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The Drowned World ::
There are many “literary” books out there that I am disappointed with when I read them. The are unprofound, simplistic, or just poorly written. On the other hand, there are some books sold as genre fiction that I think have some strong literary qualities to them. The Drowned World fits into the latter category. Using a dense, complicated writing style, Ballard tells Robert Kerans, who is fighting his way through London after solar radiation has caused Earth’s temperature to rise, the polar ice caps have to melt, and the city (as well as all others in the developed world) to flood. Jungles are everywhere, and any any attempt to live a “normal” life in what used to be a temperate climate, is thwarted by the burgeoning population of iguanas. While he is awake, Kerans is chased by criminals and military types who have shotguns and alligators at their disposal. When he sleeps, he is plagued by “genetic memories” of an all-consuming sun, of melting into the water that is everywhere. We learn that these memories are reawakened in all the characters as the Earth moves back into a new Triassic period. This is a story that is apocalyptic and bleak, and leaves the hero (and the reader) with but one choice: to fully embrace all of its misery be burned up by it.
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