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The Drowned World
- Narrated by: Julian Elfer
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
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The Drowned World
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Summary
When London is lost beneath the rising tides, unconscious desires rush to the surface in this apocalyptic tale from the author of Crash and Cocaine Nights.
Fluctuations in solar radiation have melted the ice caps, sending the planet into a new Triassic Age of unendurable heat. London is a swamp; lush tropical vegetation grows up the walls of the Ritz and primeval reptiles are sighted, swimming through the newly formed lagoons. Some flee the capital; others remain to pursue reckless schemes, in the name of science and profit.
While others drain the submerged streets in search of treasure, Dr Robert Kerans - part of a group of intrepid scientists - comes to accept this submarine city and finds himself strangely resistant to the idea of saving it.
First published in 1962, Ballard’s mesmerising and ferociously imaginative novel gained him widespread critical acclaim and established his reputation as one of Britain’s finest writers of science fiction.
J. G. Ballard was born in 1930 in Shanghai, where his father was a businessman. After internment in a civilian prison camp, he and his family returned to England in 1946. He published his first novel, The Drowned World, in 1961. His 1984 best seller Empire of the Sun won the Guardian Fiction Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. It was later filmed by Steven Spielberg. His memoir Miracles of Life was published in 2008. J.G. Ballard died in 2009.
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Critic reviews
“One of the brightest stars in post-war fiction. This tale of strange and terrible adventure in a world of steaming jungles has an oppressive power reminiscent of Conrad” (Kingsley Amis)
“Powerful and beautifully clear… Ballard’s potent symbols of beauty and dismay inundate the reader’s mind” (Brian Aldiss)
What listeners say about The Drowned World
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anna Bobak
- 13-04-15
Elder's pronunciation
Julian Elder, you through me out of this story several times with your mispronunciation: 'coup de gras', 'trypych' to name only two. Disappointing.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Prester Jim
- 31-05-22
Happy we'll be beyond the sea
A neuronic journey back down the spinal levels of the collective subconsciousness into deep time. Wonderful book, excellently narrated.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- dillpickle
- 28-07-16
Fascinating, but flawed, debut
The Drowned World was Ballard's first novel, and with its imaginative evocation of a submerged London, where iguanas prowl and prominent landmarks slowly sink into the sludge, it shows a huge amount of promise. Particularly fascinating is Ballard's portrayal of the devolution of the human psyche, as it turns towards a primitive state of being, which, Ballard argues, lies dormant in all of us, until triggered. It is clear that this is a writer not quite fully developed, however, as characters are poorly drawn, in particular the sole female character. Dialogue feels quite dated, and there are some questionable portrayals of black characters. I decided to start with this novel before delving into his others, and whilst it is not an entire success, his dystopian world has sufficiently sparked my imagination to make me want to read more. Skip the first chapter though - it is an introduction which is better kept to the end.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Chris
- 20-02-18
Decent story.
Decent enough narration but when the author has written that a character is speaking quietly it isn't necessary to start whispering their words; couldn't hear any of that dialogue
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- D. Carver
- 18-05-16
Drowned by later works
What could easily ruin this book for you is the introduction. It’s written by Martin Amis, who I normally have some time for, but here he gives away so much of the book before you even start to read it. The publishers really should stick this kind of thing at the end.
That aside, three stars is a bit harsh in many ways because this is a good book that's well narrated and when I first read it many years ago the concept was new (at least to me) so it seemed imaginative. However, Ballard has written so many great books that outshine this, the three stars reflect more it's place in his canon than it's quality next to other writers work.
Having said that, it's basic premise (not the flooding) was, for me, total pants and I saw it as capturing the strange state of mind of one individual rather than telling a particularly involving story. Interesting but not great. I felt let down this time round.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr.J.Bleakley.
- 29-04-24
Classic thought provoking adult sci Fi.
I was drawn to this book as the post apocalyptic drowned world theme has always fascinated me. Not the glib heroes/villains sort this is thought provoking adult sci fi. Very well thought out it's a novel of high quality that will reward reading ; i found it completely absorbing in terms of setting + plot.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Sean McCarron
- 09-06-21
Good way to pass 6 hours
It's a bit of Craic alright it has drowned cities and people losing the plot and animals taking over the world.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Joel Hewitt
- 16-02-21
Not one of his best.
Not bad, but not great. Concrete Jungle and High Rise are much more enthralling. The overall concept just didn't grab me enough.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Kevin Heady
- 10-08-21
Massive spoiler alert
I first read this book in the early 70's and couldn't remember too much about it but as a fan of the author thought I would try the audible version. this has an introduction by Brian Aldiss written in 2001. This introduction is included. However, Mr. Aldiss gives us the benefit of his insight by describing the plot in great detail including how the book ends. Thanks a lot. By the end of the introduction there seemed no point in continuing. If I wanted to hear Mr Aldiss pontificating I'll download one of his books. Come on audible, you can do better than this .
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Alex V
- 31-10-21
Dated Petit Bourgeois Sci-fi
Ballard's most successful sci-fi novel isn't one that stands the test of time. The style is extremely dated, it's circa mid-30's literary, there's a clear effort of a writer willing to write sci-fi but wanting to be taken seriously, Ballard does so in his description of the world.
This is 1962, from the UK, meaning a lot of 50's Golden Age sci-fi wasn't available to Ballard at the time of writing. The structure is very dated, heavy. In short, it's laden with info dumps with a "planet of the apes' story progression. On the plus side, the novel is a collection of possibly the worst dialogues written in the English language. Everything about the characters and the way they express themselves is petit bourgeois, comfortable middle class, dealing with the destruction of the world like they would behave at a tea party.
As for the narrator, his reading is fine, except during dialogues and some scenes. He alternates shouting and whispering, which makes it nearly impossible to listen to on headphones without missing half of the book and damaging your hearing.
In short, another 'modern masterpiece' soon to be forgotten.
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