The Drowned World

Last updated

The Drowned World
TheDrownedWorld(1stEd).jpg
Cover of first edition (paperback)
Author J. G. Ballard
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Berkley Books
Publication date
1962 [1]
Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)
Pages158

The Drowned World (1962), by J. G. Ballard, is a British science fiction novel that depicts a post-apocalyptic future in which global warming, caused by increased solar radiation, has rendered uninhabitable much of the surface of planet Earth. The story follows a team of scientists who are researching the environmental developments that occurred in the flooded city of London. The novel is an expansion of the novella "The Drowned World", which was first published in Science Fiction Adventures magazine, in the January 1962 issue, Vol. 4, No. 24.

Contents

In 2010, Time magazine named The Drowned World one of the ten best novels about a post-apocalyptic world on Earth. [2] In science fiction literature, The Drowned World is considered one of the founding novels of the climate fiction sub-genre. [3]

Synopsis

In the mid-22nd century, violent and prolonged solar storms enlarge the Van Allen radiation belt, which deteriorated the ionosphere of the Earth. The solar radiation bombarding the planet increased surface temperatures, raised the levels of the seas, and so established a tropical climate throughout most of the planet; with most of Earth no longer habitable by humans, the survivors migrate to the North Pole and to the South Pole, which the planetary tropical climate has rendered fit for human habitation.

In 2145, under the command of Colonel Riggs, Dr Robert Kerans is part of a scientific expedition sent to catalogue the flora and fauna of the lagoon that covers the city of London. [4] In the course of their scientific work, the members of the expedition begin to experience strange dreams. Amidst talk of the army and the scientists moving north, Lieutenant Hardman, the other officer in the expedition, flees the London lagoon and heads south; a search team sent to fetch him failed.

As the other inhabitants of the lagoon finally flee the overheating sunlight and head north, Kerans and two other scientists, the reclusive Dr Beatrice Dahl and Dr Alan Bodkin, decide to remain. A group of pirates led by a man named Strangman arrives to loot treasures from the deep waters of the London lagoon. After draining the lagoon, Strangman and his pirates expose the city of London, which disgusts Kerans and Bodkin; the latter attempts and fails to explode the flood defences and re-flood the London area. Afterwards, with Kerans and Dahl resigned to their fate, Strangman vengefully pursues and kills Bodkin.

Meanwhile, Strangman and his pirates become suspicious of Kerans, and they imprison him and Dahl. The pirates torture Kerans, which he survives; although weakened by the torture, Kerans attempts and fails to free Dahl from captivity. Kerans and Dahl are confronted by Strangman and his pirates, but Colonel Riggs and the army return to rescue them. Rather than punish Strangman, the military authorities co-operate with him, which angers and frustrates Dr Kerans, who then successfully re-floods the lagoon.

Weakened by a wound, Kerans flees the lagoon and heads southwards aimlessly, and encounters a frail Lieutenant Hardman, who has become blind. After aiding Hardman, Dr. Kerans continues travelling south, like “a second Adam searching for the forgotten paradises of the reborn sun”.

Themes

In The Drowned World (1962) the novelist J.G. Ballard presents characters who take advantage of societal and civilisational collapse as opportunities to pursue new modes of perception, unconscious urges, and systems of meaning. [5] In the Humanities Review, the writer Travis Eldborough said that literary works of Ballard in general, and The Drowned World in particular, allow the readers to "ask whether our sense of Self — and of the self as independent, sovereign, irrevocable — is, itself, a [social] construction, and a temporary one." [6]

The critic Brian Baker said that in the thematic subjects of The Drowned World, the novelist Ballard "explores the deep implications of time, space, psychology and evolutionary biology in order to dismantle anthropocentric narratives and, in turn, open up alternative ways of experiencing, and conceiving of, contemporary human subjectivity." [7] The scholar Jim Clarke said that in The Drowned World and in The Crystal World (1966), "Ballard's solitary protagonists traverse liminal states, often as psychological as physical, in which civilization recedes to the status of memory, and existence comes to be dominated and defined by the environment." [8]

Critical reception

In 1962, upon publication of The Drowned World, the novelist Kingsley Amis said that J.G. Ballard is "one of the brightest new stars in post-war fiction", and said that the story contains "an oppressive power, reminiscent of Conrad." In 1966, the science fiction writer Algis Budrys mocked The Drowned World as "a run, hide, slither, grope and die book". [9]

In 2018, in a retrospective assessment of the work of J.G. Ballard, the writer Will Self said that Ballard's literature went unappreciated during his life, and that, following a critical reappraisal of his work, The Drowned World shows Ballard to be the most important British writer of the late 20th century. [10] Moreover, the novelist Martin Amis said that "it is the measure of [his] creative radicalism that [Ballard] welcomes these desperate dystopias with every atom of his being", but criticized the perfunctory plot of The Drowned World, from which "we conclude that Ballard is quite unstimulated by human interaction — unless it takes the form of something inherently weird, like mob atavism or mass hysteria. What excites him is human isolation." [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. G. Ballard</span> English writer (1930–2009)

James Graham Ballard was an English novelist and short story writer, satirist and essayist known for psychologically provocative works of fiction that explore the relations between human psychology, technology, sex and mass media. Ballard first became associated with New Wave science fiction for post-apocalyptic novels such as The Drowned World (1962), but later courted political controversy with the short-story collection The Atrocity Exhibition (1970), which includes the story "Why I Want to Fuck Ronald Reagan" (1968) and the novel Crash (1973), a story about car-crash fetishists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poul Anderson</span> American science fiction writer (1926–2001)

Poul William Anderson was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until his death in 2001. Anderson also wrote historical novels. He won the Hugo Award seven times and the Nebula Award three times, and was nominated many more times for each award.

The New Wave was a science fiction style of the 1960s and 1970s, characterized by a great degree of experimentation with the form and content of stories, greater imitation of the styles of non-science fiction literature, and an emphasis on the psychological and social sciences as opposed to the physical sciences. New Wave authors often considered themselves as part of the modernist tradition of fiction, and the New Wave was conceived as a deliberate change from the traditions of the science fiction characteristic of pulp magazines, which many of the writers involved considered irrelevant or unambitious.

<i>The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress</i> 1966 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein

The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a 1966 science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein about a lunar colony's revolt against absentee rule from Earth. The novel illustrates and discusses libertarian ideals. It is respected for its credible presentation of a comprehensively imagined future human society on both the Earth and the Moon.

<i>Dangerous Visions</i> Science fiction short story anthology edited by Harlan Ellison

Dangerous Visions is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by American writer Harlan Ellison and illustrated by Leo and Diane Dillon. It was published in 1967 and contained 33 stories, none of which had been previously published.

This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 1960.

Is it a book that you would even wish your wife or your servants to read?

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lester del Rey</span> American science fiction author (1915–1993)

Lester del Rey was an American science fiction author and editor. He was the author of many books in the juvenile Winston Science Fiction series, and the editor at Del Rey Books, the fantasy and science fiction imprint of Ballantine Books, along with his fourth wife Judy-Lynn del Rey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Silverberg</span> American speculative fiction writer and editor (born 1935)

Robert Silverberg is an American author and editor, best known for writing science fiction. He is a multiple winner of both Hugo and Nebula Awards, a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame, and a Grand Master of SF. He has attended every Hugo Award ceremony since the inaugural event in 1953.

The Golden Age of Science Fiction, often identified in the United States as the years 1938–1946, was a period in which a number of foundational works of science fiction literature appeared. In the history of science fiction, the Golden Age follows the "pulp era" of the 1920s and 1930s, and precedes New Wave science fiction of the 1960s and 1970s. The 1950s are, in this scheme, a transitional period. Robert Silverberg, who came of age then, saw the 1950s as the true Golden Age.

<i>Hello America</i> 1981 novel by J. G. Ballard

Hello America is a science fiction novel by British writer J. G. Ballard, published in 1981. First edition cover designed by Bill Botten. The plot follows an expedition to a North America rendered uninhabitable by an ecological disaster following an energy crisis.

<i>World of Ptavvs</i> 1966 novel by Larry Niven

World of Ptavvs is a science fiction novel by American writer Larry Niven, first published in 1966 and set in his Known Space universe. It was Niven's first published novel and is based on a 1965 magazine story of the same name.

<i>Rogue Moon</i> 1960 novel by Algis Budrys

Rogue Moon is a short science fiction novel by Lithuanian-American writer Algis Budrys, published in 1960. It was a 1961 Hugo Award nominee. A substantially shortened version of the novel was originally published in F&SF; this novella-length story was included in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two, edited by Ben Bova. It was adapted into a radio drama by Yuri Rasovsky in 1979.

<i>The Best of L. Sprague de Camp</i> 1978 collection of writings by L. Sprague de Camp

The Best of L. Sprague de Camp is a collection of writings by American science fiction and fantasy author L. Sprague de Camp, first published in hardback by Nelson Doubleday in February 1978 and in paperback by Ballantine Books in May of the same year as a volume in its Classic Library of Science Fiction. The book was reprinted by Ballantine in May 1986. It was reissued in trade paperback and ebook editions by Phoenix Pick in December 2014. It has also been translated into German.

"Twilight" is a post-apocalyptic science fiction short story by American author John W. Campbell. It was originally published in 1934 in Astounding Stories and apparently inspired by H. G. Wells' article The Man of the Year Million. In 1970, it was selected as one of the best science fiction short stories published before the creation of the Nebula Awards by the Science Fiction Writers of America. As such, it was published in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One, 1929-1964.

<i>Davy</i> (novel) 1964 novel by Edgar Pangborn

Davy is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel by American writer Edgar Pangborn, nominated for the 1965 Hugo Award. It is set in the Northeastern United States some centuries after an atomic war ended high-technology civilization, with some scenes on an unnamed Atlantic island.

<i>Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels</i> 1985 book by David Pringle

Science Fiction: The 100 Best Novels, An English-Language Selection, 1949–1984 is a nonfiction book by David Pringle, published by Xanadu in 1985 with a foreword by Michael Moorcock. Primarily, the book comprises 100 short essays on the selected works, covered in order of publication, without any ranking. It is considered an important critical summary of the science fiction field.

<i>Worlds Best Science Fiction: 1966</i> 1966 anthology edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr

World's Best Science Fiction: 1966 is an anthology of science fiction short stories edited by Donald A. Wollheim and Terry Carr, the second volume in a series of seven. It was first published in paperback by Ace Books in 1966. It was reprinted by the same publisher in 1970 under the alternate title World's Best Science Fiction: Second Series. An Italian edition appeared in December 1966 under the title Il vento del sole.

Science Fiction Adventures was a British digest-size science fiction magazine, published from 1958 to 1963 by Nova Publications as a companion to New Worlds and Science Fantasy. It was edited by John Carnell. Science Fiction Adventures began as a reprint of the American magazine of the same name, Science Fiction Adventures, but after only three issues the American version ceased publication. Instead of closing down the British version, which had growing circulation, Nova decided to continue publishing it with new material. The fifth issue was the last which contained stories reprinted from the American magazine, though Carnell did occasionally reprint stories thereafter from other sources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate fiction</span> Fiction in a setting defined in part by climate crisis

Climate fiction is literature that deals with climate change. Generally speculative in nature but inspired by climate science, works may take place in the world as we know it, in the near future or in fictional worlds experiencing climate change. The genre frequently includes science fiction and dystopian or utopian themes, imagining the potential futures based on how humanity responds to the impacts of climate change. The genre typically focuses on anthropogenic climate change and other environmental issues as opposed to weather and disaster more generally. Technologies such as climate engineering or climate adaptation practices often feature prominently in works exploring their impacts on society.

<i>Why Call Them Back from Heaven?</i> 1967 novel by Clifford D. Simak

Why Call them Back From Heaven? is a 1967 novel by Clifford D. Simak, which became the initial volume in the Ace Science Fiction Specials line.

References

  1. ↑ "JG Ballard's The Drowned World Reviewed". jgballard.ca.
  2. ↑ Romero, Frances (7 June 2010). "Top 10 Post-Apocalyptic Books". Time Magazine . Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  3. ↑ Clarke, Jim (2013). "Reading Climate Change in J.G. Ballard". Critical Survey. 25 (2): 7–21. doi:10.3167/cs.2013.250202.
  4. ↑ "The Drowned World | W. W. Norton & Company". books.wwnorton.com. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "Will Self on JG Ballard's 'The Drowned World'". Telegraph.co.uk. 31 August 2013. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
  6. ↑ Elborough, Travis. "Reality is a Stage Set: Travis Elborough talks to J. G. Ballard".'" (PDF). Humanities Review. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  7. ↑ Baker, Brian (March 2008). The Geometry of the Space Age: J. G. Ballard's Short Fiction and Science Fiction of the 1960s. Continuum. pp. 11–22. ISBN   9780826497260 . Retrieved 2 April 2018.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  8. ↑ Clarke, Jim (2013). "Reading Climate Change in J.G. Ballard". Critical Survey. 25 (2): 7–21. doi:10.3167/cs.2013.250202. JSTOR   42751031.
  9. ↑ Budrys, Algis (December 1966). "Galaxy Bookshelf". Galaxy Science Fiction. pp. 125–133.
  10. ↑ Self, Will (31 August 2013). "Will Self on J.G. Ballard's 'The Drowned World'". The Telegraph . Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  11. ↑ Amis, Martin. "Rereading The Drowned World" . Retrieved 2 April 2018.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.