Ballard in Legoland - The Answers
by Mike Bonsall, first published in 'Deep Ends: A Ballardian Anthology 2023' edited by Rick McGrath
Here are tha answers to my Ballard in Legoland quiz, with some explanation.
Rushing to Paradise (1994). Dr Barbera,
a rare female protagonist, strides angrily forward, ready to fight with megaphone
and machete. The island of St Esprit is dangerous for man and beast
The Kindness of Women (1991).
The second volume of Ballard's fictionalised autobiography. We see the young
Ballard as a hard-drinking trainee RAF pilot in Moosejaw Canada, who needs more
than a aeronautical chart to find his way
Millennium People (2003). Psychologist David Markham joins the middle-class revolutionaries in polite revolt at Chelsea Marina
Super-Cannes (2000). The calm and productivity of tech utopia Eden-Olympia is fuelled by sex and violence
Cocaine Nights (1996). Tennis pro Bobby Crawford turns crime into performance art in an idyllic resort on the Costa del Sol
The Crystal World (1966). Father Balthus, the faithless priest, uses his bejewelled altar cross as protection against the encroaching crystallization of time
Crash (1973). Hoodlum scientist Vaughan limps along the highway to confront another crash victim
High-Rise (1975). Dr Laing raids the supermarket's dwindling supplies
Kingdom Come (2006) Cable TV star David Cruise rallies the troops in the Metro-Centre
The Unlimited Dream Company (1979) the drowned pilot Blake flies over Shepperton in another doomed attempt to escape
Hello America (1981) The battle of the robot presidents in the desert of a shattered America
The Drowned World (1962) Kerans explores the dangerous underwater world of the ruined Madame Tussauds
The Day of Creation (1987) Dr Mallory journeys along the diseased reaches of the river he created from a tree stump
Running Wild (1988) The children were so well protected, how could their lives have been so savagely disrupted?
Concrete Island (1974) The architect Maitland discovers a new project in a grassy wilderness off the Westway
The Wind from Nowhere (1961) Maitland is blown away by the scale of this ecological disaster
The Drought (1965) Dr Ransom confronts an escaped lion in the endless desert of The Burning World
Empire of the Sun (1984) A hungry Jamie searches for food in a wrecked Shanghai
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