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 William Gibson and cyberpunk.

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Subterfuge

Subterfuge


Posts : 136
Join date : 2012-09-22

William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
PostSubject: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyMon Nov 19, 2012 10:13 pm


Anyone else around here into William Gibson? I think everything this guy writes is gold, from Burning Chrome, Neuromancer all the way to more recent stuff like Pattern Recognition and Zero History; that man is the master of the techno-thriller.

Also, Neuromancer the movie is in the works, wonder how that will turn out as it was this book that mainly launched what is refered to as '' the cyberpunk movement '' back in the 80's. All in all, without Gibson, we'd have another word for the internet instead of '' cyberspace '' since he's the one who came up with it in 1982 as he was writing Neuromancer. That's how important that guy is, even if he's '' just '' a fiction writer.
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Angie Matera

Angie Matera


Posts : 564
Join date : 2011-01-23
Age : 34
Location : Puerto rico

William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
PostSubject: Re: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyMon Feb 04, 2013 9:29 am

Subterfuge wrote:

Anyone else around here into William Gibson? I think everything this guy writes is gold, from Burning Chrome, Neuromancer all the way to more recent stuff like Pattern Recognition and Zero History; that man is the master of the techno-thriller.

Also, Neuromancer the movie is in the works, wonder how that will turn out as it was this book that mainly launched what is refered to as '' the cyberpunk movement '' back in the 80's. All in all, without Gibson, we'd have another word for the internet instead of '' cyberspace '' since he's the one who came up with it in 1982 as he was writing Neuromancer. That's how important that guy is, even if he's '' just '' a fiction writer.

I havent read much by him but i really enjoy what i have read.I have read Neuromancer,Count zero and Johnny mnenonic.
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wildhoney66

wildhoney66


Posts : 1253
Join date : 2011-05-19
Age : 45

William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
PostSubject: Re: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyMon Feb 04, 2013 10:06 am

honestly i don't think i've ever read anything by him. i have i think only saw the films.
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Angie Matera

Angie Matera


Posts : 564
Join date : 2011-01-23
Age : 34
Location : Puerto rico

William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
PostSubject: Re: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyMon Feb 04, 2013 10:12 am

wildhoney66 wrote:
honestly i don't think i've ever read anything by him. i have i think only saw the films.

Ive seen the film of Johnny Mnemonic. Its bad but i found it fun to watch.
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wildhoney66

wildhoney66


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Join date : 2011-05-19
Age : 45

William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
PostSubject: Re: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyMon Feb 04, 2013 11:19 am

i actually haven't seen that film. some i've heard like it and some hate it. that's what i've observed anyways
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Subterfuge

Subterfuge


Posts : 136
Join date : 2012-09-22

William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
PostSubject: Re: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyMon Feb 04, 2013 8:51 pm


Whoa! Replies to my topic! I wasn't expecting that on this beautiful monday morning! Headrush! Laughing

Well, Simply put, Gibson is staple reading for anyone who likes, not only sci-fi, but cultural commentary and extrapolation in the guise of techno-thrillers. The man is a genius when it comes to extracting the cultural preocupation of western people and turning it into hi-tech litteral prose. He has completed three trilogies over the course of his career, one over the course of the 1980's ( Neuromancer, Count Zero and Mona Lisa Overdrive ), the 90's ( Virtual Light, Idoru and All Tomorrow's Parties ) and the 2000's ( Pattern Recognition, Spook Country and Zero History ).

There is this great little book too, called Burning Chrome which has all his short stories written prior to his first trilogy, which Angie Matera mentioned earlier and which contains the short story Johnny Mnemonic upon which the movie was based. I have to say though, as fun as this movie can be to watch, it really is different from the original short story.

Personally, I find myself at home within the worlds and the situations he writes about. The characters are all witty, self-defined, misfits having to make sense of situations gone out of control in a world where technology is key. What's interesting is that, in his first trilogy, commonly refered to as '' The Sprawl Trilogy '' ( The Sprawl being B.A.M.A : the Boston-Atlanta Metropolitan axis ) the action takes place in the not-so distant future, that is, about a hundred years from the 1980's. Then, in the second trilogy, the '' Bridge Trilogy '', he writes about the very near future ( 2005 ), seen from the 1990's. And finally, in his last trilogy, the Bigend Trilogy '' he writes about the present ( the 2000's ). So what's interesting is that as he keeps going with his writing, the stories he writes seem to progressively crawl closer to the times we are currently in while keeping in touch with that '' world spun out of control in the grasp of corporations and technology '' twist. I like that.

The movie Neuromancer is supposed to be in the works after all this time and I'm a little anxious about the outcome as it's based on Gibson's most famous book which was his first litterary achievement but is also closely tied to the 1980's it was written in. You know, the future seen from people wearing skinny jeans, fluffy hairstyles etc? I hope it turns out okay.
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polygonalchemist




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Join date : 2011-01-31
Location : Orlando, FL

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PostSubject: Re: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyThu Feb 14, 2013 9:24 am

I'm curious to see how the Neuromancer movie comes out. I always said that if they do a movie version of it at this point, they should go full-on 1980's retro-future with the art design. Base the costumes on an extension of the period's fashion, over-use the hairspray, neon everywhere, and make all the computer equipment look like it was built by Commodore. A little bit Blade Runner, but also what someone who read the book when it first came out would imagine it to look like. I donno, I just get tired of the sleek "Built by Apple" and hologram touchscreen look most modern "future" movies have.

I always wondered if when kids today read the opening line of the book "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." If they picture either a bright, blue sky, or just a completely black one (minus the "No Signal" text).

Also, not Gibson, but Cyberpunk related: I keep hearing that there's a movie version of Snow Crash in the works. I really hope they don't fuck that one up.
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Subterfuge

Subterfuge


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Join date : 2012-09-22

William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
PostSubject: Re: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyThu Feb 14, 2013 5:39 pm


That's an interesting point of view you have there on the Neuromancer movie. I don't agree with it, but if they would decide to go with that kind of style, I'd still go see it. Personally though, I think they should update the aestetics of the characters, the technology and the whole feel of the story before they put it on screen because that is what the book was meant to be, back then, in the 1980's. This was a book that was meant to take people a few decades forward in time to see how the world might look and function so, to me, it doesn't make sense to give it a look that's over 30 years old. I think they should, once again, use the opportunity to tell a great heist story set not too far ahead, but still, ahead in time; try to visualize what our world might be, where our technology will be at in just 20 years from now and go with that, using the same storyline. I think it'd work.

As for Snowcrash, never got around to it. Should I?
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polygonalchemist




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Location : Orlando, FL

William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
PostSubject: Re: William Gibson and cyberpunk.   William Gibson and cyberpunk. EmptyFri Feb 15, 2013 12:53 am

Yea, I'm just a big nut for the whole "Yesterday's Tomorrow" aesthetic. Certainly there's nothing in the main thrust of the story that'd keep it from working in a more contemporary conceived future.

Snow Crash is a lot of fun. Its style is a lot more over-the-top with a very satirical view of the future. Its "Metaverse" is a very spot-on prediction of something like Second Life, or various MMOs.
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William Gibson and cyberpunk. Empty
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