Sand and acid

Press, 5 October 1985, Page 20

Sand and acid

Vermilion Sands. By J. G. Ballard, J. M. Dent, 1985. 208 pp. paperback. $10.95. These nine stories, published in magazines over a period of 17 years, were first presented as a collection in 1971. They have a common location, a desert resort, and offer a strange amalgam of fantasy and reality. Reading the book is at times rather like being on a recurrent acid trip; the author seems fascinated by the process of disintegration and destruction of things, people, personalities, realities. Everyday things such as paintings, houses, sculpture and flowers reflect and augment the mood and often the psychotic personality of their owner. Mr Ballard’s prose also tends to be vermilion. It can be so extravagant it can be positively irritating. For instance: “His dead clothes hung on his muscular body like the husk of some violated fruit. The oil on his dark chest lit up his drugfilled eyes, giving his broken face a moment of lucid charm.” That is from “Say Goodbye to the Wind” — perhaps an appropriate title. Those who like Ballard — those who enjoyed “Crash” or “The Terminal Beach” — will also enjoy this collection. It is all a matter of taste. — Chris Neale.