super-Cannes (the book) by J.G. Ballard

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Super-Cannes by J.G. Ballard
Super-Cannes
Super-Cannes is a fiction novel written by J. G. Ballard, a British author, and was published or made available in the year 2000. Compared to the author’s earlier work, Super-Cannes picks up on the same arguments and themes from his previous book Cocaine Nights which has been likened to this novel based on the approach, themes and setting (Fitchett 311). It is for this reason that it has been time and again referred to as a companion portion of the Cocaine Nights book.
Description
The act in Super-Cannes is set exclusively in a business park referred to as Eden-Olympia. The storyteller, Paul Sinclair, together with his wife, Jane Sinclair, move to Eden-Olympia after Paul quits his post as an editor and publisher of aviation journals and his wife is offered a job as a clinician in the park’s private clinic. On the face of it, Eden-Olympia appears to be the perfect place to work because of the setting and neighborhood which Jane seems to love and demonstrates this when she says: ”I love it here already…because there isn’t any culture. All this alienation…I could easily get used to it” (Ballard 9)
However, after settling in Eden-Olympia, they soon come to realize that the place is not what it looks like, but a place with frightening history. For one, Dr. David Greenwood, who Jane succeeds, kills his colleagues before pulling a trigger to his head. This fact frightens Paul and Jane.

After hearing the stories about Greenwood and the kind of person he was, they become curious on why such a respected, loved and silent person could decide to kill his own colleagues before killing himself. Paul decides to dig into the problem to find out why Greenwood took this road and what might have been the cause of all these unfortunate occurrences. This investigation leads us into knowing the kind of place Eden-Olympia is contrary to what it seem to be which is a decent place, a crime free place and a place where every person seems to have a piece of mind and compulsively work-oriented.
The novel is like a psychosomatic murder where Paul Sinclair confronts people asking questions to find out what might have led to the unfortunate incident at the park’s private clinic (Zhang, Et.al 901). During the investigation, he discovers that there is a psychiatrist that every person goes to. In addition, despite Eden-Olympia being described as ”Civility and polity were designed into Eden-Olympia, in the same way that mathematics, aesthetics, and an entire geopolitical worldview were designed into the Parthenon and the Boeing” (Ballard 47), Paul Sinclair discovers that just underneath the well-mannered and calm expression of his new neighborhood rests a world of deviant sex, crime and drugs that appear to be thriving and rapidly growing. The appalling thing, however, is the fact that every resident of Eden-Olympia are not only aware of this practice but also welcome and encourage these practices because it relieves them from the stresses of their jobs and takes away the etiquette and social restraints that define their daily lives. In addition, he discovers that the psychiatrist, Wilder Penrose, is the one behind all these drug uses, sex, and violence that is witnessed in Eden-Olympia. In fact, he is consciously encouraging people to perform these practices involving, sex, drugs, and violence as a therapy and intervention for the stresses the residents of Eden-Olympia goes through. As a matter of fact, Penrose says “Psychopathy is its own most potent cure and has always been…no drug is that powerful.”
Chapter One
Chapter one is called “Visitors to the Dream Palace.” In this chapter, Ballard introduces the main characters, Paul and Jane Sinclair. Also, we are provided with a picture of what Eden-Olympia looks like; a place where residents live in big houses with swimming pools and peaceful lakefronts with no worries of violence and crime or even problems of health as they are screened every morning by the clinicians and have their own private psychiatrist. In essence, this chapter introduces us to the new home of Paul and Jane and invites us to appreciate the theme of peace and luxury. This theme is presented by setting of the gated community which represents security and the spacious and luxurious homes that represent a life of luxury, peace, and crime-free. Reading the first chapter, we get to see a community privileged with no signs of aggression and madness. The theme of peace and happiness is clearly brought out in this chapter as Ballard tries to describe the new home of Paul and Jane. Being a gated community, the reader expects a peaceful and privileged community where any form of crime is not entertained at all.
Chapter Two
This chapter is referred to as “Dr. Wilder Penrose.” This is one of the most important chapters in this novel as it introduces the other major character in this novel. In this chapter, Penrose is introduced as the psychiatrist in Eden-Olympia. In fact, after Paul hears about Penrose, his inquest journey leads him straight to Penrose where he unveils a lot of mysteries associated with the incident involving Greenwood. We later come to understand the role of Penrose in the madness that is seen in Eden-Olympia.
Chapter Seven
This chapter is referred to as “Incident in the Car Park.” In this chapter, Ballard leads us into the other picture of Eden-Olympia. This chapter talks about the incident of the shooting that occurred before Paul and Jane came to Eden-Olympia. It is about Greenwood, who is a calm and respected doctor and was working at the park’s private clinic, who went on a shooting spree killing 10people including himself. The whole novel is centered on the cause of this unfortunate event which makes this chapter very important for the whole novel. The themes brought out in this chapter are crime and madness. Slowly, we get to see a picture contrary to the one brought out in the first six chapters. As a result of the shooting, Paul decides to investigate the cause of the incident, and this is when he unveils and discovers the real Eden-Olympia.
Chapter Twenty Nine
Finally, in this chapter, we get to know the real mastermind and architect of the madness witnessed in Eden-Olympia. This chapter is referred to as “Therapy Program.” In this chapter, we get to know the kind of psychiatric services the Wilder Penrose gives to the people of Eden-Olympia. In Paul’s investigation, he unveils the reason behind all the madness. We get to know what Penrose thinks of the cure to stress, and this is what he says about curing the stress that the people in Eden-Olympia suffer from: “Psychopathy is its own most potent cure and has always been…no drug is that powerful” (Ballard 281). The main issue here is the heterosexuality as pathology (Tew 113). In essence, Penrose’s main argument is that stress is successfully cured by sex, drugs, and violence and advice his patients to engage in sexual activities and experiment on drugs to cure the stress they have. Violence is also one of his therapies. As a result, Paul gets to understand the chain of causation with regard to the incident that happened in the park’s private clinic involving Greenwood.
The main themes and arguments of the Story
First, the main theme in this novel is based on the saying “All that glitters is not gold.” In essence, the author tries to show us the life beneath the luxury homes, gated communities and the “supposed” peaceful neighborhoods. He shows us the life of stress, drugs, sex and frustration that these privileged people live which is contrary to what people see and think (Stephenson 283). This is uncovered by Paul’s inquest into the cause of Greenwood’s madness where he finds out the real Eden-Olympia and finds out that it is not what it looks like.
Secondly, Jealousy is another theme that is presented in the novel. Paul is jealous of Greenwood because of their previous relationship with Jane. As a result, he begins to investigate the cause of his madness which forms the basis of this novel.
Major Characters
Paul Sinclair
Paul Sinclair is the protagonist in this novel. He is the character that uncovers the crime, sex, and madness that leads to the incident at park’s private clinic. To begin this inquest, he is driven by curiosity and jealousy since Greenwood had a relationship with Jane at the time Jane still lived in Eden-Olympia. He is also curious after listening to stories about Greenwood; how he was respected and calm yet, he went to work with a rifle and killed his colleagues before turning the rifle on himself. This curiosity leads to him discovering the problems that the people of Eden-Olympia have and sex, drugs, and violence that characterize this privileged neighborhood.
Wilder Penrose
This is the private psychiatrists of Eden-Olympia neighborhood. As discovered by Paul, Penrose is the architect of the madness and the cause of the incident at park’s private clinic. This is because he encourages his patients (basically everyone in the neighborhood) to engage in sex, use drugs and resort to violence as a way of curing their stress symptoms. As a result of this, the neighborhood becomes the opposite of what people think of it.
Jane Sinclair
Jane is the wife of Paul, the protagonist. She is the main reason Paul and her moves to Eden-Olympia after she gets a job at the park’s private clinic which recently saw an unfortunate incident. She takes the position formerly held by Greenwood who killed his colleagues and himself. Due to their previous relationship with Greenwood, Paul’s jealousy leads him to having an interest in Greenwood thereby initiating the investigation.
David Greenwood
Greenwood is the center of attention in this novel. The investigation and inquest made by Paul is as a result of Greenwood’s actions. Known to the people of Eden-Olympia as a calm and respected doctor, his actions comes as a surprise to most people in the area, and this forms the basis for Paul’s investigation as he tries to uncover what exactly might have occurred prior to the shooting. As Paul discovers from the relevant sources and Wilder’s analogy, Greenwood’s actions were as a result of stress and insomnia and the use of drugs as directed by Penrose. As such, Greenwood is one of the major characters in this novel.
Halder
Halder is the security officer who helps Paul in the investigation process. As an officer who works at Eden-Olympia, Paul considers him as a reliable source and the key to the information regarding the occurrences prior to their arrival. In this regard, Halder helps Paul in interviewing the people around and informs Paul of the existence of Wilder Penrose.
Pascal Zander
Zander is the head of security in Eden-Olympia. He provides Paul with a different version of the story by insisting on the security and wellness of Eden-Olympia. In as much as the events of the shooting portray a different picture of Eden-Olympia, Zander maintains that the image and security of Eden-Olympia is perfect and that there is no crime and problem at Eden-Olympia. In this regard, Zander’s loyalty to Eden-Olympia is manifested in the way he assures Paul Sinclair of the state of affairs in Eden-Olympia.
References
Ballard, James G. Super-Cannes. Feltrinelli Editore, 2002. Print
Fitchett, James. “Marketing Sadism: Super-Cannes and Consumer Culture.” Marketing Theory 2.3 (2002): 309-322. Print
Stephenson, William. “” A Terrorism of the Rich”: Symbolic Violence in Bret Easton Ellis’s Glamorama and JG Ballard’s Super-Cannes.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction 48.3 (2007): 278-294. Print
Tew, Philip. “Situating the Violence of JG Ballard’s Postmillennial Fiction: The Possibilities of Sacrifice, the Certainties of Trauma.” Baxter, JG Ballard(2008): 107-119. Print
Zhang, Zhongyuan, André Spicer, and Philip Hancock. “Hyper-Organizational Space in the Work of JG Ballard.” Organization 15.6 (2008): 889-910. Print