- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: Flamingo; New Ed edition (2 April 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006548199
- ISBN-13: 978-0006548195
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 189,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
‘A tight, macabre tale…A well-constructed and superbly written novella. As a malevolent gesture in the direction of facts we prefer to ignore, it provides a salutary chill.’ Jonathan Coe, Guardian
‘In words as crisp as a well-cut film, Ballard’s gripping story shocks middle-class assumptions to the roots.’ Mail on Sunday
‘Has the impact of a black-and-white television documentary. The writing is elegant, taut and economical, the story gripping.’ Sunday Times
‘A particularly chilling fable…Ballard in a nutshell.’ Nicholas Lezard, Guardian
‘Simultaneously a detective novel, a psychological horror novel and a dystopian political novel. “Running Wild” may well be remembered as one of the major political novels of our time.’ New York Review of Science Fiction
Product Description
A high-security luxury housing estate in the Thames Valley is the setting for a disturbing outbreak of violence in this compelling novella from the acclaimed author of ‘Cocaine Nights’ and ‘Super-Cannes’.
Pangbourne Village housing estate is exclusive, expensive and protected from the outside world by the very latest in security systems. It should be the perfect place to bring up a child. So why, in the space of ten minutes early one morning, were the thirty-two adult residents brutally murdered, and all thirteen children abducted? No kidnapper has ever come forward, and the police are mystified. It is only when psychiatrist Richard Greville is called in that the truth behind the massacre gradually becomes clear…
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
JG Ballard has long been an inspiration to a wealth of modern writers, and although he does not represent a "modern generation" as well as JD Salinger once did, he has suffered several imitations such as Chuck Palaniuk and Douglas Coupland (both excellent authors in their own right). This shows just how accurate he can be when commenting on modern society.
"Running Wild" is a brutal account of the murder of an entire estate in London, and the abduction of all the children under 16 who lived there. The main character - Richard Greville - is a psychiatic expert who works for the London Police, and despite being told not to continue with the case by a wealth of Intendants, Super-Intendants and DCI's he is determined to find the killer and abducter. The ending of the novel is one of the most tense I have seen from Ballard.
This book seems to be a side-project for Ballard as it does not contain his usual flair or attention to detail, but it is an interesting read. I refrain from using the word enjoyable as the graphic description of several crime scenes is enough to turn anyone's stomach. Overall this is a competent book which attempts to address the casual view taken towards extreme, brutal and unpleasant crime, and the way that the Police are willing to dismiss evidense and opinion out of hand. Recommended if you like any other of Ballards major novels, if only to see how much he can condense into one novel.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As the first book I've read by Ballard I suppose I don't have much to compare it with, but I found this a nastily effective little tale.
The writing is minimal and precise which really helps the tension. It's a streamlined, measured story which stays to the point and avoids becoming stale by overstaying its welcome.
It works well because it is so understated and the central themes it raises stay with you after the chilling final chapter.
I would recomend reading it as quickly as possible, even in one sitting, to avoid the implausibilities of plot leaking through until afterwards. The central conceit is a little unlikely and the postscript is nothing short of ridiculous but while reading, these things just don't matter. It's a brilliant, tense read, with a genuine point to make about a self-satisfied society.
The writing is minimal and precise which really helps the tension. It's a streamlined, measured story which stays to the point and avoids becoming stale by overstaying its welcome.
It works well because it is so understated and the central themes it raises stay with you after the chilling final chapter.
I would recomend reading it as quickly as possible, even in one sitting, to avoid the implausibilities of plot leaking through until afterwards. The central conceit is a little unlikely and the postscript is nothing short of ridiculous but while reading, these things just don't matter. It's a brilliant, tense read, with a genuine point to make about a self-satisfied society.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are a number of themes underlying this taut, thoughtful, enjoyable novella.
In the absence of strong parental authority, teenagers will run wild in gangs - if only for the purpose of self-protection and a taste of freedom. Not just in the confines of Lunghua camp, the streets of Rio or the poorer areas of London (think London Fields Crew, the Hoxton Boys, the Shakespeare gang of Stoke Newington or the E5th Ridaz of Lower Clapham, Hackney) but, potentially in affluent, isolated, gated communities too. It's the nature of the beast rather than the state of the environment.
We all need a certain amount of risk to feel fully alive. If all risk is removed from life (as in the lives of the teenagers in this novella) then we will seek it elsewhere.
When seat-belts became compulsory, people drove faster and took up bungee-jumping. Meanwhile, the Baby On Board generation has turned to tombstoning or (in some cases) decided to become a shahid for their kicks.
We have been warned.
In the absence of strong parental authority, teenagers will run wild in gangs - if only for the purpose of self-protection and a taste of freedom. Not just in the confines of Lunghua camp, the streets of Rio or the poorer areas of London (think London Fields Crew, the Hoxton Boys, the Shakespeare gang of Stoke Newington or the E5th Ridaz of Lower Clapham, Hackney) but, potentially in affluent, isolated, gated communities too. It's the nature of the beast rather than the state of the environment.
We all need a certain amount of risk to feel fully alive. If all risk is removed from life (as in the lives of the teenagers in this novella) then we will seek it elsewhere.
When seat-belts became compulsory, people drove faster and took up bungee-jumping. Meanwhile, the Baby On Board generation has turned to tombstoning or (in some cases) decided to become a shahid for their kicks.
We have been warned.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
very short!
This is a very short book, less than a hundred pages, and it took me less than an hour to read.
The plot is fairly predictable, I knew the outcome within a couple of pages,... Read more
The plot is fairly predictable, I knew the outcome within a couple of pages,... Read more
Published on 22 Sep 2008 by T-bone
Weak
I am a fan of ballard and have read most of his work but I found this to be a weak effort. The story is predicatable and the end fairly self evident from the start. Read more
Published on 8 Oct 2001
A page-turner
If you liked Cocaine Nights, you'll surely like this little novel. It's great and intriguing. Well worth a read.
Published on 23 Feb 2001
A good way to spend a couple of hours
No-one I have read portrays modern day dystopia quite like J.G. Ballard. This is an intriguing tale of murder in the affluent "stockbroker belt". Read more
Published on 11 Jan 2001
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