Reading the Apocalypse in Paradise [100 Book Challenge #50-52]

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ความคิดเห็น • 96

  • @Verdpast
    @Verdpast ปีที่แล้ว +52

    Funny fact : every building you see in the horizon is actually made of books already bought by the channel.

    • @thelordz33
      @thelordz33 ปีที่แล้ว +13

      Funnier fact: Matt is actually 12 books in a trench coat

    • @uncannyvalleywoods7248
      @uncannyvalleywoods7248 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Facts

    • @sabatheus
      @sabatheus 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@thelordz33 Haha!

  • @katherinegarcia3256
    @katherinegarcia3256 ปีที่แล้ว +32

    I had a stroke a few weeks ago so Ive been home for about 3 weeks. During the time I read Blood Music, Blind Sight, the Mote In God's Eye and I've just started Children Of Time. I'm loving it.i really liked Blood Music.

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว +12

      Sorry to hear about your health.

    • @katherinegarcia3256
      @katherinegarcia3256 ปีที่แล้ว +12

      @@Bookpilled Thanks It could have been alot worse. I'm almost back to normal. I should be completely back to normal in about 2 weeks. Be careful!! I love the idea of running around the world. I love the videos in different places

    • @bmx3539
      @bmx3539 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      @@katherinegarcia3256 Good luck, be well, keep reading.

    • @DavidKetchin-gt5nj
      @DavidKetchin-gt5nj ปีที่แล้ว

      Thats a very strong list - a short list of the best of the best IMHO

  • @fortRedBorder--.--
    @fortRedBorder--.-- ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Your videos are so odd. Please take that as a compliment, and please keep making them. I really enjoy discovering new (i.e. older) sci-fi, and your insights are very interesting to hear.

  • @joshramirez7
    @joshramirez7 ปีที่แล้ว +16

    You are reviewing books in front of a beautiful setting. If that doesn't scream literary critic, I don't know what does. Got to wear that label with pride! 👍

  • @skwzbxx69
    @skwzbxx69 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I really appreciate your work reviewing all these books. Keep it up! It’s so refreshing to watch people with intellect.

  • @MrStereopathic
    @MrStereopathic ปีที่แล้ว +4

    Welcome back. Although I disagree with your distain for Jeff Vandemeer, I always appreciate your opinions which I find to be well formed and thoughtful.

  • @JMVASON1
    @JMVASON1 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I like how you mention that Ballard is one of those writers where, eventually, you will have read everything he wrote. Because about a year ago, I finally read Crash. Afterward, due to it's subject matter, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. But I adored the prose. Then I kept thinking about it, about the special ways in which he could perfectly capture things -- I couldn't keep it from coming back into my mind. I found that I already had a copy of The Drowned World, so I read that and soon decided that Crash is a great novel and that I'm going to read everything Ballard ever wrote. I've read many of his novels and one collection of short stories (War Fever) since then, and have mostly not been disappointed. He definitely has a way with words and characters. I liked High-Rise a bit less than The Drowned World and Concrete Island, for whatever reason. Still think Crash is his best, though. A few stories in War Fever are very Ballardian and amazing. Cheers!

  • @meesalikeu
    @meesalikeu ปีที่แล้ว +1

    definitely look for the large format re/search book from the 1980s of ballard’s the atrocity exhibition. absolutely stunning with all the visuals of white sands afb, etc.. its just amazing total dystopia - i treasure it.

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว

      I have that edition (in storage now)

    • @shannonm.townsend1232
      @shannonm.townsend1232 ปีที่แล้ว

      Those were great, used to have all of those, Burroughs, Ballard, T. G., etc. Also miss Semiotext(e) and Amok press

  • @unstopitable
    @unstopitable ปีที่แล้ว +2

    JG Ballard, another writer whose work is like a drug I can't get enough of. Surviving an internment camp as a child, going through med school (without finishing), studying biology, thinking about being a psychiatrist, getting a pilot's license, it all makes for mind-blowing explorations into the limits of the human psyche in the most extreme situations. And his characters don't run away from disaster. They always have their own reason, mania, fixation, obsession, whatever, for plunging into the heart of it.

  • @johnlaudenslager706
    @johnlaudenslager706 ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Somehow High Rise didn't appeal to me. I checked it out from the library twice and both times found myself skipping sections. Nothing in it surprised me? Maybe near future dystopia isn't my thing? Though Atwood's Handmaid's Tale was. So was Bear's Blood Music. You convinced me. I'll try another Ballard. Nice backdrop

  • @christophernoto
    @christophernoto ปีที่แล้ว +9

    I can say that in a long lifetime as a SF reader I have never read anything by Ballard that I have not found satisfying, and usually deeply fascinating and resonant.

  • @pastorytime2683
    @pastorytime2683 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I've got both Annihilation and The Doloriad to read this summer. Am actually excited to get to the Doloriad after your review! 😂 Siân

  • @thejabberwalker
    @thejabberwalker ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Interzone looks nice this time of year!

  • @b-rawentertainment7814
    @b-rawentertainment7814 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The drowned world is my favourite Ballard, perfect reading when you are somewhere hot and exotic 🙂

  • @wileepeyote27
    @wileepeyote27 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hey man, really like your channel and taking a lot of your suggestions. Have you thought about making some "how to read faster/better" videos? As someone who only developed as a faster reader late in life, it would be cool to see someone with a strong following talk about their reading style. How to eliminate subvocalization, reading paragraphs via chunking or other techniques you might use. Just a thought! Great vids!

  • @bartsbookspace
    @bartsbookspace ปีที่แล้ว +3

    “ gazelle with my teeth “ now there is a comparison, there is a vision!

  • @SolarLabyrinth
    @SolarLabyrinth ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I've only ever read Crash by Ballard and it was one of those books where I really didn't enjoy it while reading it but at the end was still glad I read it. I want to give his SF stuff a look.

  • @JackMyersPhotography
    @JackMyersPhotography ปีที่แล้ว +5

    Great reviews, Matt, I enjoyed your explanation and breakdown on the influence of plot upon the reader. Or the absence of it. Obviously, the absence of it takes great skill to craft if it’s going to be a book that also gets great reviews and widely read. But much like you, I do find books with a plot far more compelling. Between you and Stephen Andrews, I feel like I really need to start reading some more Ballard, I’ve only read a few of his short stories, and thus far I do enjoy his work.

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks Jack. I think you'll dig Ballard. Hope you're well man.

  • @MemphiStig
    @MemphiStig ปีที่แล้ว

    You're only a critic in the best sense. You give a fair and honest appraisal and opinion, and you don't pretend to be the ultimate authority. And you do a very good job of explaining the books and what you think of them without being judgmental or preachy.

  • @elliotdance7790
    @elliotdance7790 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Ive never read a JG Ballard before but i have "The Drowned World" on my shelf so ill give it a try. I just finished "Inherit the Stars" by James Hogan which lacks a typical plot. Just scientists trying to solve a mystery by deliberating over evidence. No drama but I thought it was pretty interesting. Im tempted to read the sequel.

  • @disconnected22
    @disconnected22 2 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    In the Ballard book The Unlimited Dream Company, there is also a strange symbology of birds.

  • @robertmalinowski6804
    @robertmalinowski6804 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    You should do a Mexico bookstore adventure looking for books.

  • @WordsinTime
    @WordsinTime ปีที่แล้ว +6

    I haven't read anything from J.G. Ballard but he is an author I'd like to try. High-Rise sounds pretty interesting so I might start there.

  • @stephenzeoli8117
    @stephenzeoli8117 ปีที่แล้ว +7

    An early Martin science fiction novel I liked a lot is The Dying of the Light.

    • @koomo801
      @koomo801 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      That's one of the very few sci-fi books I've read multiple times. It doesn't have powerful or unique ideas, and the action/plot isn't all that compelling, but it has a vibe or ambience that is unique.

  • @hanswurst4768
    @hanswurst4768 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Nice one bro, I’ll read Ballard myself soon too.

  • @iain2298
    @iain2298 ปีที่แล้ว +6

    Read The Drowned World earlier this year and thought it was absolutely fantastic

    • @elliotdance7790
      @elliotdance7790 ปีที่แล้ว

      Oh good because I have that on my shelf.

  • @bradykelso8682
    @bradykelso8682 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Hope you’re having great adventures!

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks Mr. Kelso, certainly am. Hope you're well.

  • @TinaTreasureBox
    @TinaTreasureBox ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Where are you now? You look a lot happier and more relaxed. I too have been considering moving to an area with a lower cost of living.

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks. Puerto Vallarta.

  • @smiltonadams
    @smiltonadams ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Great video, and it reminded me to order a copy of The Genocides (which I’ve now done). I know he wasn’t an SF writer, but Martin Amis just died, and he was the one who got me into JG Ballard. He’s certainly not everyone’s flavor, but if you’ve never read him, I’d recommend picking something up for the sheer dexterity and virtuosity of his prose. At his best, he was also quite funny and clever with plotting and narrative tricks.

  • @tarico4436
    @tarico4436 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I included a book recommend in a comment earlier today. It's gone! Just wanted to reassure you that you are a lit crit, helping me decide on numerous books that I do not have time to wade through the detritus to find. Thanks again.

  • @user-lq8ql5ty8j
    @user-lq8ql5ty8j ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Good stuff. Thank you.

  • @danieljette8007
    @danieljette8007 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I am under the impression that Ballard had a bird phobia. Anyway, I loved Ballard since my very youth.

  • @alexp3462
    @alexp3462 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Disch is another one I'll have to keep an eye out for. Hope you come across some you enjoy more for the next batch! You might also be interested to know - finally found a copy of Star of the Unborn for an affordable price! Hardback as well, pretty pleased. Arrived today, looking forward to getting started on it when I can dedicate some time to it

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks. Great find.

  • @zuma4847
    @zuma4847 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    We want stories... From your trips and from your books

  • @thejabberwalker
    @thejabberwalker ปีที่แล้ว +5

    I'd be interested to see what say about the Drowned World by Ballard because, Broseph, I don't know if I should have started his discography with that one. It sounded interesting and a bunch of synopsisi regarding other books of his also sound interesting but man it was a slog.

    • @shannonm.townsend1232
      @shannonm.townsend1232 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      His writing gets better and better as his career progressed

    • @thejabberwalker
      @thejabberwalker ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Cool! That one about the city median sounds very interesting

  • @nielssmith48
    @nielssmith48 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Dear @Bookpilled, @outlawbookseller, @MediaDeathCult, much as I appreciate your book reviews and lists, I am rather surprised that, sofar, I have not found any mention in any of your videos of James Tiptree Jr (Alice Bradley Sheldon), winner of 2 Hugo Awards, 2 Nebula Awards, etc., etc., and source of inspiration for the Otherwise Award. Have I simply missed a relevant review in one of your videos?

    • @thescrewfly
      @thescrewfly ปีที่แล้ว

      I suspect it's because - at least on this channel - the emphasis has until recently been more on novels (and series of novels) and Sheldon is all about the short story.

  • @fanofjazz2
    @fanofjazz2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Just found you on your reseller site since I'm a full-time ebayer. Enjoy your commentary on books. Are you considering writing a book yourself? You seem to be in the perfect place for it. You could be a modern-day Hemingway. Cheers friend.

  • @martinbruno764
    @martinbruno764 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Most of martin's science fiction stuff from that time can be described as you put nightflyers: meh characters, kinda entertaining plot with some interesting concepts + bits of horror, and yeah, annoyingly horny.
    If you want to read some of his better not-asoiaf stuff most ppl recommend the dunk and egg stories (which are part of the asoiaf universe but far more digestible in size), a song for lya (interesting scifi concept) and sandkings (entertaining scifi horror)

  • @Parker307
    @Parker307 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Good stuff, I watched to the end, I need to get back to fiction.
    Unrelated, I heard a barn swallow briefly in the background. I made me think, If I was was that far south I would be racking up a bunch of life birds. Do you plan on checking how the local avifauna?

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Tons of swallows here. Pretty sure I saw a russet-crowned motmot last week.

  • @michaelhanson3509
    @michaelhanson3509 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    So the Doloriad is like Seinfeld, a book about nothing? Oversimplification I know. Martin is ok in Wild Cards outside of "Thrones", I'll check Nightflyers based on this. Thank you for your straight to the point style, I really enjoy it.

    • @YourQueerGreatAuntie
      @YourQueerGreatAuntie ปีที่แล้ว

      i like some parts of Wild Cards - Martin's own stories are some of the weakest in the collections though. I think he shines as a commissioning / collaborating editor. And better in short form than long forms. Would be interesting to hear a comparison between the Nightflyers novelisation and the novella, if the latter is available

  • @tectorgorch8698
    @tectorgorch8698 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Megalopolis, that is correct, Sir.

    • @meesalikeu
      @meesalikeu ปีที่แล้ว

      right, as in the kang will lop your head off. 😂

  • @bookfantastic
    @bookfantastic ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I hate stories that do not tell a story. Especially when they are assigned by a creative writing teacher who is supposed to be teaching young people how to write (yes, I experienced this). No need to apologize for disliking a story that does not tell a story.

  • @kevinrussell-jp6om
    @kevinrussell-jp6om 4 หลายเดือนก่อน +1

    It IS interesting that you are discussing dystopian/apocalyptic literature in an apparent (it's ONLY apparent because it is Mexico) paradise. Everyone will nod at this because Mexico is associated with cartels, violent drug death, disappearances, and some wonderful people. An old guy like me driving his car down to Mexico sounds like a fully-prepared chicken dinner slowly traveling through a gathering of hungry Christians at a large parish hall. I guess it's okay, but one wonders how things will turn out?
    It's also possible, one would think, to imagine a world-event like that described in The Stand or covid, that does not involve a violent apocalypse or "the end of the world" but is even more thoroughly lethal. OUR species singly or with some related ones might be completely subtracted by some biologic agent (microbial) that destroys our ability to digest food, for example.
    Looked at as a geologist would look at things, the earth and its natural systems would quickly wipe out ALL or nearly all traces of our civilization in a few thousand years, and there that blue marble would sit and continue to spin beneath the stars, still packed with life and fluctuating ice caps, but just with no one writing about Trump or Joe, or what the Pope considers heresy. No baseball or football either, and no religion, too. Just imagine......................

  • @vdanger7669
    @vdanger7669 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    The Doloriad seems like it's astroturfed. Just read the recommendation blurbs.

  • @skokiereader
    @skokiereader ปีที่แล้ว +3

    May I suggest you read a few OTTESSA MOSHFEH novels?😱☠️💥

  • @TheAnarchitek
    @TheAnarchitek 2 หลายเดือนก่อน

    I always found Ballard to be dry, stodgy, and dilatory. The Disaster Area is a collection of short stories, published in 1967. Compton and Disch are better (although the latter runs to dryness, too). RR Martin's Nightwings is what happens when he is edited, like any normal writer. The dross is stripped away, revealing the bride stripped bare by her bachelors, ie, a potentially significant work that defies explanation.

  • @Warstub
    @Warstub ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Re: Returning to Th Genocides as a reference. Disch is just that good.

  • @chuckbridgeland6181
    @chuckbridgeland6181 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    interesting to see you in the bright sunlight. (Wear your sunscreen.)
    I know I read Nightfliers, back when it was originally published in Analog. And I don't remember it being that compelling a story that it would appear again and again in different forms over the years.

    • @gweflj
      @gweflj ปีที่แล้ว

      Don’t wear sunscreen! Unless it’s mineral based. The chemical junk can be detected in your bloodstream 30 seconds post application and the contents are carcinogenic.

  • @AccipiterF1
    @AccipiterF1 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I read Nightflyers in its original novella form, which won the Locus Award. I have no interest at all in reading a bloated out version of it since it already felt like there was already too much window dressing for what was basically the plot of Psycho set on a space ship. I also recommend everyone avoid the SyFy TV adaptation. It was bloated even more still and just terrible.

  • @OfficerB--
    @OfficerB-- ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I read Nightflyers recently and was similarly underwhelmed. I think it's his weakest work. If you've not read Fevre Dream by Martin (vampires on the Mississippi), I'd recommend it, if you want to read a (good) stand-alone novel by him.

  • @doublestarships646
    @doublestarships646 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    THE SAGA CONTINUES

  • @cassfonnesbeck8057
    @cassfonnesbeck8057 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Take down a gazelle wirh your teeth! Haha!

  • @seancatacombs
    @seancatacombs ปีที่แล้ว +3

    On Ballard in longform: Empire of the Sun rules. Not SF at all, but also nothing like the Spielberg adaptation. Sharp-as-hell prose and a remarkably unsentimental look at how WW2 really was - a war where every side's goal seemed to be to try and kill as many civilians as possible.

  • @Flux799
    @Flux799 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I want to live in the world of the doloriad.

    • @thescrewfly
      @thescrewfly ปีที่แล้ว

      And some are born to crave genetic defects....

  • @uncannyvalleywoods7248
    @uncannyvalleywoods7248 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Cha cha Cha! Mega-lopo-lis ;-)

  • @giri404
    @giri404 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Have you read “this is how you lose time war”??

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว +2

      I haven't read it, no

    • @giri404
      @giri404 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @bookpilled please take a look, its really really interesting and refreshing. I would love to see your take on it. Its a short book you can kill it in a day or two :)

  • @PieGuyBill
    @PieGuyBill ปีที่แล้ว +1

    🚀🚀

  • @shaihulud7316
    @shaihulud7316 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Martin's science ficton works though limited are not very engaging

  • @hardtriggerc7289
    @hardtriggerc7289 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Wear a black shirt if you’re being held hostage in you next video😂

  • @brancellbooks
    @brancellbooks ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Shame to hear about Nightflyers. I’ve never read any of Martin’s pre-Game of Thrones stuff, and never made it all the way through that series. I hope you find some gems in your next couple of reads!

  • @timyo6288
    @timyo6288 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    read Lord of the Ring. thankyou

    • @BooksForever
      @BooksForever ปีที่แล้ว +1

      He did. It’s growing on him.

  • @ifihadfriends437
    @ifihadfriends437 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Now that you're in Mexico will you be starting to read in Spanish?

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว

      I hope to be at that level eventually

    • @ifihadfriends437
      @ifihadfriends437 ปีที่แล้ว

      @@Bookpilled It might not be as high a level as you think! I just finished The Giver after a couple of months. Of course it's middle grade but it's a start. Highly recommend the Spanish for Reading textbook if you don't already have something you're working through.

  • @sethbrewer-b4p
    @sethbrewer-b4p ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Little hyper active there . . Mexico has good shit

    • @joshramirez7
      @joshramirez7 ปีที่แล้ว +5

      Genuine joy is the best drug in the world.

  • @thedumbdog1964
    @thedumbdog1964 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    You learning Spanish? Sorry if you’ve said whether you are on your other channel

    • @Bookpilled
      @Bookpilled  ปีที่แล้ว

      Yes, slowly and poorly