privately, or to access them in public libraries. They are not banned. It would be like arguing, that if the Delaney novel you discussed, The Mad Man, was used in UK state junior school lessons (ie 5-11 years) and pupils encouraged to read copies in the school library, that if parents objected on grounds of age-appropriateness, it would be legitimate to claim that the book was being 'banned' or that the religious right were restricting children's right to freedom of education or their free speech rights. I'm a BIG free speech advocate, and I abhor book banning and censorship - whether by the Right or the Left - but I'm also keenly aware of the importance of child safeguarding, something that Woke activists are keen to undermine and will call anyone a bigot for taking seriously. This is not the same as the UK State denying adult readers the right to buy Naked Lunch, Ulysses or Lady Chatterley's Lover. (And Woke activists, of course, have their own books they are keen to ban; hence the 'purification ceremonies' in Canada that have seen the burning of Harry Potter books, activists hiding copies of gender-critical books in branches of Waterstones or in public libraries here in the UK, like Kathleen Stock's Material Girls or Helen Joyce's Trans, or young activists working in publishing in the US pressuring their employers not to publish books they find politically 'offensive'.)
Completely understand what you are saying and what is going on Stateside- my comment is really more about RUclipsrs making clickbait videos re 'banned books'. I very much agree about the manner in which the young are being exposed to dangerous theories about gender which can and have led to terrible outcomes. Incidentally, I've read the Kathleen Stock book and 'Time To Think', a close look at the Tavistock clinic.
Apologies for jumping on you for an aside, and not commenting on any of the books that you discussed (!) - I haven't read any of them, apart from the Moorcock, not even the Ballard (although I did buy a copy of Climbers recently after hearing you praise it in another video, to lend to a friend, so I will read that at some point when he's finished with it). I will definitely read the Tim O'Brien. I've read very many Vietnam War books, my favourite so far being Neil Sheehan's A Bright Shining Lie, which is non-fiction. My favourite novel on the subject would have to be Greene's The Quiet American, closely followed by Marlantes' Matterhorn. More to add to an impossibly long wish list. 🙂
@@outlawbookselleroriginal Time to Think is a very important book. I wish it was required reading for all employees of NHS England and NHS Scotland.
@@carltaylor6452 Yeah, it very much should be, right?
@@carltaylor6452 I like 'The Quiet American', good book. My favourite green is 'The Human Factor', however. I usually visit his former writing retreat when I go to Capri.
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Yes? Your point is? Would love to know...
@@outlawbookselleroriginal no point just a bookmark;) I like to be able to drop in and out whenever and it helps make people's channel more visible, so I understand
Had to stop this video because I can’t buy anymore books ever again. But I feel like I keep robbing myself by not reading Ballard!!! I own only 3 digital books, and one of them is Ballard’s complete stories, and I love the ones I’ve read. I’m doing this Haruki Murakami thing, where I’m not only reading everything by him, but stuff that compliments his work as well, like everything by Delillo (who is kind of an sf writer?) maybe everything by Graham Greene, and some PKD. After that, I think I’ll transition into a Ballard period.
It's a good thing to stick to a few authors and read thier entire oeuvre- I've done this many times and it was a marker of my reading as a youth. Ballard is very special and deserves attention. Delillio has done some SF, but I don't think he's very good at it- a frustrating writer, have read 8 of his books and hated 4 of them, loved the others, very uneven I find. Greene? Yes! PKD Yes again!
Most of these authors are either golden age,(stretching their legs as sensorship decreased )or are New Wave authors trying something new
And your point is? Bester wrote 'The Rat Race' inbetween his two famous SF novels. Censorship really plays no part in any of this topic. The only Golden Age writer I cite here is Bester and his GA output is small (Golden Age is 1939-1949 latest). New Wave authors always had the ability to write mainstream novels due to their facility as writers. The Haldeman book was written and published before his SF novels.
Donald Trump is also a vampire with small hands - prescient?
Well, yes, but Yarbro's Saint-Germain is virtuous.....