Random Thoughts on Gibson and PKD I think Neuromancer by William Gibson is one of the most important books (of any genre) of the 20th century. I'm not sure how many times I've read it but I figure it's about a dozen. I'm a fan of authors like Dostoevsky, Hemingway, and Henry Miller, and I think Neuromancer belongs in that company. Not all of Gibson's books are masterpieces but when he's on he's as good as anybody. His literary skills set him above PKD. PKD was a brilliant idea man but I can't say his turn of phrase is especially noteworthy.
i really can't agree with you on both issues. i like gibson and cyberpunk, i read (past? sorry, grammar is not my strong side. i'm understand english automatically when i read, but i'm always focused on story and i don't absorb much of style or grammar :& ) also swanwick, sterling, cadigan - almost all of cyberpunk writers - but to compare gibson to dostoievski, or proclaim neuromancer as one of the most important books... also i think pkd is much better and more important - maybe the most important - writer in sf. i didn't put more of pkd's work in my list because i wanted to include different sf-subgenres
in fact, i could formulate my opinion in short terms like this - i'm talking about sf best novelist ever - dick best storyteller ever (especially short) - bradbury
Zeljko-h Would agree on that. Occam reads SF for the 'spectulative' part,, the ideas and concepts. Not the 'fiction' part, the skill of the telling. [though it helps of course] Occam PS SweetIsrael Hemingway a 'great writer' . LOL
i read bradbury only for storytelling skills. often his stories don't have theme and point. read ''boy and the witch'' - or ''witch and the boy'', i'm not sure. second on the sf storyteller's scale is harlan ellison. big asshole, but great storyteller. as for hemingway, i agree. he's amusing but not ''great''. but to steer thread back in sf waters, most overrated writer in sf is robert heinlein. writer with the stupidiest and most unlogical concepts - a. e. van vogt. that man was never troubled with reasoning
Looking at what Heinlein wrote and when he wrote it - I find it hard to call him overrated. However, he was the first SF writer I found so I am probably quite biased
Zeljko-h Yah,, dont have much time for heinlein, after reading 'number of the beast' he was laid aside...maybe to fester in his mysogenism. He fades off into occams history as the guy that wrote 'troopers' Which actually offers valid millitary speculation. Maybe Heinlein invented the 'powered combat suit'...maybe? Yah,, VanVogt was not easy to read, but he did have some peals in with the waffle. The 'corticothalamic' pause... Actually works. Have read some of bradbury 'golden apples' and a few others. And some harlan edison. But thousands of books later they dont spring forward fresh as new snow. Maybe should re-read. Please, have you read I.A. Banks and his culture series? 'consider phlebas' is occam thinks an excellent personal travail. Banks has an excellent grip on projecting human potential into the future. Especially the total picture. A geopolitician with a bent for personal tradjedy. Not everyones cup of java though. Occam
Paul Are not we all who started reading SF as kids. Heinlein, asimov, clarke. The mighty trio. Occam saw 'the day the earth stood' still only a few months after he watched men land on the moon. [aged 10] And watched the command module/LEM orbit the moon in a 10inch reflector.[oh well there goes the fake moon landing theory] And was changed fore-ever. Occam rates them Clarke , and his seminal 'the sentinal' on which was based 2001. And of course 'rama' an excellent story idea. Then Asimov.. this guy was a generalist..as is occam..great stories. Then heinlien.. 'time enough for love' was a cool book, but he just had this persistant bigoted undercurrent to women... Pisses occam off...oh well. Occam
Can anybody remember the story of the aliens in the wooden spaceship that wallowed in their poop? Peacefull, moral and inquisitive. They were killed by humans who thought they were animals. Our first meeting with another sentient species. And we killed and ate them. The premise was . "civilisation is measured by the distance one places between oneself and ones excreta." Really original idea. Occam
yes, i read 'phlebas'. i wasn't much thrilled. i miss that youthful wide-eyed reading. i read 'r. with rama', caves of steel' and 'naked sun' when i was 12 and that was enough to get addicted to sf for many years. then i read '1984' when 14 and was so depressed for 3-4 days, lol it was real shoker. today i read sf and everything is somehow...''oh. i see. ok, then.''
One of the reasons I think Gibson is the master of speculative fiction is the tremendous resemblance emerging of contemporary society to Gibson's vision from the early 80's. Take this passage, for example, from Neuromancer: "There is always a point at which the terrorist ceases to manipulate the media gestalt. A point at which the violence may well escalate, but beyond which the terrorist has become symptomatic of the media gestalt itself. Terrorism as we ordinarily understand it is inately media-related. The Panther Moderns differ from other terrorists precisely in their degree of self-consciousness, in their awareness of the extent to which media divorce the act of terrorism from the original sociopolitical intent..." I'm not trying to turn this into a "My Author is Better Than Your's" battle. What I'd like to see, though, are more in-depth explanations as to why you think this or that author or book is a masterpiece. I don't read a lot of SF so I'd like to know more. Peace, msi.
MSI And gibson is accurate in his statement. [in occams opinion] But it is not speculative.. he desribes terrorism at the time of writing the book. People today forget that there was more terrorism in the 70's and 80's [numbers of attacks] THAN NOW. [ example: starting in the early 80's, the LTTE has carried out 240 suicide bombings] The media and governments indeed did a good job of turning terrorism into the new world boogy man Not too hard to do when 50% of the population believe terrorism started on the 9/11/2001. Have no idea that there were terrorist attacks before then, and frankly, dont give a fuck. As to expanations of why a certain author/book is a masterpiece. Well,, get back to you on that one Occam
The only thing I rememver reading with a tiny wooden spaceship was the short novel Surface Tension by James Blish
Paul. Checked it out but no go.. so decided to make an effort...using the powers of google a new magic the incantation placed on the google altar was "spaceship full of shit SF story" The story was 'the dark lightyears" by Brian Aldiss Occam PS.A 'case of conscience' by blish was a damn fine speculation.
