{"id":67,"date":"2022-11-07T00:44:36","date_gmt":"2022-11-07T00:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/?p=67"},"modified":"2022-11-07T10:34:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T10:34:37","slug":"the-body-of-the-young-woman-lay-beside-the-controls-like-a-figure-in-a-tableu-sculpture-the-foam-forming-a-white-fleece-around-her-naked-shoulders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/2022\/11\/07\/the-body-of-the-young-woman-lay-beside-the-controls-like-a-figure-in-a-tableu-sculpture-the-foam-forming-a-white-fleece-around-her-naked-shoulders\/","title":{"rendered":"“The body of the young woman lay beside the controls like a figure in a tableau sculpture, the foam forming a white fleece around her naked shoulders.”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The Atrocity Exhibition<\/em>, J.G.Ballard, Fourth Estate 2014<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Compiled after the tumultuous 1960\u2019s had concluded, Ballard\u2019s The Atrocity Exhibition<\/em> compiles short stories, referred to by Ballard as \u201ccondensed novels\u201d, that explores themes of the celebrity, the world we inhabit and how it changes around us, and the shifting media landscape to name but a few. Described as \u201cprofound and disquieting\u201d in the novel\u2019s preface, Ballard\u2019s text seemed to me to be a search for meaning following the violence and sense of the unknown that the 60s has become synonymous with. Ballard notes that \u201cat the end of each chapter I have provided a few notes\u201d that are intended to make the text more accessible to those who may not have a sense of the contextual background of some of the real-world figures mentioned throughout the text. I certainly benefited from this addition; however, I cannot help but wonder if it is wholly necessary given the surreal nature of The Atrocity Exhibition<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is Travern\u2019s hell. You can see he\u2019s trying to build bridges between things \u2013 this Kennedy business, for example. He wants to kill Kennedy again, but in a way that makes sense.\u201d<\/p>(Ballard, 2014, pg. 50)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The most compelling overarching narrative of The Atrocity Exhibition <\/em>for me was Ballard\u2019s dissection of celebrity culture and the way we view and relate to people who have achieved celebrity status. In \u2018The \u2018Soft\u2019 Death of Marilyn Monroe\u2019, Tallis uses geometry as a lens to reconstruct Monroe\u2019s death, echoing the media\u2019s obsession with her body. Perhaps the ultimate Hollywood celebrity, Ballard himself refers to her as \u201cthe first and greatest of the new-style film goddesses\u201d, and reflecting on her \u201cspectacular success as the world embraced her flawed charm\u201d (pg. 61). In his commentary \u201cBut isn\u2019t Kennedy already dead?\u201d, Ballard notes how \u201cKennedy\u2019s assassination presides over The Atrocity Exhibition<\/em>\u201d, and that in a way \u201cthe book is directly inspired by his death\u201d (2014, pg. 52). Traven and \u201chis many selves\u201d repeatedly explore and restage the deaths of these major celebrities, muddling and contorting our view of the celebrity throughout the novel. This felt extremely poignant to me as a reader in 2022 given recent history such as the \u2018Me Too\u2019 movement and the harrowing unearthing of actions and events surrounding the figure of Jeffrey Epstein, both of which are evoked in the sexual recreations Ballard continously returns to throughout the text. The intense themes of sex, and the sexualisation of the female characters in Ballard’s text also emphasises the public’s view of celebrities, given the obssession that circulates the bodies and sex lives of stars even in the modern day, not to mention the rumoured relationship between JFK and Monroe, gossip that gripped America back in the 60s. The relationship between the celebrity and the public is now more fluid than ever given the advances of technology in the 21st<\/sup> century and the presence of social media. In a flash, a celebrity\u2019s controversial comments can be plucked from their back catalogue and presented for all to see. These kinds of events that can lead to the sudden down fall of public figures, such as the leaked WhatsApp conversations between Tory MPs during Boris Johnson\u2019s term as Prime Minister, is the exact terrifying future that Ballard predicts throughout his text. Thanks to an online presence, no one can ever truly die, nor escape the sins of their past, which Ballard\u2019s shifting protagonist seems desperate to get to the bottom of. Traven knows that Kennedy and Monroe \u201chave died\u201d but believes them not to have \u201cbeen put to rest\u201d. This aspect of Ballard\u2019s writing poses an interesting question to those of us reading through the modern lens, I personally would love to know what Ballard would think of world events in 2022, and which events Traven would be restaging now if he were to exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Through this glaciated silence the white walls of the apartment fixed arbitary planes. She began to dress, aware of his eyes staring at her body.”<\/p>(Ballard, 2014, pg. 55)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In the accompanying \u2018Authors Note\u2019 added to the 4estate edition in 2001, Ballard suggests that the reader approach the text by picking out sections that seemed appealing to them and to read any nearby paragraphs that intrigue them. While I\u2019m sure Ballard himself is in no doubt the number one authority on his own novel, I personally found that a linear reading of The Atrocity Exhibition <\/em>worked well for me, with the journey of the ever-shifting supposed protagonist making sense despite the mutating landscape of Ballard\u2019s world. Even the shifting of the protagonist\u2019s name from Travis, Travers, Traven, Talbot, and Talbert was not something I found confusing, more a method of Ballard\u2019s writing that fit with the developing desolation of the world the protagonist inhabited. Although I can see why reading the stories separately is possible, and absolutely a good suggestion for anyone struggling with the content of the text, I do not think this would lead to a superior reading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Marilyn’s pitted skin, breasts of carved pumice, volcanic thighs, a face of ash. The widowed bride of Vesuvius.” <\/p>(Ballard, 2014, pg. 56)<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ballard\u2019s compilation is one that tests the reader, holding your hand while also encouraging you to throw logic to the wind and delve into a world of questions while being prepared to not necessarily find answers. The ever-shifting identity of Travis (etc) poses a fascinating reflection of the public who absorbed the media output of the 1960\u2019s, and how they could easily lose themselves in the tumultuous travesties that appeared to go on and on. Although it took some getting used to, Ballard\u2019s experimental and avant-garde style continued to impress me throughout and still felt as relevant to a reader in 2022 as I am sure it did in the 70s upon its release. While it may not be for everyone, I would very much encourage anyone looking to try something different to give The Atrocity Exhibition<\/em> a go. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Compiled after the tumultuous 1960\u2019s had concluded, Ballard\u2019s The Atrocity Exhibition compiles short stories, referred to by Ballard as \u201ccondensed novels\u201d, that explores themes of the celebrity, the world we inhabit and how it changes around us, and the shifting media landscape to name but a few. Described as \u201cprofound and disquieting\u201d in the novel\u2019s preface, Ballard\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1162,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67\/revisions\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.coventry.domains\/booksbybookmarks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}