THE DROWNED WORLD

'''The Drowned World''' is a 1962 science fiction novel by J. G. Ballard. In contrast to much post-apocalyptic fiction, the novel features a central character who, rather than being disturbed by the end of the old world, is enraptured by the chaotic reality that has come to replace it.

Contents

Plot summary

External Links

Plot summary

''The Drowned World'' opens within the conventions of a hard SF novel, as the catastrophe responsible for the apocalypse is explained scientifically – solar radiation has caused the polar ice-caps to melt and worldwide temperature to soar, leaving the cities of northern Europe and America submerged in beautiful and haunting tropical lagoons. Yet Ballard’s novel is thematically more complex than is immediately apparent. Ballard uses the post-apocalyptic world of the story to mirror the collective unconscious desires of the main characters. A theme throughout Ballard’s writing is the idea that human beings construct their surroundings to reflect their unconscious drives. In ''The Drowned World'', however, a natural catastrophe causes the real world to transform itself into a dream landscape, causing the central characters to regress mentally.

External Links

Images from the Disaster Area, an article on ''The Drowned World'' and other works by Ballard.