Archive - Modern Writers - Interviews with remarkable authors. JG Ballard looks back at Empire. Memories have huge staying power, but like dreams, they thrive in the dark, surviving for decades in the deep waters of our minds like shipwrecks on the sea bed. Hauling them into the daylight can be risky. Within a few hours, a precious trophy of childhood or a first romance can crumble into rust. Empire Of The Sun Production year: 1987 Country: USA Cert (UK): PG Runtime: 152 mins Directors: Steven Spielberg Cast: Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson More on this film I knew that something similar might happen when I began to write Empire of the Sun, a novel about my life as a boy in Shanghai during the second world war, and in the civilian camp at Lunghua, where I was interned with my parents.
Coming to England after the war, and trying to cope with its grey, unhappy people, I hoarded my memories of Shanghai, a city that soon seemed as remote and glamorous as ancient Rome. Even then, I had to leave out many things that belong in a memoir rather than a novel. JG Ballard Shanghai Home & Lunghua Camp. JG Ballard's Home Destroyed by Renovations In the autumn of 2009 a few trusty spies visiting and living in Shanghai noted the restaurant SH508 had shut down and crews were assembling on the site. Over the next 10 months what remained of the house Ballard grew up in was gutted and rebuilt into a brand new brick structure, possibly a large private home.
This section includes emails and photographs depicting the carnage as it progresses. Thanks to Andy Best, Dan Butterfield, Nick Darsley and George Cox. JG Ballard's Shanghai Neighbourhood In September of 2007 Shanghai resident Andy Best did a complete tour of the neighbourhood around Amherst Avenue, taking pictures of the old mansions, schools, colleges and cathedrals which would have existed during the 1930s when the young Jim Ballard roamed this area. JG Ballard's Shanghai Haunts After visiting JG Ballard's Shanghai home, I set out to take in other areas of the city mentioned either in Ballard interviews, letters and novels.