Hello America

Satirising the American Dream only works if you’ve bought into the American Dream. Ballard himself admits, in a foreword written for the 1994 edition, the American Dream was plainly not real–or rather, it existed only as a construct in US media. True, from the perspective of 1970s UK, the “sick man of Europe”, everything in the US probably did seem happy and prosperous. For white people, at least. Everyone else was ignored. As was the clear happiness and prosperity present in many non-Anglophone countries. Of course, look beneath the surface and there was nothing, it was all smoke and mirrors. Hello America is set a century from now, after a dam built across the Bering Strait crashed the North American climate, turning it into show more inhospitable desert east of the Rockies and impenetrable jungle to the west. Everyone fled and settled in Europe (which boomed because previously frozen land could now be farmed). Obviously, no one reads Ballard for the climate science. Nor for the futurism. An expedition to abandoned New York strikes out for the west coast after a mysterious nuclear explosion in Boston. Eventually, only three members make it to Las Vegas… where they find a small population of Mexican teenagers, led by a member of a decades-earlier expedition, President Manson, who have somehow managed to restart a couple of nuclear power stations, returned several helicopters to flight, re-opened many of the hotel resorts (although they remain empty), and have even managed to get some cruise missiles working (and are keen to do the same to the ICBMs). After 100 years of neglect. It's not in the least bit credible. But you read Ballard for the commentary on on culture, and it strikes me here he's taking potshots at illusions so none of it really works. Not his best, although it was nominated for the BSFA Award (but lost out to The Shadow of the Torturer). show less

Definitely not one of Ballard's finest, but the first two-thirds of this are a fun exploration of peak America, as seen in the late 1970s and 80s, before the cataclysmic Soviet damming of the Bering Strait redirects the jet stream, leading to near-total desertification east of the Rockies and mass escape across the Atlantic. The protagonist is both wide-eyed explorer and vaguely noble remnant American, come from Europe like the rest of his ship's company (albeit he himself as a stowaway), and he begins to grow into the role he's assumed for himself as a possible president in waiting.

The final Colonel Kurtz-like encounter and denouement is both abrupt and jarring in tone compared with the rest of the novel, but while it makes it a bit show more more of a slog it's still worth a read. The height of civilization, brought low and empty and deserted...another book for our moment. show less

Set in 2114, a crew (and one stowaway) arrive by steamship to North America, which had been evacuated after an ecological disaster following an energy crisis. They have to repair the ship, overcome the radiation problem, find food and water, maintain their sanity, find transport, cross a desert, and make friends with the few natives they encounter. With no petrol, this means horses, camels, and the Gossamer Albatross. The book was fun, adventurous, and inventive. Essentially they end up trapped in Las Vegas by an insane leader who has established some sort of order, along with a secluded inventor who has made lifelike androids of famous historical Americans.

America crashed and burned during the energy crisis. The vast majority of the population has fled back to their ancestral homelands. Those who remained became the new native Americans. The Soviet Union still, going strong, dams the Bearing Straight creating a man-made climate -- Good for Siberia, but freezes most of Asia and desertifies North America. The story is an exploratory party back to the United States. America is a very different place. Sand dunes cover New York City and most of the interior of the country is desert. The last American president (the 44th) died years ago. The exploring party discovers the person claiming to be the 45th president of the United States, a survivor from a previous mission, calling himself, Charlie show more Manson -- something lost on the explorers who have no clue about the man who lived over one hundred years previously. Besides, want to serve multiple terms as president, Charlie has a plan to make America great again or at least tropical Las Vegas.

Written in 1981 before anyone could have imagined the current 45th president of the United States adds to an already very strange novel. Pop culture and capitalist past, and the American Dream still remain in a pseudo-religious manner. show less

Ballardian desolation, wonderful dystopia. Absurd obliteration of the American dream, beaten down as far as can be but, of course, not completely eliminated. Amazing that it was written in the early eighties where it was perfectly appropriate and eerie that it is still relevant thirty years later.

This month's post-apocalyptic book club selection.

Well, Ballard sure did like to write this story. He wrote it a few times.

Since I most recently read his 'Drowned World,' (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/377848039) I noticed that it was essentially the same book as that one, but I think he's written it a few more times as well.

However, 'Hello, America' almost reads like a satire of 'Drowned World.' Was it intended to be? I'm not sure.

An expedition reaches the eastern shore of a long-abandoned United States. Ostensibly, they're there for research purposes, but they barely make a nod toward their cause. Instead, they each are subsumed by the dream of the long-dead myth of America, and head West through devastated landscapes, show more encountering absurdist tribal population remnants, and finding a man who calls himself President (and also calls himself Manson).

The satire (if it was intended as such) didn't work for me - I felt that it actually undercut a lot of what is usually so effective about Ballard's writing. The characterization is even sketchier than Ballard's usual, and the sexism is over the top.

There were a few memorable moments, and even a few chuckles, but I wouldn't call this one of Ballard's best. show less

As I finished this book, I was describing it to the girlfriend who gave it to me and she wanted to know if she should read it. I really couldn't give her an answer, I just kept getting stuck with saying, "It's weird." She did say in the end that she wanted to read it....!

I do like apocalyptic, post-apocalytic and dystopian novels, and this fits that bill; I have read three of these relatively recently that were about the downfall of the US and written by British authors - The Pesthouse and Down to a Sunless Sea were the other two, and I always find it amusing to see what aspects of American life are played up by these authors.

So, if you think the idea of the eastern half of the United States turning into a great desert with the western show more half turning into a jungle sounds intriguing, this might be the book for you. Throw in an animatronic army of former US presidents, nuclear missiles and huge holograms of John Wayne, Henry Fonda and... Charles Manson(?) and it makes for an interesting mix.

This is a tale of a journey westward across the United States by a group of explorers from Europe, all who have ties to the previous United States of America. They have different motivations for this journey and they are changed by the trip in different ways.

Bit of trivia - I read some of the info in the back of the book after finishing the novel - information about the author, about the book and where to find out more, and it said that the movie Crash was based on a J. G. Ballard story. I checked into this further, and of course, this was not the 2004 movie that won 3 Oscars, but the 1996 movie directed by David Cronenberg, that looks REALLY disturbing, and I guess I'll have to check it out.....

I'm giving it 3 stars; I wasn't totally pulled into the book and found that the way the author changed the narrative style throughout the book was distracting. And it was just too weird in many parts. I did finish it though, and it still resonates with me. show less