Friday, September 23rd, 2005
Novel Two this week was William Gibson’s Neuromancer, first published in 1984. I was lent the Tenth Anniversary Special Edition by Jon Broadbent, a friend here on the Gold Coast. Finally I had more than 15 minutes a night to read it.
The novel tells the story of Case, an out-of-work cowboy (computer hacker) who is hired to take part in an online crime. The novel starts in Chiba City, a sprawling city in Japan. Case joins a team made up of Armitage, a reconstructed war veteran, Molly, an enhanced warrior who could have inspired Dark Angel, Peter Riviera, a drug-addicted imagination projector, and Dixie Flatline, the personality construct of a now-dead hacker. Along the way they team up with a couple of Rasta space pilots to travel to Straylight where they’ll hack into the system of Tessier-Ashpool, one of the richest corporations in the world.
It took a while to get into the lingo…
Coffin Hotel - building rentoung out cheap sleep space not much bigger than a coffin
Sarariman - Japanese for white-collar worker (Salary man)
Gaijin - Japanese for white foreigner
Hosaka - a computer and microchip manufacturer
Microsoft - a software accessory
Neuromancer won Gibson the Hugo, Nebula, Philip K. Dick, Seiun and Ditmar (Australian) awards. He went on to write “Count Zero” and “Mona Lisa Overdrive”. William Gibson wrote the script for Johnny Mnemonic, a cyber-punk movie released in 1995, starring no other than Keanu Reeves. The story first featured in Gibson’s collection of short fiction, Burning Chrome. Gibson also has written Virtual Light (1994), Idoru (1996), Tomorrow’s Parties (1999), and Pattern Recognition (2004).
Gibson is known as the father of ‘CyberPunk’. His books inspired novelists (such as Neil Stephenson), film directors (Wachowski Brothers Matrix Trilogy), and comics (The Invisibles). The Cyberpunk Project is a useful guide to works in this genre.
Gibson lives in Vancouver, has his own web site, www.williamgibsonbooks.com and writes regularly on his blog.
Tags: Fiction, science fiction
Posted in Reading | 3 Comments »
Thursday, July 7th, 2005
On Tuesday I went and saw War of the Worlds starring Dakota Fanning and Tom Cruise. Went with Lachlan (17), his friend Chris, and Chris’ dad, Jon.
I must confess the movie induced terror in me. Maybe it’s something to do with having a 10 year old daughter who could be a stand-in for Dakota Fanning. The pace of the movie didn’t take long to pick up. From the moment the first tripod breaks out of the ground it’s non-stop running from the aliens. None of the trailers I’d seen showed the actual aliens. All we saw was terrified faces. The mood was one of dread and despair.
Spielberg’s certainly delivered on terrorist aliens comparable with menace presented in Shyamalan’s “Signs”. There are parallels with Signs - like being cornered in a house and viewing aliens through windows.
Jon commented on the lack of plot. Fair enough critique. The original book by H.G. Wells didn’t have a lot of plot either. It was more the narration of a global extermination.
The visual effects by Lucas Film were impressive, even without a significant plot. Images that linger include the train in flames rushing through a railway crossing.
As Tom Cruise’s character walked through the crowds I wondered if the producer’s found only short people as extras. Tom did not appear to be short in comparison to anyone else except for the character played by Tim Robbins.
There’s an excellent site dedicated to everything “War of the Worlds“, including information on the book, Jeff Wayne’s music, and the movies.
Tags: Movies, science fiction
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Monday, May 23rd, 2005
“Never underestimate the power of the dark side”. So says Yoda to Luke in the second Star Wars trilogy. Words learnt from bitter experience.
I took time out to see Episode III this morning.
At this point I’m thinking about the connection between the force and love in Star Wars. There’s a lot in this episode about the fear of loss and its connection with evil. Loving freedom enough to fight as its advocate can become twisted if one becomes addicted to being the advocate. Compassion for a loved one can become an evil passion if one does not let go of entitlement. I’m reminded of CS Lewis’ story, “The Great Divorce”, in which a mother’s selfish love for her child consumes her in a way that prevents her from truly loving.
I thought the scenes between Anakin and Padme seemed stilted and over sentimentalised. And maybe they were meant to be that way. Padme wonders if they really have connected as real people truly seeing each other. Or are they still in love with their perception of each other. Dishonesty can enter loving relationships when one is afraid of being rejected. Likewise, self deceit can raise its head when one is afraid of being disappointed. Knowing and expressing the truth are pivotal in the resistance of fatal addiction.
Tags: Movies, science fiction, Star Wars
Posted in Movies | 1 Comment »
