David Foster Wallace - Exploring Inner Space

Exploring Inne r Space W AR FEVER By J.G. Ballard Farrar Straus Giroux. 176 pp. $18.9 5 by D avid Fos te r W allace

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R ITAIN's J.G. Ballard is not a gre at fiction w rite r, but h e is an im portant one . If th at s e e m s lik e an incons is te nt judgm e nt, be advis e d th at Am e rican re ade rs w h o k now Ballard only via h is m oving, Spie lbe rgable m e m oir Em pire of th e Sun do not k now th e re alJ. G. Ballard. Th e re alBallard h as s ince th e e arly '60s be e n a pione e r of a ce rtain s ort of lite rary s cie nce fiction I lik e to callPs yFi. Ps y-Fi, ofte n parodic, s urre aland grote s q ue , and alm os t alw ays s e t in s om e ne ar and re cognizable future , s e e k s to e xplore th e ps ych opath ology of pos t-atom ic life , s tuff lik e h igh te ch nology, m as s -m e dia, adve rtis ing, PR , totalitarianis m , e tc. Ballard's 19 73 cult nove lCras h , a coldly th e ore ticalfable about th e e roticis m of autom obile accide nts and th e re lations of viole nce to orgas m and de form ity to ce lebrity, rank s w ith Anth ony Burge s s 's A Clock w ork O range and W illiam Burrough s ' Nak e d Lunch as bas ically de fining th e Ps y-Fi ge nre . And, forays into m e m oir and m as s -m ark e tappe alnotw ith s tanding, Ballard h as toiled and produce d h is be s t w ork in th e m e talarbor of th is w e ird allegorical te ch no-lit. H is late s t U.S. re leas e , W ar Fe ve r, a collection of s h ort s torie s w ritte n be tw e e n th e m id-'70s and th e late '80s , is vintage Ballardian Ps y-Fi, and its m os t s ucce s s fulpie ce s s h ow Ballard at h is e ngaging, e xas pe rating be s t. And Ballard at h is be s t h e lps s h ow w h y th e Ps y-Fi m as te rs h ave h ad s uch a profound influe nce on conte m porary Am e rican fiction w rite rs , not only ge nre -re s tricte d cybe rpunk s lik e W illiam Gibs on but s e rious pos tm ode rn artis ts lik e D on D e Lillo, W illiam T. Vollm ann and M ark Le yne r. Clinical, dogm atic, re lentles s ly re ifying and w orld-clas s im aginative , Ballard is re ally m ore a s ocialcritic th an a s toryte ller. And, e xce pt for a couple of h ard-core s cie nce fiction pie ce s lik e "R e porton an Unide ntifie d Space Station," allof W ar Fe ve r's 14 s torie s grow out of th e parodic e xpans ion of s om e s ingle angs t-producing fe ature of m ode rn s ocial life . In "Th e Se cre t H is tory of W orld W ar 3," R onald R e agan is brough t back from advance d s e ne s ce nce for a th ird pre s ide ntialte rm in '9 2, and w h e n th e U.S. e lectorate , "W atch ing th is robotic figure w ith h is goofy grins . . . be gan to as k if th e Pre s ide nt w as brain-de ad, or e ve n alive at all," R e agan's h andlers be gin re leas ing e xh aus tive re ports on h is h e alth , update s and pane ldis cus s ions th at s o m e s m e rize a nation of TV-w atch e rs (for w h om th e Pre s ide nt's EK G-trace is finally broadcas tlik e s tock q uotations at th e bottom of all program m ing) th at th e pe ople ignore a s pas m odic nuclear e xch ange w ith th e U.S.S.R . in favor of e xpe rt analys e s of pre s ide ntialbow e l-function and th e Firs tLady's cos m e tic tuck s .

In "D re am Cargoe s ," a s cuttled garbage barge s pills toxic w as te s onto th e s h ore s of a Caribbe an atoll, s paw ning gorge ous ne w life form s and m e tam orph os izing h um an cons cious ne s s into a k ind of te ch no-m ys ticis m untilth e Navy s te ps in w ith flam e th row e rs to s top th e "pollution." In th e collection's title s tory, th e factionalw arfare in Be irutis re ve aled to be orch e s trate d by th e U.N., w h ich h as be e n prote cting 30 ye ars of com plete globalpe ace by fue ling paranoia and h atre d am ong th e Be irutcom batants , us ing th e figh ting as a controlled e xpe rim e nt in m utating "th e virus of w ar." W ar Fe ve r is an unus ually tigh t, unifie d s tory collection, not only be caus e its auth or h as th re e or four bas ic Ps y-Fi obs e s s ions h e s im ply w ork s and re w ork s , but also be caus e Ballard us e s s uch a dis tinctive s e t of s tyles and te ch niq ue s . Structurally, e ve ry one of th is book 's s torie s is e xos k e letal: its s ym bols and m e anings are righ t on th e s urface , righ t in your face ; and th e y, rath e r th an plot or ch aracte r, provide th e s tory's de ve lopm e ntal drive . As is S.O .P. for Ballard, m any of W ar Fe ve r's s e lections are narrate d in th e firs t-pe rs on, w ith th e narrator adopting th is "I'm -th e las t- and - only - pe rs on- w h o- can- articulate w h at's -h appe ne d" tone s o com m on to s cie nce fiction. And Ballard, as alw ays , love s h is form alfun. A die h ard e xpe rim e ntalis t, h e h as s torie s h e re in th e form of an inde x to th e autobiograph y of s om e e m ine nt fictional 20th -ce ntury guy ("Th e Inde x," cute but s ligh t, lik e a concre te poe m ), and, in th e labyrinth ine "Note s Tow ards a M e ntalBre ak dow n," in th e form of num be re d s ch olarly glos s e s on a one -s e nte nce fragm e nt of an unfinis h e d e s s ay de tailing a fam ous ne uros urge on's plunge into s ch izoph re nia and m urde r. Th is las ts tory, m y favorite in th e collection, is not only a Borge s ian m arve lof involution, it's an inge nious s tudy in dis s ociation, in w h ich th e acade m ic obje ctivity of th e glos s e s and th e path ologicalpath os of th e note s ' s ubje ct counte rpoint and dance and finally m arry in th e cre e py re ve lation of jus t w h o's auth oring th e glos s e s . O ne of Ball ard's fine s t s torie s e ve r, "Note s Tow ards . . ." alone m ak e s W ar Fe ve r w orth th e purch as e . Ye tanoth e r unifying fe ature of th is collection is th at h e re Ballard be trays allth re e of h is bigge s t w e ak ne s s e s as a Ps y-Fi w rite r. Th e firs t is th at h is tone is s o ve ry cold. It's notan accide ntth atm os tof W ar Fe ve r's ch aracte rs m anife s t dis s ociation's num bne s s and autom atis m , nor th at Ballard's m os t e ffe ctive narrative pe rs ona h e re is th at of a de tach e d clinical-re port-w rite r (four of th e s e s torie s are narrate d by M .D .'s , w ith acade m ics , s urge ons , ps ych iatris ts and s cie ntis ts playing k e y roles in anoth e r s ix). Th e ge nre of Ps yFi, pos tm ode rn to th e q uick , s e e m s to de m and th is flat, s ch olarly narrative voice , an air of lab te ch nicians look ing at s tuff unde r glas s . But th e pove rty of affe ct h e re m ak e s Ballard's s torie s at once cre e pie r and e m pty of h um an q uality; too m any of th e pie ce s s e e m loud bute m pty, lik e s cre am s . Anoth e r of th is collection's troubles is

th at Ballard's pros e is n't allth at gre at. H is narrators h ave cons is te nt pe nch ants for s tilte d rh e toricalq ue s tions , for clunk y, bom bas tic pronounce m e nts , and for rath e r clich e d de s criptions . Ballard's th ird and w ors t w e ak ne s s is th at h e 's about th e leas t s ubtle m ajor w rite r going. As do m any Ps y-Fi fictions , Ballard's s torie s w ie ld th e ir th e m e s lik e black -jack s , rare ly give th e ir re ade rs a ch ance to e xe rcis e dis ce rnm e nt or ins igh t. You ne ve r re ally ge t a ch ance to re ad Ballard. H is narrators pontificate cons tantly, de claim ing on th e m e aning of s ym bols, th e irony of tw is ts , th e s ignificance of e ve ryth ing e ve n re m ote ly s ignificant. Th e s e lead-foote d intrus ions , toge th e r w ith th e fact th at Ballard's fictions are bas ically one -trick ponie s , allw ork ing off s om e s ingle s urre alm e taph or, can ofte n leave th e audie nce w anting les s . Still, th e s torie s in W ar Fe ve r are s urpris ingly and cons is te ntly com pe lling. Th e y're pre dictable and s om e tim e s annoying, but th e y're us ually unde r 10 page s ; and Ballard's inve rte d, th orough ly pos t-indus trialph ilos oph y of fiction - w h ich is bas ically th at de lus ion, h allucination and rationalization are today's m e diation, atte m pts to cons truct an inne r ps ych ic re ality in th e face of an e m pty, m e ch anize d, m as s m ark e te d and fictionalm ode rn w orld - h as , s ince th e '60s , be e n w orth re ade rs ' atte ntion. Th e s h ort s tory, a m ode w h e re Ballard can dis pe ns e w ith de ve lope d ch aracte r and diach ronic plot, and w h e re h e can us e h is gre at gift for form alinge nuity to afford th e re ade r fre s h ne s s and varie ty, s e e m s to m e to be J.G. Ballard's s tronge s t form . Sh ort, de ns e , vivid, h allucinatory, s om e tim e s pom pous , ofte n truly dis turbing, th e s e pie ce s in W ar Fe ve r are Ballard's Ps y-Fi ge m s , and th e y h ave value . D avid Fos te r W allace 's m os tre ce ntbook s are th e s h ort-s tory collection GirlW ith Curious H air and, w ith M ark Cos te llo, Signifying R appe rs , an e s s ay aboutm us ic and race .

Copyrigh tTh e W as h ington Pos tCom pany Apr 28, 19 9 1