A caveman who never got around to dying throws a house party, where he proposes his existence as a thought-experiment to his guests. They attempt to use their expertise in anthropology, history, biology, etc to disprove his theory.
Dull, dull, dull. I had high expectations for this film, being generally drawn to minimalist (aka low budget) 'thinky' movies. This one bored the crap out of me: any bit of conflict was painfully contrived, the attempt at a twist ending was laughable, and the thought experiment wore out its welcome after 30 minutes.
The best: using the example of a ballpoint pen to explain why a ten-thousand-year-old man wouldn't have any obsidian axes lying around. The worst: dredging up yet another "Jesus was just an average Joe whose message got hijacked" revelation in a mishandled attempt to shock the audience.
* * * R A T I N G * * *
The Man From Earth (IMDB)
Wince : [****_]
Flinch : [_____]
Retch : [_____]
Gape : [_____]
Beerequisite : [**___]
Pornability : [_____]
Obscurity : [***__]
Explicability : [***__]
Showing posts with label experimental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label experimental. Show all posts
Monday, February 11, 2008
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Black Night
The world is shrouded in darkness save a few minutes of daylight each, er, day. Why? What effect does this have on society? What irreparable psychological damage will result?
These are not important enough questions to warrant screen time. What *is* important is that the main character, an entomologist specializing in moths, has dreams of the younger sister that died when he was a kid. As is usually the case, one of the staff (black+ imported - educated = a slave?) where he works appears in his bed, feverish and pregnant, and after getting killed forms a cocoon from which emerges, naturally, his ex-sister incarnated as an adult.
Don't expect any more sense out of this one: an atmospheric film with absolutely zero payoff (except for frequent breast shots).
* * * R A T I N G * * *
Nuit Noire (IMDB)
Wince : [****_]
Flinch : [*____]
Retch : [*____]
Gape : [***__]
Beerequisite : [*****]
Pornability : [**___]
Obscurity : [****_]
Explicability : [_____]
These are not important enough questions to warrant screen time. What *is* important is that the main character, an entomologist specializing in moths, has dreams of the younger sister that died when he was a kid. As is usually the case, one of the staff (black+ imported - educated = a slave?) where he works appears in his bed, feverish and pregnant, and after getting killed forms a cocoon from which emerges, naturally, his ex-sister incarnated as an adult.
Don't expect any more sense out of this one: an atmospheric film with absolutely zero payoff (except for frequent breast shots).
* * * R A T I N G * * *
Nuit Noire (IMDB)
Wince : [****_]
Flinch : [*____]
Retch : [*____]
Gape : [***__]
Beerequisite : [*****]
Pornability : [**___]
Obscurity : [****_]
Explicability : [_____]
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Brooklyn Independent Cinema : Special Shorts
The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal: A faux-documentary covering the unintentional art movement resulting from painting over graffiti. Comparisons with abstract artists are provided (and are surprisingly convincing) and three themes in the movement are identified (geometric, ghosting, and free-form), but one central theme is ignored: what the hell is with the girl on the bike?
The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal (IMDB)
Have You Seen This Man?: A documentary about (real, apparently) New York artist Geoff Lupo who produces flyers advertising ludicrous objects for sale: a cracker, a thumbtack, an pen cap. His somewhat stylized interactions with the people who respond to his ads (the intent being to reduce the act of commerce down to its essence, stripping the sale of any meaningful product -- though I thought that's what the stock market was for) constitute the actual work of art, which like most works of art is brought to ruin by a pretentious gallery owner.
Have You Seen This Man? (IMDB)
The Job: A fun little short about day labor. To say more would be overkill.
The Job (IMDB)
Funky Forest: First Contact excerpt: The strangest and most Japanese segment of the absurdist classic Funky Forest: First Contact (a three-h0ur endeavor for the strong of will), the tennis playing scene ("Hai! Hai!") was played in its entirety without the benefit of subtitles. Though, as the moderator pointed our afterwards, it wouldn't have made any difference. Regardless, it was fun to see this segment again.
Naisu no mori: First Contact (IMDB)
Darling Darling: A teenager, driven by his mom, arrives to pick up his date. Her dad, a horse-headed archer/guitarist, proceeds to make him feel extremely uncomfortable while he waits for her to get ready. Perhaps the best explanation of this film comes from the director's description of his original vision: a guy, with a horse's head, jumping off a stack of amplifiers and wailing on an electric guitar while fireworks go off behind him. And they say there's no good drugs any more.
Darling Darling (IMDB)
Are You The Favorite Person of Anybody?: Based on the short story 'Oranges' by Miranda July, which I read recently in October's edition of Tin House. John C Reilly stars as the interviewer asking random passers-by (fewer than in the story) the titular question.
Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? (IMDB)
Divorce Lemonade: A quick dark comedy about a girl who wakes up to find her dad passed out drunk on the lawn of her mom's house, and must get him out of there before her mom calls the cops. What do you do when life gives you lemons? Make divorce lemonade! Which, fittingly, is blue.
Divorce Lemonade (IMDB)
Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner: Three neurotic children (a plant-eater, a paint-by-number painter, and an obsessive flusher) are served increasingly horrific dishes by their mother over the course of a day. The proposed main course for dinner proves more than they can endure, and each finds their own escape from the house. Very well done, probably the second-best film shown.
Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner (IMDB)
Lift: The cream of this crop. Dominique Pinon stars as a lift operator who never leaves his lift, and who has fallen in love with a typist on the 20th floor. He attempts to seduce her with anonymous letters while dealing with the random passengers who board his machine.
Lift (IMDB) (WWW)
The Subconscious Art of Graffiti Removal (IMDB)
Have You Seen This Man?: A documentary about (real, apparently) New York artist Geoff Lupo who produces flyers advertising ludicrous objects for sale: a cracker, a thumbtack, an pen cap. His somewhat stylized interactions with the people who respond to his ads (the intent being to reduce the act of commerce down to its essence, stripping the sale of any meaningful product -- though I thought that's what the stock market was for) constitute the actual work of art, which like most works of art is brought to ruin by a pretentious gallery owner.
Have You Seen This Man? (IMDB)
The Job: A fun little short about day labor. To say more would be overkill.
The Job (IMDB)
Funky Forest: First Contact excerpt: The strangest and most Japanese segment of the absurdist classic Funky Forest: First Contact (a three-h0ur endeavor for the strong of will), the tennis playing scene ("Hai! Hai!") was played in its entirety without the benefit of subtitles. Though, as the moderator pointed our afterwards, it wouldn't have made any difference. Regardless, it was fun to see this segment again.
Naisu no mori: First Contact (IMDB)
Darling Darling: A teenager, driven by his mom, arrives to pick up his date. Her dad, a horse-headed archer/guitarist, proceeds to make him feel extremely uncomfortable while he waits for her to get ready. Perhaps the best explanation of this film comes from the director's description of his original vision: a guy, with a horse's head, jumping off a stack of amplifiers and wailing on an electric guitar while fireworks go off behind him. And they say there's no good drugs any more.
Darling Darling (IMDB)
Are You The Favorite Person of Anybody?: Based on the short story 'Oranges' by Miranda July, which I read recently in October's edition of Tin House. John C Reilly stars as the interviewer asking random passers-by (fewer than in the story) the titular question.
Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody? (IMDB)
Divorce Lemonade: A quick dark comedy about a girl who wakes up to find her dad passed out drunk on the lawn of her mom's house, and must get him out of there before her mom calls the cops. What do you do when life gives you lemons? Make divorce lemonade! Which, fittingly, is blue.
Divorce Lemonade (IMDB)
Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner: Three neurotic children (a plant-eater, a paint-by-number painter, and an obsessive flusher) are served increasingly horrific dishes by their mother over the course of a day. The proposed main course for dinner proves more than they can endure, and each finds their own escape from the house. Very well done, probably the second-best film shown.
Why the Anderson Children Didn't Come to Dinner (IMDB)
Lift: The cream of this crop. Dominique Pinon stars as a lift operator who never leaves his lift, and who has fallen in love with a typist on the 20th floor. He attempts to seduce her with anonymous letters while dealing with the random passengers who board his machine.
Lift (IMDB) (WWW)
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Shriek: An Afterword
Jeff Vandermeer's Shriek, an Afterword is a novel-length followup to his story "The Hoegbotton Guide to the Early History of Ambergris" apparently written immediately afterwards (1999 for the story, and 199-2006 for the novel).
Shriek tells the story of the author of "Early History", narrated by his sister, annotated by himself, and edited by their employer at Hoegbotton Books. In keeping with the style of "Early History", these individuals are given their voice in different components in the work; the sister speaks in the main text, the author in his annotations (similar to his persona appearing in the footnotes of "Early History"), and the editor in the appendix.
The story itself is biographical, tracing the backgrounds of the author and his sister from childhood through recent events that have radically changed the city itself (Ambergris, a setting for perhaps too many of Vandermeer's tales). The setting is purely fantasy genre, though to dismiss Vandermeer as a fantasy writer would be a disservice to one of the most imaginative writers out there.
A bit tough to start into, a bit slow at times, but ultimately a rewarding read with some interesting commentary on fame, ambition, and obsession.
Shriek tells the story of the author of "Early History", narrated by his sister, annotated by himself, and edited by their employer at Hoegbotton Books. In keeping with the style of "Early History", these individuals are given their voice in different components in the work; the sister speaks in the main text, the author in his annotations (similar to his persona appearing in the footnotes of "Early History"), and the editor in the appendix.
The story itself is biographical, tracing the backgrounds of the author and his sister from childhood through recent events that have radically changed the city itself (Ambergris, a setting for perhaps too many of Vandermeer's tales). The setting is purely fantasy genre, though to dismiss Vandermeer as a fantasy writer would be a disservice to one of the most imaginative writers out there.
A bit tough to start into, a bit slow at times, but ultimately a rewarding read with some interesting commentary on fame, ambition, and obsession.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Defenceless
I knew from the DVD box that this was dialog-free, but when I saw the subtitle "A Blood Symphony" I thought, "Uh-oh. This is no Aria." And it wasn't.
The film consists of a typical rape/revenge plot set entirely to music. This is not a bad idea: with a suitable score, a brilliant choreographer, and lurid visuals, this could be quite effective. In Defenceless, though, the music is not at all choreographed to the events on-screen, and in fact rarely changes from the inane classical pieces. The acting is hammed-up and unnatural, and the violence is jaw-droppingly unconvincing. This last one is really a sore point for me in low-budget slasher films: have none of these directors seen Doom Generation? Katiebird? It doesn't take a big budget to produce convincing violence, but it does take talent.
As far as rape/revenge films go, the plot of this is fairly standard, though the events are presented in such as way as to make them unbelievable. A woman refuses to sign a contract with her three business partners (to get her land, according to the DVD box, though this is not conveyed in the film), apparently changing her mind at the last minute (I say this because a contract signing party is generally not the time to express your concerns about the deal). Her partners have her husband killed, and send her photos with a note saying "You should have signed the contract BITCH" (I'm not making this up).
Like any rational person provided with direct evidence of a murder, she tries to kill herself. Some random woman nurses her back to life, falls in love with her, gets raped and killed by the business partners who send a video of this to the main character. Again she tries to kill herself. She takes her son to the beach, is raped and murdered by her business partners who apparently throw her body into the sea (evidently this was too difficult to film).
Nine months later she washes ashore, a cannibal corpse that sleeps in a tidal pool and is bent on revenge. Sort of. After a housewife shows her the articles about the death of her and her family at the hands of her business partners who, in a really heavy-handed piece of exposition, were cleared of murder charges. She kills the three of them in ways that would be gruesome and unsettling if they were, in fact, gruesome and unsettling.
Looking at the IMDB comments for this, it seems that people are afraid to give a negative review in case they are accused of not understanding it, not being prepared for it, or not liking art-house cinema. Well, I understand it, I was prepared for it, and I do not shy away from art-house cinema, so I'll be the one to say it: this movie is BAD.
* * * R A T I N G * * *
Defenseless (IMDB)
Wince : [*****]
Flinch : [*____]
Retch : [*____]
Gape : [*____]
Beerequisite : [****_]
Pornability : [**___]
Obscurity : [***__]
Explicability : [**___]
What I would do different: This movie could probably have been saved with tight editing and a proper score.
Sub-genre concerns: Why is it that every murder/revenge movie (e.g. family killed by the Mob) has five minutes of background and 90 minutes of revenge, but every rape/revenge movie has 90 minutes of background and five minutes of revenge?
The film consists of a typical rape/revenge plot set entirely to music. This is not a bad idea: with a suitable score, a brilliant choreographer, and lurid visuals, this could be quite effective. In Defenceless, though, the music is not at all choreographed to the events on-screen, and in fact rarely changes from the inane classical pieces. The acting is hammed-up and unnatural, and the violence is jaw-droppingly unconvincing. This last one is really a sore point for me in low-budget slasher films: have none of these directors seen Doom Generation? Katiebird? It doesn't take a big budget to produce convincing violence, but it does take talent.
As far as rape/revenge films go, the plot of this is fairly standard, though the events are presented in such as way as to make them unbelievable. A woman refuses to sign a contract with her three business partners (to get her land, according to the DVD box, though this is not conveyed in the film), apparently changing her mind at the last minute (I say this because a contract signing party is generally not the time to express your concerns about the deal). Her partners have her husband killed, and send her photos with a note saying "You should have signed the contract BITCH" (I'm not making this up).
Like any rational person provided with direct evidence of a murder, she tries to kill herself. Some random woman nurses her back to life, falls in love with her, gets raped and killed by the business partners who send a video of this to the main character. Again she tries to kill herself. She takes her son to the beach, is raped and murdered by her business partners who apparently throw her body into the sea (evidently this was too difficult to film).
Nine months later she washes ashore, a cannibal corpse that sleeps in a tidal pool and is bent on revenge. Sort of. After a housewife shows her the articles about the death of her and her family at the hands of her business partners who, in a really heavy-handed piece of exposition, were cleared of murder charges. She kills the three of them in ways that would be gruesome and unsettling if they were, in fact, gruesome and unsettling.
Looking at the IMDB comments for this, it seems that people are afraid to give a negative review in case they are accused of not understanding it, not being prepared for it, or not liking art-house cinema. Well, I understand it, I was prepared for it, and I do not shy away from art-house cinema, so I'll be the one to say it: this movie is BAD.
* * * R A T I N G * * *
Defenseless (IMDB)
Wince : [*****]
Flinch : [*____]
Retch : [*____]
Gape : [*____]
Beerequisite : [****_]
Pornability : [**___]
Obscurity : [***__]
Explicability : [**___]
What I would do different: This movie could probably have been saved with tight editing and a proper score.
Sub-genre concerns: Why is it that every murder/revenge movie (e.g. family killed by the Mob) has five minutes of background and 90 minutes of revenge, but every rape/revenge movie has 90 minutes of background and five minutes of revenge?
Monday, October 8, 2007
Stranger Than A Strange Land
I made the mistake of going to one of the NY Film Festival shorts programs.
All of the shorts programs were listed under the "Avant Garde" events, which should have served as a warning. This particular program, "Stranger Than a Strange Land", looked to be more science fiction and less self-indulgent crap, so I gave it a go.
Warm Objects : Thermal Imagery. Fun to watch, but really this just amounts to playing with a new toy. Artistic content: zero.
Notes From a Bastard Child : Not sure what this one was about. It looked like it was stitched together from all of the film reels at the director's (and I use that term quite loosely) exposure, undoubtedly in an attempt to come up with something to turn in as a senior project when weekend is up. Some particularly grainy footage is spliced in, perhaps in an attempt to make it feel authentic (an authentic what exactly?) or vintage or something.
The Mongrel Sister : Not sure they showed this one; I can't even remember it. I think they mistakenly showed the first seven minutes of the next film instead.
Victory Over the Sun : Yes, yet another film student has discovered the dilapidated extravagance of former World's Fair sites. I find it a mark of maturity to visit these strangely compelling sites and not make a film about it. Oh, and it ends with an orchestral version of November Rain; apparently the filmmaker has discovered not only Flushing Meadows, but Guns'n'Roses as well.
Stranger Comes to Town : This started out quite annoying but soon turned entertaining -- a good thing, since it is the second-longest film in the set. It kicks off with a narrator bemoaning the indignities of entering the US with a Middle Eastern passport ("you have to wait! and it is all so impersonal! they might even verify your fingerprint!"). I was mostly shocked by how banal the complaints were; the narrators all sounded like very naive, very spoiled kids who are experiencing life without servants for the first time. The use of some video game engine or another to re-enact the INS experiences provided some entertainment, not the least of which was watching the semi-sentient breasts of the avatars flexing as their chests heave with each breath. That may not have been intended by the filmmaker, but it got a few laughs.
Light is Waiting : More from the "Hey, look what technique I just learned about!" school of film. Not sure what the technical term for the technique is (mirrored double exposure?) , but it grew tedious after seconds and certainly did not add anything to the film (which appears to be some family's vacation footage).
SpaceDisco-One : The longest piece in the set, and the most entertaining. This film presents itself as the sequel to Logan's Run and 1984, as well as a crossover with Battlestar Galactica circa 1980. The two female descendants of the Logan's Run leads are leading an armed (with ping-pong ball guns, or something similar) rescue party to free Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) from a stint on the reality show Big Brother. Apparently he was really on it at some point, and the clips are hilarious. Oh and poor Winston goes through Room 101 again, then somehow warps through time to encounter the two women and relate to them that they are all fictional characters on the starship SpaceDisco One, a giant rollerdisco in space. Or something like that. Largely nonsensical, occasionally incoherent, and reliably amateurish, this was quite an enjoyable film (especially after the others).
* * * R A T I N G * * *
Stranger Than A Strange Land (NYFF)
Wince : [****_]
Flinch : [_____]
Retch : [_____]
Gape : [**___]
Beerequisite : [*****]
Pornability : [_____]
Obscurity : [****_]
Explicability : [*____]
Memories I want to erase: Todos!
What I would do different: Gone to see Finishing the Game instead.
All of the shorts programs were listed under the "Avant Garde" events, which should have served as a warning. This particular program, "Stranger Than a Strange Land", looked to be more science fiction and less self-indulgent crap, so I gave it a go.
Warm Objects : Thermal Imagery. Fun to watch, but really this just amounts to playing with a new toy. Artistic content: zero.
Notes From a Bastard Child : Not sure what this one was about. It looked like it was stitched together from all of the film reels at the director's (and I use that term quite loosely) exposure, undoubtedly in an attempt to come up with something to turn in as a senior project when weekend is up. Some particularly grainy footage is spliced in, perhaps in an attempt to make it feel authentic (an authentic what exactly?) or vintage or something.
The Mongrel Sister : Not sure they showed this one; I can't even remember it. I think they mistakenly showed the first seven minutes of the next film instead.
Victory Over the Sun : Yes, yet another film student has discovered the dilapidated extravagance of former World's Fair sites. I find it a mark of maturity to visit these strangely compelling sites and not make a film about it. Oh, and it ends with an orchestral version of November Rain; apparently the filmmaker has discovered not only Flushing Meadows, but Guns'n'Roses as well.
Stranger Comes to Town : This started out quite annoying but soon turned entertaining -- a good thing, since it is the second-longest film in the set. It kicks off with a narrator bemoaning the indignities of entering the US with a Middle Eastern passport ("you have to wait! and it is all so impersonal! they might even verify your fingerprint!"). I was mostly shocked by how banal the complaints were; the narrators all sounded like very naive, very spoiled kids who are experiencing life without servants for the first time. The use of some video game engine or another to re-enact the INS experiences provided some entertainment, not the least of which was watching the semi-sentient breasts of the avatars flexing as their chests heave with each breath. That may not have been intended by the filmmaker, but it got a few laughs.
Light is Waiting : More from the "Hey, look what technique I just learned about!" school of film. Not sure what the technical term for the technique is (mirrored double exposure?) , but it grew tedious after seconds and certainly did not add anything to the film (which appears to be some family's vacation footage).
SpaceDisco-One : The longest piece in the set, and the most entertaining. This film presents itself as the sequel to Logan's Run and 1984, as well as a crossover with Battlestar Galactica circa 1980. The two female descendants of the Logan's Run leads are leading an armed (with ping-pong ball guns, or something similar) rescue party to free Starbuck (Dirk Benedict) from a stint on the reality show Big Brother. Apparently he was really on it at some point, and the clips are hilarious. Oh and poor Winston goes through Room 101 again, then somehow warps through time to encounter the two women and relate to them that they are all fictional characters on the starship SpaceDisco One, a giant rollerdisco in space. Or something like that. Largely nonsensical, occasionally incoherent, and reliably amateurish, this was quite an enjoyable film (especially after the others).
* * * R A T I N G * * *
Stranger Than A Strange Land (NYFF)
Wince : [****_]
Flinch : [_____]
Retch : [_____]
Gape : [**___]
Beerequisite : [*****]
Pornability : [_____]
Obscurity : [****_]
Explicability : [*____]
Memories I want to erase: Todos!
What I would do different: Gone to see Finishing the Game instead.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Soul Mountain
I started Gao Xingjian's Soul Mountain about a week into my vacation, and it feels like it took forever to finish.
This is one of those books that you find yourself reading a page or two at a time, sometimes re-reading the same paragraph three or four times, sometimes flipping back to earlier chapters.
It certainly wasn't what I expected. No long rumination on man's condition or the nature of belief and hope in the course of a pilgrimage. Which is good, as either of those would have gotten old real quick.
The novel is purely character-driven. The chapters are episodic, some telling anecdotes, some providing historical insight, some simply representing scenes or moods. These tend to be either entertaining or insightful, though there are a few that feel purposeless.
Towards the end of the book, the author addresses potential critics, defending his work and justifying his approach. This may sound arrogant, but it actually works in this case, it let's you know the author hasn't lost it, and that the book itself has no direction or resolution, and that allows you to leisurely enjoy the remainder of the book.
Overall, a very memorable book, and one that certainly gives you pause for reflection. Probably not one that you're going to lend out or read again though.
This is one of those books that you find yourself reading a page or two at a time, sometimes re-reading the same paragraph three or four times, sometimes flipping back to earlier chapters.
It certainly wasn't what I expected. No long rumination on man's condition or the nature of belief and hope in the course of a pilgrimage. Which is good, as either of those would have gotten old real quick.
The novel is purely character-driven. The chapters are episodic, some telling anecdotes, some providing historical insight, some simply representing scenes or moods. These tend to be either entertaining or insightful, though there are a few that feel purposeless.
Towards the end of the book, the author addresses potential critics, defending his work and justifying his approach. This may sound arrogant, but it actually works in this case, it let's you know the author hasn't lost it, and that the book itself has no direction or resolution, and that allows you to leisurely enjoy the remainder of the book.
Overall, a very memorable book, and one that certainly gives you pause for reflection. Probably not one that you're going to lend out or read again though.
Monday, August 20, 2007
The Atrocity Exhibition
This is a novel (?) that I've wanted to read for a long time, ever since RE/Search reproduced it along with Octave Mirbeau's The Torture Garden in a half-hearted attempt to re-release banned books. The RE/Search editions had pictures, so I had to find proper editions of these: the Mirbeau at a used bookstore somewhere between the Tenderloin and North Beach, the Ballard at a mall (!) bookstore in England. Guess they've stopped banning it.
I was a bit disappointed. The narrative is nonlinear and fragmented, but in some sense having direction as each segment helps illuminate those that follow. Ballard recommends reading the segments at random, as that is how he wrote it. This is known, in the reading trade, as a bad sign. Still, one of my favorite Ballard shorts, "The Assassination of President Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Race", was included in this book, so I gave it a go.
Essentially, the protagonist has many selves (one in each chapter) who all try to use collections of seemingly unrelated objects (generally, but not exclusively, photos, artwork, and fragments of text) as a catalyst for changing (and understanding) reality. It's hard to get more specific without rewriting the entire book; suffice to say that many of the obsessions found in Ballard's later work are here (Crash and Super-Cannes probably being the most obvious), as well as a few mid-sixties fixations (pop art, the space race, the JFK assassination to name a few).
As experimental fiction, I cannot judge it. As a novel, or as a collection of short stories, it is outshone by virtually everything else Ballard has written. As a window into the mind of the author, however, it is fantastic -- especially the new edition with Ballard's endnotes.
I was a bit disappointed. The narrative is nonlinear and fragmented, but in some sense having direction as each segment helps illuminate those that follow. Ballard recommends reading the segments at random, as that is how he wrote it. This is known, in the reading trade, as a bad sign. Still, one of my favorite Ballard shorts, "The Assassination of President Kennedy Considered as a Downhill Race", was included in this book, so I gave it a go.
Essentially, the protagonist has many selves (one in each chapter) who all try to use collections of seemingly unrelated objects (generally, but not exclusively, photos, artwork, and fragments of text) as a catalyst for changing (and understanding) reality. It's hard to get more specific without rewriting the entire book; suffice to say that many of the obsessions found in Ballard's later work are here (Crash and Super-Cannes probably being the most obvious), as well as a few mid-sixties fixations (pop art, the space race, the JFK assassination to name a few).
As experimental fiction, I cannot judge it. As a novel, or as a collection of short stories, it is outshone by virtually everything else Ballard has written. As a window into the mind of the author, however, it is fantastic -- especially the new edition with Ballard's endnotes.
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