The Atrocity Exhibition: J.G. Ballard's Journey Through the Fractured Landscape of the Human Psyche

Book cover for The Atrocity Exhibition by JG Ballard

I bought this book at the Hayward Gallery gift shop. I was mooching around in there after attending an unrelated exhibition, uninspired by the slew of artists monograms and associated nick knacks, when I spotted the monochromatic cover, face up in the middle of a display table and somewhat incongruous among its brighter neighbours. The arresting title compelled me to pick it up, read the back cover blurb and fork out the ten quid or so it cost. I started reading it on the train home.

Originally published in 1970, the book is regarded as an important work of experimental literature, challenging conventional narrative structure as it delves into the darker depths of the subconscious. Is it a novel? I’m not sure. There's none of the usual structural stuff, no clear beginning, middle, or end. Rather, it’s a collection of short, interconnected vignettes that explore themes of modernity, consumerism and the erosion of identity. Reading it was a bit like taking a walk through someone's dreams.

The main character is Dr. Nathan. He's a bit lost in his thoughts and feelings. Throughout the book, he travels through strange places, a fragmented world of cultural references and psychosexual imagery. As the narrative unfolds, boundaries blur between reality and hallucination, past and present. This makes it hard to tell what's real and what's not. After the first chapter, I stopped worrying.

The writing style helps with this. Instead of long sentences, each scene is composed of short, sharp ones. This makes the book feel fast-paced, intense and cinematic. It mixes up images from popular culture, like movies and advertisements, each hypnotic and unsettling in equal measure. This is, for me, the most powerful thing about the book as the images it conjures up resonate in a way that transcends any need for a traditional chronology.

Some people might find The Atrocity Exhibition disturbing. It talks about violence and strange desires such as auto eroticism, which Ballard explored at length in his following work Crash. With titles for the segments such as the Helicopters Are Burning, Zapruder Frame 235 and Biomorphic Horror the book challenges readers to confront the darkest corners of their own psyches. But I don’t think it's trying to shock you just for the sake of it. Instead, it's asking important questions about the world we live in and the things that make us who we are.

An experimental piece of writing like this is not for everyone. The language can be a bit tricky sometimes and there are complex ideas to work through. But if you stick with it, you'll find that the book has a strange beauty to it, like a painting that you can't stop looking at. So, If you're willing to take the journey, you might find that at the end you see the world in a new light. And isn't that what good books are supposed to do?

Check out AD Kooder's Facebook page.