J.G. Ballard's Running Wild

10 thoughts on the English master's 13th novel (1988) on mass shooting, gated communities, surveillance, and purity

1. I think I’d always avoided this Ballard novella because of the title. Plus maybe also because I don’t like novels that end before they begin. Turns out it’s fantastic and yet I’m still glad I waited to read it because it’s nice to have random titles by authors you love that you haven’t already devoured.

2. At 103 pages, I completed reading from start to finish in the span of a train ride from Baltimore to NYC over the weekend. I can’t always focus on public transit without earplugs, which I’ve been trying to get away from needing, but the way this book is written and its contents make for a perfect thing to read surrounded by people.

3. In short, the book is about a psychologist who is hired by the Scotland Yard to get to the bottom of a murder spree that has taken place at a gated community populated by a small number of ultra rich families who want to subsist completely on their own. Everything they need and want exists within the confines of Pangbourne Village, including waiting staff, security, tutors for the kids, and utilities to live an ideal life in total luxury. The 32 adults that live on site are murdered within a matter of minutes, while the children on site are all disappeared.