I Read The Garden Of Time By J.G. Ballard

A Story, An Election And Some Thoughts

Photo by Victor Malyushev on Unsplash

Hello, my lovely bookish friend!!!

Welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books. Have you been reading this week?

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I read The Garden Of Time by J.G. Ballard. I wanted to talk about it back then, but found other topics I was more interested in. Also, I just don’t think it a good idea to judge a book instantly after reading it, I prefer to give it some time to settle. 

Now, this story shows a count and a countess, living in a massive villa surrounded by a lavish garden which separates them from the rest of the world. Their life is luxurious, the count reading books in his library, the countess playing Mozart on her harpsichord in the music room. 

Outside their world of luxury however, there is a mob of poor, working-class people slowly approaching the villa. The count and the countess watch them move and when necessary, pick a time flower from their garden, that takes the crowd back by some degree. However, they still continue approaching the villa.

As time passes, the count and countess run out of flowers. So, they accept their fate, just enjoying the little time they have left.

At the end of the story, the mansion is in ruins, the beautiful garden taken over by weeds, the countess’ harpsichord chopped into firewood, and the count’s books toppled from their shelves. All that’s left are two stone statues– of the count and countess standing as relics of time past.

This story very much reminded me of A Tale Of Two Cities, especially of the burning of the Evrémonde chateau. Both show poorer, oppressed people rising up and getting back at their rich oppressors, although Garden Of Time leaves it a little unclear what exactly is the ultimate fate of the count and the countess, it’s not as violent. 

One of my favourite lines from the story is:

Here, in the garden, the air seemed brighter, the sun warmer, while the plain was always dull and remote.

Life indeed seems a lot brighter and warmer when you’re living in a luxurious mansion.

I love how the story makes it look like the crowd in one entity, moving together as a whole, rather than separate individuals. It’s almost like they don’t have their own individual thoughts or desires. Whereas we get to see the thoughts and feelings of the count and countess. What the crowd has is number, and this relentless dedication. Every time the count’s time flower takes them back, they just keep moving forward from that point. This creates a sense of inevitability, which I like. It seems to be saying that when people, masses move together, it’s not a matter of ‘whether’, but of ‘when’. 

This week, we had the results of the General Elections in India. In quite an unexpected turn of events, the existing government, which in the past decade has essentially brought every institution, celebrity, media, everything, under their control, failed to gain majority on their own. They had all the power, so they thought they had the people, but the people said no. It was beautiful as well as hopeful to see what can happen when people come together. And it reminded me of this story and that's why I decided to talk about it this week.

What about you? Have you read The Garden Of Time? Don’t forget to let me know.

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That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻