The Wind from Nowhere

Last updated

The Wind From Nowhere
The Wind from Nowhere 1st.jpg
Cover of the first edition
Author J. G. Ballard
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Genre Science fiction
Publisher Berkley Books
Publication date
1962
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)

The Wind from Nowhere is a science fiction novel by English author J. G. Ballard. Published in 1962, it was his debut novel. He had previously published only short stories.

Contents

The novel was the first of a series of Ballard novels dealing with scenarios of natural disaster. Here, civilization is reduced to ruins by prolonged worldwide hurricane force winds.

As an added dimension, Ballard explores the ways in which disaster and tragedy can bond people together in ways that no normal experiences ever could. That is another recurring theme in his works and makes one of its first appearances here. Some critics have suggested that his first four novels are based on elemental themes, showing global destruction by air, water, fire and earth. [1]

Ballard later dismissed the novel, written in ten days, as a "piece of hackwork", [2] referring instead to The Drowned World as his first real novel. [3]

Plot summary

A wind blows worldwide: it is constantly westward and strongest at the equator. The wind is gradually increasing, and at the beginning of the story, the force of the wind is making air travel impossible. Later, people are living in tunnels and basements, unable to go above ground. Near the end, "The air stream carried with it enormous quantities of water vapour — in some cases the contents of entire seas, such as the Caspian and the Great Lakes, which had been drained dry, their beds plainly visible." [4]

In London, to cope with the situation, special organizations are set up. The Central Operations Executive (COE), staffed mainly by War Office personnel, has been set up by Simon Marshall.

Combined Rescue Operations deal with collapsing buildings. Donald Maitland, a doctor unable to travel to a new job in Canada because of the wind, is part of it. Maitland rescues Marshall when he is injured by falling masonry and takes him home to recover. In the basement of Marshall's home, Maitland sees military equipment labelled "Hardoon Tower" and wonders whose interests Marshall is really serving.

Hardoon Tower is a pyramid-like structure intended to withstand the wind; it is being built by Hardoon, a millionaire businessman, who has a private army.

Maitland's relationship with his wife Susan is ending, but when he hears that she is still in their apartment on an upper floor, while most people are underground, he goes there. Susan will not be persuaded to leave, and standing by an open window, she is carried away by the wind.

As the destruction increases in London, COE decides to abandon its underground base. One of Hardoon's officers, a helmeted, taciturn figure called Kroll, arrives. Marshall thinks he is there to take him to Hardoon Tower, but Kroll kills him.

Maitland is evacuated from the underground base along with Steve Lanyon, an American submarine captain, and Patricia Olsen, a journalist. Lanyon and Olsen have developed a relationship during recent experiences in Italy. They are in a group that leaves in a giant armoured vehicle with a periscope. Maitland, realizing they are passing close to Hardoon Tower and wanting to investigate it, sabotages the navigation equipment so that the vehicle goes to the tower, which they can locate by a radio signal.

Hardoon receives the group to his complex so that Olsen and another journalist can report his success in withstanding the wind. With winds now over 550 mph the ground underneath the complex begins eroding into a giant ravine. The group flee to the pyramid for safety, however it too starts to sag into the ravine below. Hardoon, gazing at the wind through a special window, refuses to leave the pyramid as it is collapsing. Maitland and the others escape from the pyramid as it finally falls and try to retreat to the bunkers below, but are trapped on a ledge. They contemplate jumping into the ravine below in a desperate attempt to escape the wind, but stop as they realize that the wind is starting to subside.

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">Tikal</span> Ruins of major ancient Maya city

Tikal is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. It is one of the largest archeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization. It is located in the archeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemala's Tikal National Park and in 1979 it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">One Canada Square</span> Skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London

One Canada Square is a skyscraper in Canary Wharf, London. It is the third tallest building in the United Kingdom at 770 feet (235 m) above ground level, and contains 50 storeys. It achieved the title of the tallest building in the UK upon completion in 1991 and held the title for 21 years until the completion of The Shard (310m) in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dungeon</span> Room or cell in which prisoners were held, usually during the Middle Ages and Renaissance

A dungeon is a room or cell in which prisoners are held, especially underground. Dungeons are generally associated with medieval castles, though their association with torture probably derives more from the Renaissance period. An oubliette or bottle dungeon is a basement room which is accessible only from a hatch or hole in a high ceiling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air raid shelter</span> Fortified wartime structures which protect citizens from airborne attacks

Air raid shelters are structures for the protection of non-combatants as well as combatants against enemy attacks from the air. They are similar to bunkers in many regards, although they are not designed to defend against ground attack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Storm cellar</span>

A storm shelter or storm cellar is a type of underground bunker designed to protect the occupants from violent severe weather, particularly tornadoes. They are most frequently seen in the Midwest and Southeastern United States where tornadoes are generally frequent and the low water table permits underground structures.

<i>Concrete Island</i> 1974 novel by J. G. Ballard

Concrete Island is a novel by British writer J. G. Ballard, first published in 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourist guy</span> Hoax related to the September 11 attacks

The "tourist guy" was an internet phenomenon that featured a photograph of a tourist on the observation deck of the World Trade Center digitally altered to show a plane about to hit the tower in the background during the September 11 attacks. The photo went viral in the days after the attacks as many manipulated pictures spread online. The man in the photograph was identified as Hungarian Péter Guzli, who took the photo in 1997. Guzli said he edited the photo as a joke for his friends and did not intend for it to spread across the internet.

<i>The War in the Air</i> 1908 science fiction novel by H. G. Wells

The War in the Air: And Particularly How Mr. Bert Smallways Fared While It Lasted is a military science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells and published in 1908.

<i>The Sheep Look Up</i> 1972 dystopian sci-fi novel by British author John Brunner

The Sheep Look Up is a science fiction novel by British author John Brunner, first published in 1972. The novel is decidedly dystopian; the book deals with the deterioration of the environment in the United States. It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1972.

RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanzine Search & Destroy (1977–1979), which was started with small donations, provided to Vale by Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. RE/Search has published tabloid-sized magazines and books.

<i>The Fireclown</i> 1965 novel by Michael Moorcock

The Fireclown is the fourth science fiction novel written by Michael Moorcock, published by Compact in 1965.

Sinking of the <i>Titanic</i> 1912 maritime disaster

RMS Titanic sank in the early morning hours of 15 April 1912 in the North Atlantic Ocean, four days into her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City. The largest ocean liner in service at the time, Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at around 23:40 on Sunday, 14 April 1912. Her sinking two hours and forty minutes later at 02:20 ship's time on Monday, 15 April, resulted in the deaths of more than 1,500 people, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aaron Taylor-Johnson</span> English actor (born 1990)

Aaron Perry Taylor-Johnson is an English actor. He is best known for his portrayal of the title character in Kick-Ass (2010) and its 2013 sequel, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe character Pietro Maximoff in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

<i>Flood</i> (Doyle novel)

Flood is a 2002 disaster thriller novel by Richard Doyle. Set in present-day London, the novel depicts a disastrous flood and fire of London, caused by a storm, and the consequential accident at an oil refinery, and failure of the Thames Barrier. The plot is similar to his 1976 novel Deluge, updated to include the construction of the Thames Flood Barrier.

<i>A Fire in the Sky</i> 1978 television film directed by Jerry Jameson

A Fire in the Sky is a made-for-television disaster movie that debuted on NBC on November 26, 1978. The movie is based on a story by Paul Gallico where the earth is threatened by a large comet, which impacts near Phoenix and causes massive destruction there. It is a Bill Driskill Production in association with Columbia Pictures Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Structural integrity and failure</span> Ability of a structure to support a designed structural load without breaking

Structural integrity and failure is an aspect of engineering that deals with the ability of a structure to support a designed structural load without breaking and includes the study of past structural failures in order to prevent failures in future designs.

<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>High-Rise</i> (film) 2015 film by Ben Wheatley

High-Rise is a 2015 British dystopian thriller film directed by Ben Wheatley from a screenplay by Amy Jump, based on the 1975 novel of the same name by J. G. Ballard. The film stars Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons, Sienna Miller, Luke Evans, and Elisabeth Moss.

"Atrocity Exhibition" is a song by the English post-punk band Joy Division. It is the opening track on their second and final album Closer. The song was produced by Martin Hannett and Joy Division. It was recorded at Pink Floyd's Britannia Row Studios in London.

References

  1. ↑ Litt, Toby (22 January 2009). "The best of JG Ballard". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2015.
  2. ↑ Stuart Pringle, JG Ballard (January 1975). "Interviews: 4 January 1975, part 2" . Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  3. ↑ Simon Sellars (10 October 2006). "The Wind From Nowhere (1961)". Ballardian. Archived from the original on 24 February 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  4. ↑ Chapter 7.
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.