Millennium People

By: J. G. Ballard

Narrated by: David Rintoul

The explosive J. G. Ballard renaissance, which began with the 2009 publication of The Complete Stories of J. G. Ballard, now continues with his first novel to be published in America in a full decade. "Wonderfully warped, darkly comic" (The Economist), Millennium People tells the story of David Markham, a psychologist who is searching for the truth behind a bomb that exploded on a Heathrow baggage carousel, killing his ex-wife. Infiltrating a shadowy protest group responsible for her death, David finds himself succumbing to the charismatic charms of the group's leader, who hopes to incite a violent rebellion against the government by his fanatical adherents, the spiritually and financially impoverished members of Britain's white middle class. A shockingly plausible and extremely unsettling vision of society in collapse, Millennium People "dissects the perverse psychology that links terrorists with their innocent victims" (New Statesman).

©2003 J. G. Ballard. All rights reserved. (P)2011 AudioGO

Never got good.

I kept waiting for the story line to get interesting, but it never happened. The monotone, unimaginative narration didn't help.

I've enjoyed reading some of Ballard's other stories, but not this one. I would try some of his other books, but not with this narrator.

Senseless but Interesting

There’s much interesting here, and Ballard is of course great at prose, but he can become too nihilistic. I think this is a worthwhile postmodern book to listen to on our current age. One just needs to be aware of the serious faults. Aspects of the book are senseless itself.

A vicious boredom ruled the world

"He was trying to find meaning in the most meaningless times, the first of new kind of desperate man who refuses to bow before the arrogance of existence and the tyranny of space-time."
- J.G. Ballard, Millennium People

"A vicious boredom ruled the world, for the first time in human history, interrupted by meaningless acts of violence."
- J.G. Ballard, Millennium People

I read this Ballard novel amazed at how accurately he captures the now. It has been said by others before, but he really is our PKD. He captures, in this book, random shootings, Brexit, and Trump. He captures perfectly the rebellion of the middle-class. I have to let this book settle in me. I might be a bit too enthusiastic in this moment. But God this novel was grand. One of my top 5 Ballard novels, and the man can hardly write a bad novel.