The Drowned World
Fluctuations in solar radiation have melted the ice caps, sending the planet into a new Triassic Age of unendurable heat. London is a swamp; lush tropical vegetation grows up the walls of the Ritz and primeval reptiles are sighted, swimming through the newly-formed lagoons. Some flee the capital; others remain to pursue reckless schemes, either in the name of science or profit. While the submerged streets of London are drained in search of treasure, Dr Robert Kerans - part of a group of intrepid scientists - comes to accept this submarine city and finds himself strangely resistant to the idea of saving it. (via 2014 Fourth Estate edition)
Stats for nerds
9recommend
17mentions
15people
2014–2026years
59% recommend41% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I'm reading The Drowned World right now. Incredible book, highly recommended.
- J. G. Ballard's "High-Rise" and "The Drowned World" are both excellent reads with very interesting stuff going on.
- One of my favorite authors and highly recommend his short stories [1] and the "ambiguous apocalypse" trilogy - The Drowned World, The Burning World, and The Crystal World.
As one of collections intros said, Ballard is science fiction, but Inner Space, not Outer Space.
1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Complete_Short_Stories_of_...
- I like his 1960s disaster novels -- The Drowned World, The Burning World. The Crystal World, about civilization ending and bands of survivors trying to get by. They definitely had an influence on later works, such as George Romero's "Living Dead" films.
- Absolutely love this trilogy too. The Drowned World was my first proper introduction to Ballard.
I'd always liked the movie Empire of the Sun since I was a kid, but could never quite put my finger on why. One day in 2020 I read the films wikipedia page, started reading more about him as an author and got hooked.
To quote John Gray [1],
>Unlike many others, it wasn't his dystopian vision that gripped my imagination. For me his work was lyrical – an evocation of the beauty that can be gleaned from landscapes of desolation.
1. https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2018/12/john-gray-on-jg...
- My first read was Kingdom Come (released 2006). It felt like such a great crazy tale that might have taken place in our times (even though it was absurd & fantastic); mall culture & hooliganism & factionalism. It felt like such a a snapshot of Bush II era to me. (Little did I expect what was to happen next in the world! How much we would fall!)
Drowned World was the next thing I picked up, and wow what a damned book! Nueronic time and these people slipping backwards towards it; it's such a wild psychological trip. That speaks so viscerally to the many compacted confused layers inside us, earlier forms baked deep into civilization.
