Dean
04-21-2009, 04:15 PM
The author JG Ballard, famed for novels such as Crash and Empire of the Sun, has died aged 78 after a long illness.
His agent Margaret Hanbury said the author had been ill "for several years" and had died on Sunday morning.
Despite being referred to as a science fiction writer, Jim Ballard said his books were instead "picturing the psychology of the future".
His most acclaimed novel was Empire of the Sun, based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China.
The author of 15 novels and scores of short stories, Ballard grew up amongst the expatriate community in Shanghai.
During World War II, at the age of 12, he was interned for three years in a camp run by the Japanese along with his parents and younger sister.
He later moved to Britain and in the early 1960s became a full-time writer.
Ballard built up a passionate readership, particularly after Empire of The Sun was made into a film by Steven Spielberg.
His friend and fellow author, Iain Sinclair, said Ballard had developed into a major literary figure.
"He was one of the first to take up the whole idea of ecological catastrophe. He was fascinated by celebrity early on, the cult of the star and suicides of cars, motorways, edgelands of cities.
"All of these things he was one of the first to create almost a philosophy of. And I think as time has gone on, he's become a major, major figure."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8007331.stm
r.i.p.
His agent Margaret Hanbury said the author had been ill "for several years" and had died on Sunday morning.
Despite being referred to as a science fiction writer, Jim Ballard said his books were instead "picturing the psychology of the future".
His most acclaimed novel was Empire of the Sun, based on his childhood in a Japanese prison camp in China.
The author of 15 novels and scores of short stories, Ballard grew up amongst the expatriate community in Shanghai.
During World War II, at the age of 12, he was interned for three years in a camp run by the Japanese along with his parents and younger sister.
He later moved to Britain and in the early 1960s became a full-time writer.
Ballard built up a passionate readership, particularly after Empire of The Sun was made into a film by Steven Spielberg.
His friend and fellow author, Iain Sinclair, said Ballard had developed into a major literary figure.
"He was one of the first to take up the whole idea of ecological catastrophe. He was fascinated by celebrity early on, the cult of the star and suicides of cars, motorways, edgelands of cities.
"All of these things he was one of the first to create almost a philosophy of. And I think as time has gone on, he's become a major, major figure."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8007331.stm
r.i.p.