Recess
Born in Shanghai, graduate of Cambridge, J.G. Ballard had an impressive literary run, writing mostly sci-fi or speculative fiction. I just finished Vermilion Sands, published in 1971, a collection of short fiction dating from 1956-’62, set on the west coast of the USA, an area frequented by artists of various stripes. Unspecified, it must be the distant future or an alternate universe. Although inventive and possessing a quality of freshness, I found it tough going, its 191 pages reading like more. I frequently was unable to conjure the imagery. An online commentator likened the work to Dali, an intelligent though not exact comparison. At one point one of the character’s says: “…How much reality can we stand?” The author refers several times to The Recess. I googled it and found this explanation at Enrique Freeque’s Forum, edited by yours truly: “The Recess, that world slump of boredom, lethargy and high summer…that lasted for a decade. People worked only a few hours per day during this era of ennui, spending time not in labor but on balconies, drinking beer, playing a game described as ‘decelerated chess.’” Each of the eight pieces concentrates on the arts: music, film, sculpture, painting, poetry, fashion. The one I enjoyed most is Venus Smiles, the tale of a sculpture that grows and changes shape. Throughout the book there are statues that sound musically at the passing of vehicles or humans. There are gliders used to sculpt clouds, insects that are bejeweled, wheeled yachts that traverse the sands, clothing that molds itself to bodies, mood sensitive homes, but also familiar names like Cadillac. There are many references to the classics. If the sands are described as the brilliant red of vermillion, I missed it. 62 users at Amazon have rated the collection, forging to a consensus of 4.5 on a scale of five. I’ll go with three. Ballard was prolific. His Wiki profile lists 19 novels, 17 short story collections excluding anthologies, and two works of non-fiction. There have been eleven adaptations of his work on either the big or small screen, including Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun (1987) and David Cronenberg’s Crash (1996), a film I really liked. Ballard has often been mentioned in modern music, although the only band cited that I recognized is Joy Division. His books are still selling modestly. At Amazon, a hardcover copy of Vermilion Sands lists for $744.36, the paperback for $25.80. Alas, I will not be able to sell my copy for even a dollar, as it fell apart as I was reading. Ballard passed away at 78 in 2009. Photo from Google Images:
RIP US Army veteran Dane Partridge of Idaho, killed in action in Ukraine. Meanwhile, the carnage continues, headline from nypost.com: “Easy targets: Ukraine shoots down 4 Russian helicopters in just 18 minutes.”
I popped into CVS yesterday for the first time in a month. Large boxes of cereal are going for more than eight bucks. I’ll stick to Stop n Shop, where this morning I bought a medium box of Honey Nut Cheerios for $2.99, a buck more than the usual sale price… And this from newsmax.com: “Report: Airline Tickets Will Cost 20 Percent More This Year.”
Excerpt from a foxnews.com article by Hannah Ray Lambert: “The Greater Idaho movement proposes redrawing Oregon’s borders so that about two-thirds of the Beaver State’s land mass becomes part of neighboring Idaho.” People of the eastern area are fed up with the policies of the state, dominated by its three biggest cities. 80% voted for Trump. Although I’d love to see it, I doubt it will be done. No doubt legal action will arise.
My thanks to Mother Nature, who held back the rain long enough for the floating book shop to get in 45 minutes less than a full session; and to the woman who bought two books in Russian; and to the old timer who purchased Eat More, Weigh Less: Dr. Dean Ornish’s Life Choice Program for Losing Weight Safely While Eating Abundantly; and to Cabbie, who did a swap and buy: Pirate by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell for Are You Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon and Time’s Eye by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter. Not much moolah, but I’d expected zero.
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