Ten Favorite J. G. Ballard Stories
(Ballard is, in my judgement, the single finest short story writer science fiction has produced. His skills aren’t those of the mimetic realist, though, but a gift—an obsession—for sustained atmosphere, surreal or apocalyptic imagery, and what he called “extreme metaphor.” He makes it harder than most writers do to distinguish the architecture of fiction from the interior decoration. Here, in order of preference, are my ten favorite stories he wrote.)
The Voices of Time
The Drowned Giant
The Lost Leonardo
War Fever
The Illuminated Man
The Terminal Beach
The Sound-Sweep
The Intensive Care Unit
Storm-Bird, Storm-Dreamer
The Watch-Towers
— February 16, 2021