The Crystal World

Rating:
Summary: It's barely science-fiction but who cares?
Review: Even by the most basic definition of "science-fiction" this book barely makes the cut . . . it doesn't really take place in the future, doesn't feature new technology, doesn't try to rewrite the laws of physics, you can even understand it without a degree in higher mathematics. Ballard's always been too concerned with the psychological and what lies inside the human heart to be a real SF writer but in the end, it's the story itself that counts, whatever genre label you want to slap onto it. What makes this book so effective is the calm contrast of the utterly unfathomable with the completely normal. Dr Sanders receives a letter from friends in a part of Africa saying really weird stuff about everything turning to crystal . . . curious, he travels there and finds that there weren't speaking metaphorically . . . everything, trees and all, are slowly being converted to crystal, and there's mounting evidence that the rest of the world is going to soon follow suit. Against this backdrop Ballard lets Sanders attempt to make some sense of what's going on. The unwaveringly calm tone of the novel only accents the subtle creepiness of the whole affair and every time you think Ballard's run out of ways to describe crystals and jewels, he figures out yet another one. Symbolism and imagery run amok in this story, there's definitely some sort of quasi-religious (or at least good/evil) aspect to all the crystalization going on but I'll be darned if I can figure it out. Which is another good thing about the book, unlike most SF writers Ballard doesn't take the conceit that everything we encounter in this Universe we can understand and while possible explanations for what's happening abound (most of which don't make any sense anyway) there's never a definitive reason given, so at the end of the book you're left with a lot of questions, but the good kind, the kind that make you think. Thus readers expecting neat and tidy endings are advised that will be disappointed if they go into this book with that sort of attitude. In the end it's Ballard's realistic tone set against fantastic events and his ability to draw the reader into his world and make it come alive (even while the world itself is fossilizing) that causes the book to linger in your mind. His haunting depiction of a crystal world won't be something you'll easily forget.

Rating:
Summary: Not for a new reader, but...
Review: I enjoyed this book, but I think it could have been told better as a short story or novella. The basic plot is good, and the implications for the fate of the universe really got me going, but the plot tends to drag, and the characters go in circles, not accomplishing much. Mind you, I think it's pretty apparent from the writing that this was intended: fairly thin characters serving to introduce the reader to an interesting situation (and not even explaining it, necessarily). Overall, however, I don't think that this style would appeal to first-time readers, and I can understand why some don't get into his works.

Rating:
Summary: Not for a new reader, but...
Review: I enjoyed this book, but I think it could have been told better as a short story or novella. The basic plot is good, and the implications for the fate of the universe really got me going, but the plot tends to drag, and the characters go in circles, not accomplishing much. Mind you, I think it's pretty apparent from the writing that this was intended: fairly thin characters serving to introduce the reader to an interesting situation (and not even explaining it, necessarily). Overall, however, I don't think that this style would appeal to first-time readers, and I can understand why some don't get into his works.

Rating:
Summary: creepy, wonderful tale of the end of.... everything?
Review: i've read ballard at his extremes (crash, empire of the sun) and found this short book to be economically told, filled with wonder and dread. what i truly appreciated was ballard's willingness to leave things open-ended, to describe rather than explain, and to let his nightmare world function fully under it's own logic. now if i can just get these crystals out of my arm...

Rating:
Summary: Lost in a Crystal Haze
Review: This brief novel offers a rather pointless speculative fiction take on Conrad's Heart of Darkness. A ridiculous and under-explained premise is used to prop up some equally under-explained ruminations from Ballard on the human condition and spirituality. Here the action takes place in an African jungle that is becoming crystallized, as all objects slowly become encrusted with luminous jewels. Ballard doesn't explain how this process works except for some weak references to the "crystallized" time and space aspects of relativity. This implausible premise leads to curious changes in the people who also find themselves crystallized, with some sort of inner peace and spiritual fulfillment being found in the process, though Ballard leaves this aspect of the story anemic as well, other than some flimsy philosophical ramblings. Meanwhile, the action of the story mostly involves a pointless chase sequence connected to a blood feud between two shallow supporting characters, which is never resolved within the story. Add to all of this the book's outdated colonialist conceptions of the third world and its inhabitants, and the weak premise and theme of this novel retreat further into the crystal haze. [~doomsdayer520~]

Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding
Review: This is an interesting piece of literature, not quite a fantasy story, but not quite within the bounds of reality. The characters are normal people, the setting is a small town with nothing special about it, except that it is beside a jungle where jewels grow out of the ground like weeds, and as a tumor, overtake anyone or anything in their way. If you can find your way out, before becoming a frozen statue of gems, the crystals melt away as you cross an invisible threshold. It's mesmerizing, and out of this world.

What I liked most, is that Ballard never offers an explanation for this garden of jewelry. The rather simple story takes our characters on adventures in and out of this jungle, where some move swiftly enough to make it through with only a thin layer of "frost" on their clothes, while others find themselves trapped, and eventually buried under a rising ocean of diamonds and sapphires.

The prose is simply wonderful. Ballard is a master of language. It is a joy to find yourself tangled in the elegance of his wording, so simple and so fluid, yet as enchanting as the jewels of his strange, dreamlike jungle.

If you are looking to read a story with a clear, structured plot, where event A leads to event B and is resolved by event C, then avoid this book. This does not build up to a climactic revelation, and the mystery is not solved by a dramatic courtroom confession. But if you're hoping to find yourself lost in another world, then imagine the possibilities of a place where you can fill your pockets with opals and rubies, and where lepers grow emerald limbs glazed with topaz! Definitely something I plan to read again.

Mark McGinty is the author of "Elvis and the Blue Moon Conspiracy"