Sunday, December 11, 2011

Vertical violence

Via my friend Chris, I was made aware of a post at Blood & Treasure referring to a new building design that has been unveiled for a planned skyscraper in Seoul, South Korea.

It's referred to as 'The Cloud':



I will leave aside any aesthetic comments (other than WTF!!!! An image of a twin-towered complex exploding...who thought this was a good concept?) and simply use this image as an excuse to note the recent publication of a collection of essays, J. G. Ballard: Visions and Revisions.

This collection derives from a conference in which I participated some years ago and includes an essay by your humble narrator ('"Going mad is their only way of staying sane": Norbert Elias and the Civilised Violence of J. G. Ballard') on the novels High-Rise  and Super-Cannes.

Whilst wandering around Bloomsbury a few days ago I had the pleasure of discovering this book in one of my favourite London bookshops and finding my essay nestled there among the others.

In academia you have to take your joys where you find them.

I recommend this book for those of you interested in Ballard's writing.

I'm very happy to be among the essays contained within it.

2 comments:

Gwyn said...

Hi John, and Anja,

That tower might not be conceptually beyond reproach, but it does look spectacular! I was hoping to get a copy of the Ballard book, having fond memories of the conference, but I'll have to hope a paperback costing a little less is released. (It would be only for personal interest these days as I've dropped the proposed PhD and am currently trying my hand at physics through your employer, John, with which I am very impressed in general.) Hope you are both well and that you have a great Christmas.

Gwyn

JCWood said...

Spectacular is the word....

Nice to hear from you! Sorry to hear about the PhD, but the humanities' loss is the natural sciences' gain. Glad to know that the OU is treating you well. It's an institution that I've been happy to be associated with. Our association may be coming to an end soon, it seems. All good things, eh,...

Perhaps with your new knowledge you can explain the fuss around the Higgs-boson particle one of these days.

We're well, and wish you a very happy Christmas and new year!