Reviewed by Cameron Trost on
This novel includes some of Ballard's finest lines, a few of which I've included below. It's not all gold, of course, and as is often the case in Ballard's novels, the brilliant concept sometimes gets lost in repetitive observations and description that distract from the plot. For me, the first third of Super-Cannes was gripping and displayed plenty of excellent prose. The questions raised and points made were then rehashed too much in the middle, but the action picked up towards the end, with scenes reminiscent of Crash, and the inevitable ending brought the session of psychoanalysis to a close.
The following excerpts show you some of the entertaining prose to be found in this book. Best not take it all too seriously though; after all, neither Hitler nor Pol Pot walked out of a desert. All the same, plenty of food for thought.
"Madness – that’s all they have. After working sixteen hours a day, seven days a week, going mad is their only way of staying sane."
"The twentieth century ended with its dreams in ruins. The notion of the community as a voluntary association of enlightened citizens has died forever. We realize how suffocatingly humane we've become, dedicated to moderation and the middle way. The suburbanization of the soul has overrun our planet like the plague."
"Thousands of people live and work here without making a single decision about right and wrong. The moral order is engineered into their lives along with the speed limits and the security systems."
"Representative democracy had been replaced by the surveillance camera and the private police force."
"Their moral perception of evil was so eroded that it failed to warn them of danger. Places like Eden-Olympia are fertile ground for any messiah with a grudge. The Adolf Hitlers and Pol Pots of the future won’t walk out of the desert. They’ll emerge from shopping malls and corporate business parks."
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 17 February, 2023: Finished reading
- 17 February, 2023: Reviewed