The Impossible Man

by J. G. Ballard

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291+ Works 37,692 Members
J. G. Ballard was born to British parents in Shanghai, China on November 15, 1930. While a child during World War II, he spent four years in a Japanese POW camp. This experience was the basis for the emotionally moving novel Empire of the Sun, which he adapted into a successful movie, directed by Steven Spielberg. Before becoming a full-time show more writer, he studied medicine at Cambridge University and served as a pilot in the British Royal Air Force. Ballard is best known for his science fiction writings. His early works were heavily influenced by surrealism. Most of his novels deal with death and destruction of the human spirit. Novels such as Crash, Concrete Island, and High Rise portray a society that is devolving into barbaric chaos. Crash was made into a movie by David Cronenberg in 1996. The Drowned World describes an apocalyptic society, with a hero that ushers in the destruction of the world. His novel Empire of the Sun was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and awarded the Guardian Fiction Prize and James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. Empire of the Sun was filmed by Steven Spielberg in 1987, starring a young Christian Bale as Jim (Ballard). Ballard moved away from science fiction, but he is still considered one of the leading authors of the genre. He died on April 19, 2009 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Scholz, Alfred (Translator)

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title*
Der unmögliche Mensch
Original title
The impossible Man and other stories
Original publication date
1966
Publisher's editor*
Schelwokat, Günter M.
Disambiguation notice
The German edition of J.G. Ballard's The Impossible Man (Der unmögliche Mensch und andere Stories) and Louise Brown's Ein einziges Jahr appear to share ISBN 3547711541, and Amazon.com proposes the cover ... (show all)of Brown's book as an option for Ballard's. Please distinguish between these works. Thank you.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Science Fiction
DDC/MDS
823.914Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-1901-19991945-1999
LCC
PR6052 .A46Language and LiteratureEnglishEnglish Literature1961-2000

Statistics

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102
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316,646
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(4.04)
Languages
German, Spanish
Media
Paper
ASINs
10