Psychological Fiction - Book 2: "The Drowned World" by J.G. Ballard

Trying to find a contemporary novel to weave Conrad's work into took a bit longer than I anticipated. But when I read about Ballard's The Drowned World, I thought I found a worthy partner. The novel depicts a future in which global warming has caused most of the earth to become uninhabitable. There's a group of scientists who research ongoing environmental developments in London that has been flooded and abandoned. When I was reading about it, I had an image of people on ships sailing through dark and murky territories, which certainly occurs in Heart of Darkness.

Anyway, let's get to the discussion. Up front, one reader loved it, one really did not like it, and one was right in the middle. So we were set for a nice, rounded discussion. Initially, they jumped ahead to next week's book, Robinson Crusoe. In Crusoe, nature was feared and something to be tamed. That was written in 1719. By the time the 1960s came around, we had national parks and nature was actively being preserved for appreciation and recreation. It was not as scary. In Ballard's novel, however, nature has really taken over and the humans are more devolved; they submit to nature, as society is no longer alluring or a serious alternative.

The readers liked the multiple characters, even if we don't get to go in depth with them. But we talked about how we wanted even more description of the climate and environment. The book felt like it was written in the '60s. One thing we all appreciated about the novel is that we were not bogged down with inventing new kinds of technology. Often times in science fiction, the author needs to introduce new tech, ideas, and things like that. Not here.

We talked a lot about genetic history/memory. What is passed down in our "genetic" memory i.e. survival instincts? There's this aspect of the idea that once man is immersed in nature, the primal part of him starts to emerge and take over. Like in Heart of Darkness, the collapse of society draws these men towards nature, which in both cases, has lead to a craving for power, a digression in any kind of civilized advances that man made.

The characters in Drowned don't seem to matter much, or at least their relationships don't. The isolation of the individuals is what matters. Man alone in the natural world is what Ballard seems to be driving home. In Drowned, Kerans seems to be a "terminal" patient, meaning that he accepts what is going to happen. He seems content to embrace the change and destruction. Crusoe is the opposite--he is never terminal, only hopeful and determined that his current situation will not be his end.

We briefly touched on the inversion the biblical Adam at the end of the novel. Drowned's Adam retreats into a jungle where the biblical Adam retreats from the garden. The water and the planetariums seem to symbolize a womb, suggesting a rebirth for the earth, as well as some of the characters.

It was a lively discussion that led us into a lot of rewarding rabbit holes. Can't wait to dive into the world of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe next week.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on Ballard, his work, and anything else related in the comments!

Here is a link to an info sheet provided to the readers. It has a brief biography of J.G. Ballard, as well as some information on The Drowned World. I also try to provide some supplemental reading materials in the form of papers, essays, and Q&As. Here is an essay from 1997 by Patrick A. McCarthy on allusions in The Drowned World. You can also buy the book we read on Amazon, IndieBound, and Audible.

If you'd like to learn more about the UPEP, please click here.
If you'd like to contribute to the UPEP general fund, click here.
If you'd like to buy some supplies for classrooms at the Utah State Prison, check out this Amazon wishlist.
And if you'd like to buy a book for the book drive, check out the wishlist here.


Thanks! And keep reading.

-Elliot

Psychological Fiction - Book 1: "Heart of Darkness" & "The Secret Sharer" by Joseph Conrad

We have 3 readers for our first group. They are all seeking some mental stimuli, as well as an outlet; something to break up their regular routine during their stint in prison. Eager and energetic, I could tell this was going to be a great group and we were going to uncover nuance and details to illuminate the texts.

In our first official meeting, we discussed two works from Joseph Conrad. We read and talked about one of the most famous works of literature of all time, Heart of Darkness, as well as a lesser-known work of Conrad's, The Secret Sharer. The first thing the group brought up is the difference in style between these two works. They wondered if The Secret Sharer was written after Heard of Darkness (it was). They remarked that the story of Secret itself gripped them more than the plot of Heart, even though Heart has a lot more to unpack.

We talked about what the captain in Secret might gain from hiding Legatt, the stowaway on board. This lead into a discussion of whether Legatt might not be a real person or if he is a figment of the captain's imagination. One reader wisely noted that his is a story told from memory, and the captain might be filling in blanks from his memory. How reliable is this narrator? Another reading mentioned since Legatt is naked in the beginning, this portrays him as a blank canvass, so to speak, for the captain to project himself on. With the descriptions of the naked Legatt, the readers (all of whom are gay) said they suspected Conrad was gay himself. This evolved into a conversation regarding how each reader brings their experiences, lenses, and worldviews to each book they read and how this effects our experiences.

With Heart, the group was going back-and-forth on whether or not the novel is anti-imperialist, straight up racist, or just merely observing norms and culture of the time. They were repulsed with the way natives are described and treated in the novel. They were quick to remember the novel is a framed narrative, meaning Charlie Marlow is telling the narrator a story who is in turn relaying it to the reader. So there is some buffer between the story and the reader. The realist style and language made it a bit of a slog for some of the readers, but one reader has read it quite a few times and said it gets richer and richer with each reading.

We rounded out the discussion by talking about the psyche of the main characters, their sense of isolation, and how their surroundings impact their state of mind. Every main character is a sailor, which makes sense as Conrad spent a lot of time as a sailor. Conrad writes about how the ship is the home and the sea is the country. Even with this notion in mind, Marlow and the captain from Secret feel uneasy as they are out on the water, not knowing what is beyond the waters and shores where they are traveling. The further they get into their respective journeys, they start to lose their sense of the world and question who they are and why they do what they do.

It was a great discussion and bodes well for next week's reading of J.G. Ballard's The Drowned World.

Here is a link to an info sheet provided to the readers. It has a brief biography of Joseph Conrad, as well as some information on the novellas. I also try to provide some supplemental reading materials in the form of papers, essays, and Q&As. Here is a 1977 essay by Chinua Achebe on Heart of Darkness. You can also buy the book we read on Amazon, IndieBound, and AudioBooks.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on Conrad, his work, and anything else related in the comments!

If you'd like to learn more about the UPEP, please click here.
If you'd like to contribute to the UPEP general fund, click here.
If you'd like to buy some supplies for classrooms at the Utah State Prison, check out this Amazon wishlist.
And if you'd like to buy a book for the book drive, check out the wishlist here.


Thanks! And keep reading.

-Elliot

Utah Prison Education Project Reading Group: Classic Models, Contemporary Models

The University of Utah Prison Education Project (UPEP) is sponsoring a reading group in the Lone Peak facility at the Utah State Prison. The group meets one day a week (sometimes every two weeks, depending on the length of the novel). Books are provided to individuals free of charge due to generous donations from friends, family, and others. The goal of the reading group is to facilitate critical thought and discussion while building community. This is the first UPEP offering in the Lone Peak facility.

Each Reading Group consists of novels with some sort of theme or unifying idea in mind. For the first group, we will pair one classic novel with one contemporary novel; in other words, novels that are associated by theme, genre, and other characteristics. We will discuss the contemporary texts with a focus on determining whether they have the makings of a classic novel. We'll also talk about what makes the classic novel classic. Dissecting stylistic and structural choices made by each author, we will talk about the effectiveness of each text and how it highlights universal themes and/or resonates with broader issues and ideas.

Here are the book pairings:
Set 1:
Heart of Darkness and The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad (1902 & 1910)
The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard (1962)

Set 2:
Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe (1719)
The Martian by Andy Weir (2011)

Set 3:
The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler (1939)
Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley (1990)

Set 4:
Animal Farm by George Orwell (1945)
On Such A Full Sea by Change-rae Lee (2014)

I hope you enjoy following along. Feel free to share your own thoughts on these novels, and if you have suggestions for other books that would pair well, please share those as well!

If you'd like to learn more about the UPEP, please click here.
If you'd like to contribute to the UPEP general fund, click here.
If you'd like to buy some supplies for classrooms at the Utah State Prison, check out this Amazon wishlist.
And if you'd like to buy a book for the book drive, check out the wishlist here.

Thanks! And keep reading.


-Elliot