What strikes me as interesting about Sterling’s’ introduction to the Mirrorshades anthology is that he repeatedly mentions himself in the third person, in such a sly manner that it took me a moment to realise that was what he had done. So, as a consequence, it makes me wonder if his description of the Cyberpunk movement isn’t entirely objective. He hardly ever mentions any criticism of the movement, which, thinking about it in retrospect, is nearly always done in an introduction of this type. Instead, he goes on and on about the merits of the movement and its affect on society, and how the society of the 80’s affected it. It almost comes to a point where his praises of the writers and the movement almost become stale and empty and most importantly, incredibly pretentious the more he carries on. There are however, places in the piece were very convincing and enlightening. The point at the end where he describes the growth of the Cyberpunk movement was especially refreshing, as he actually mentions the authors of the movement without paying himself a self-important compliment in the process.
In the "Cyberpunk in the Nineties” article, Sterling seems to have changed his attitude entirely. And I can’t help but think of the analogy of Yoda passing on the Jedi knowledge to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back-the battle scarred teacher passing along his expertise and experiences to his student. At this point, he has toned down the ego stroking of himself and instead creates a fascinating analogy between the work of the Cyberpunk movement and that of the earliest SF writers, Mary Shelley and Jules Verne. At the least, the two commentaries are 5 years apart (I am estimating here as no date was given for “Cyberpunk in the Nineties," but he mentions Shiner’s 1991 article, and Mirrorshades was first published in 1986), and the growth and change of the movement is evident in Sterling’s tone. It is almost as if this article is a requiem for cyberpunk, the way he relinquishes the “Bohemia" to the next generation of writers, and the morbid tone when he dwells upon “Things We Were Not Meant To Know," from previous generations that have seeped into his generation.
The main thing that struck me about "The Gernsback Continum" was how much it criticised the Art Deco views of the future, the kind that was pictured, like the narrator says, the Gernsback covers on SF pulp magazines. By picking on this one aspect of classic SF, Gibson heralds the way for the new attitude brought into SF by cyberpunk. The way most of the characters speak of the ‘lost 80’s’ with a nostalgia for the Art Deco future is a portal for the cyberpunk view of the future as something that is not idealized, but more realistic; gritty and not sterlized of social and economic problems we face today. Perhaps the most striking moment for me in the story was not the narrator’s vision on the side of the road, but Khin’s remedy for ridding oneself of the visions, which is to drown in media images (like porn, and the film Nazi Love Motel) that dispel the myth of the “utopian" future. This is a precursor to the cyberpunk idea of interacting with technology in real life, not constructing it as a saviour of the future.
To me, "Snake Eyes" is a creation story. All cultures have a creation myth, so it doesn’t surprise me that there is a cyberpunk one. The story preys on the fear of the manipulation of the human body fed on ideas like gene splicing to grow the ‘perfect human.’ And the wetware intstalled in Lizzie and George is similiar to these alterations, except that they are becoming perfect ‘peripherals’ for an artificial intellegence. And the disposable attitude toward the ‘candidates’ enforces the almost anti-Prometheus (smack me, I’m getting pretentious!) view they take as they wait for the ‘snake’ to kill off George. Also, the end of the story draws direct parallels to the Adam and Eve story as Lizzie describes her and George’s sexual encounter in terms of the Biblical creation, as their symbolic gain of ‘knowledge.’ Just as in the Bible, Eve partakes of the apple, invokes the wrath of G-d and she and Adam gain the knowledge of sexuality and the evils of the world. In "Snake Eyes", Lizzie and George’s encounter gives them the knowledge that the ‘snake’ isn’t some construted intruder into their minds, but an actual part of their psyche.
After reading the excerpt from Neuromancer, I found myself rethinking some of the ideas I’d had while reading the introduction to Mirrorshades, for indeed, Sterling’s description of cyberpunk rang true, from the setting in a Japanese-like area, to the visions of mentally surfing cyberspace, to the drug use, to the description of Laura Lee’s mirrorshades. The pace of the story was frighteningly quick, and I had to go back and read the excerpt again, just to make sure that I had caught everything the first reading. It seems quite obvious that this is one of the benchmarks for the Cyberpunk Movement in that it defines so many of the tenets that have influenced even current writings, for example that of Neal Stephenson.
The main point that Shiner seems to want to convey in “Confessions of an Ex-Cyberpunk," and Cadigan in “Ten Years After" is something that Sterling proclaims, that cyberpunk is dead, get over it, and let’s sit here and wait and see what the next group of writers can come up with. I get this picture in my head of an email message from Sterling to Shiner and Cadigan saying, “Hey, we’re all movers and shakers of this so-called movement, but its getting tedious. Let’s all write editorial pieces about how cyberpunk is dead, and then maybe someone might belive it." Or something like that. And they all go, yeah, Brucie, great plan, maybe now we can all move on and write something *besides* cyberpunk. But secretly they’re all mentally crossing their fingers, because somewhere on their harddrives festers a cyberpunk story that burns to be written. So, they all have to havedifferent reasons for resigning from the cyberpunk throne. For Sterling, it was the idea that cyberpunk has essentially died because it is no longer cutting edge. For Shiner, it is because the tenets of the movement have become watered down and hackeyed and blockbuster (which is something that Sterling cites as well, with a nod to this article). For Cadigan, it is just that pop culture is changing, and therefore, with that cultural shift, the ideas behind the writing change. They all, however, make references to the fact that cyberpunk is almost not SF anymore, but science fact, or somewhat close to that. And they all end with the same sentiments, so similar, in fact, that I would bet money that my email scenario can’t be far from the truth. “Ok, to wrap it up, we have to sound gracious and excited about what the next movement of writers will create," one of them suggests, and they all agree. “I’ll tell them to dance on tables," says Sterling. “And I’ll tell them to write with emotion and compassion, in a world where a computer as a tool for human interaction, not some sort of god," says Shiner. “And I’ll throw in a buzz word or two, like hypermedia, and the importance of making cyberpunk interactive," says Cadigan. And, so they all manage to get these editorials published, and try really hard to break away from the dreaded cyberpunk label. But I, like Sterling, think (scary thought..!) that these writers will never live down the name of cyberpunk. They could go on to write anything, and somehow, someway, someone would find a way to label it cyberpunk. And I agree that cyberpunk needs to change, to become less sexist, and less sterotypical, and at the same turn more innovative.
My first reaction while reading this story was to wonder when it was written. It seems to fall in so well with the cyberpunk mode of writing, that it is hard to realise that it predates it. In this story, there are elements of the cyberpunk idea of certain intimacy with technology, but in a way, this was something that came about during the New Wave, and is not exclusive to cyberpunk. But what is missing that sets it apart from later writings in cyberpunk is that not everyone in Tiptree’s universe of the future has the ablility to interact with technology on an intimate level the way P. Burke does, whereas, it seems in the futures constructed by Gibson, et al, it is a rarity to see someone who isn’t interacting on that level. Another major difference is that the technology is essentially controlling P. Burke in the long run. As is illustrated by her death at the end, there is no way that she can remove herself from it, unlike most of the characters in Neuromancer, “Freezone", and “Rock On". The intimate interaction may be there, but in essence, it is controlling her, since her attempt to break away from it ultimately kills her. On the other hand, elements of cyberpunk can be seen, such as the controlling influences of large corporations, a dystopian view of the future, which is made to sound appealing, but in reality still contains many of the evils that we face today, that can’t be eradicated by “bigger, better, faster, more" technology. Also, Tiptree’s narrator repeatedly mentions that the details behind the technology are not important, an idea that carries into cyberpunk, especially Gibson’s total confidence in the beliveability of the universe that he creates.
The most striking thing about this interview is the discussion of the pop culture references in Gibson’s work. I epecially liked the fact that Gibson came straight out and admitted to the influence of different types of pop culture, everything from cheezy SF flicks to Laurie Anderson songs. I also liked when he told about writing Neuromancer, and that he wrote it in such a non-stop prose style because he was afraid of losing the reader’s interest. All along I thought this was an intentional move for other reasons, mainly to be a parallel to the speed that information travels on the net, and there he was, terrified that if he wrote a novel, he would lose the reader’s interest at some point. Another thing that also stuck out for me was Gibson’s dislike for the details of extrapolation. For me, it is that aspect of his writing that makes it so striking; the fact that he dwells so little on the details of why the universe is the way it is, and spends more time showing us what life is like in that universe, so we can extrapolate the details for ourselves from the prose.
I could go on and on for hours about how cyberpunk is similar to the writing in this excerpt, especially the work of Gibson, but I won’t. The opening lines, that describe Spade in glorious detail would not be out of place in a cyberpunk narrative. Also, the quick pace of the prose and similar diction styles stand out. The extreme importance of each character’s appearance is another similarity. Its as if these physical details must be over-described to make them more believeable. Also, the use of lingo specific to the story that would be uncomprehensible in other contexts is found in both genres. Also, reading this excerpt reminded me that this would be a good time to read The Thin Man, which I have been putting off, since it fits in so well with the other works I am reading now. (:
My roommate can attest to the fact that I screamed when I finished this story. And it was a scream of complete surprise and shock. I hope I’m not showing my denseness when I say that I couldn’t see the end coming. It didn’t even occur to me. Looking back at all the foreshadowing, it should have been, but then again, that’s why a story has an ending: to make you more aware of the foreshadowing once you’re finished. I liked the very cyber-punky appearance of Stone’s eyes after his implants: black and inhuman and vacant. I liked the creation of a totally believeable universe without too much background information. I think it is not coincidental that citrine is a kind of stone, thus the connections with the names. The title is interesting too, in that it can be read two ways, “Stone Lives," with lives as a present tense verb, and “Stone Lives" as in the plural form of ‘life’. In the first case, it can convey the chain of command, so to speak from Citrine to Stone, the continuation of the life started by Citrine. In the second case, it can be seen as the lives of Citrine and Stone, in the way that they both independent and dependent of eachother..
I have to say this. What the hell was this story about? Okay, so maybe I’m not that confused, but I have trouble seeing the point of this story, and it isn’t really even one, not in the techincal sense of a ‘story.’ I think I would understand it a little more if I knew the signifigance of Turning, as I have seen that name in a few cyberpunk works now, and I’m not sure how it ties into the story overall. I can only assume that he(?) had something to do with the development of AI? I wonder why Sterling chose to set this vignette in a future controlled by the nation of Islam. Is the point to show how religion will be in the future? How we will cater to the spritual in a time that has otherwise been portrayed as essentially morally bankrupt? I wonder what exactly ur-space is. There are a lot of ideas in the story that are confusing. For some reason, the universe constructed by Sterling isn’t very convincing because of this. I can think of cyberpunk worlds presented with less background; but they were much more believeable than this one.
I have to say this. Why didn’t the movie follow the original story more? Okay, now that I have that out of my system, I can say that Gibson accomplishes nothing short of a miracle with this story. It is beliveable, and well planned, and leaves little to no confusion as to the direction of the story or any of the details. Of course, I could be biased because of my knowledge of cyberpunk writing, but I really think that Gibson’s universe is so realistic, its scary. It is plausible that in the future there will be such a massive chasm between rich and poor as constructed with the multinational cartels and the Lo Teks. The cool thing is that in the movie, the idea of Jones was so incredibly preposterous, but in the text, he isn’t abnormal, and doesn’t seem like an implausible character at all. Also, I think that there was more character development for Molly in this few-page story than there was in all of Neuromancer. I liked the consistency of character between the two, and was glad to finally get a concrete description of what she looked like, as well as a lot more insight into who she really is with scenes like the one in the alley, when she plots to kill the hitman, when she “hugged her knees and rocked back and forth on her bootheels...grinned and gave a squeal of delight."
I had a hard time remembering as I read this story that it is one that is a precursor to the Cyberpunk movement (what else is new..?). It has all the elements of a good cyberpunk yarn, a con man, an underworld with odd jargon, law enforcement after the hero... After all that I have read for this class, I can say that I see the influence of this story in both “Johnny Mnemonic" and “Rock On", at least. This was also an example of one of the first stories that I have run across that did not lose any of its flavor because of the amount of backstory explaination. Delany did an excellent job of integrating all the information we need to understand what is going on into the flow of the story. It didn’t stand out or bore.
Neat-o! At first I thought I was reading a long-lost chapter from “A Clockwork Orange" or something, but this was way coooooler (and easier to understand!). I liked what was the progression of today's gangs into the cyberpunk future. However, after saying that, I would like to add, that in my book this story barely qualifies as cyberpunk. There is that dystopian future (which is, by the way, the ultimate dystopian future because it is the near-apocalypse) and the nice kick ass chicks on rollerblades, but that’s about all. There is hardly any mention of computer technology at all. But I think that a reasonable parallel is the gang’s telepathic and empathic abilities. But that makes me question how integral is computer technology to the genre, when stories like this one are written with no mention of a computer, yet clearly qualify as cyberpunk. Something to ponder.
Sterling needs to take his technopolitics and shove them. I hate how he is so blatant in overly describing the political situation of the universes he writes about. Does he really think that is fictionally exciting? Sheesh! So, it is obvious that all the boring, dated, feeding-off-the-cold-war, politics in this story were all his idea. That must mean that Gibson thought up the rest, like the sex, and the drugs, and the pirating of the airwaves, and most importantly, the END! Manifest destiny in space! And they’re so blase about it! Tres Gibsonian! Sterling is usually overly melodramatic with his characters (as most of them were in this story until the END), but Gibson’s are sooo jaded. And realistic. And beliveable.
Of course, I also have to comment on the little blurb before this story in which Sterling acknowledges his tendency to speak of himself in the 3rd person. Duh Brucie...like we hadn’t noticed...
I was really into the whole tone of this essay for the first page. I understood where Tatsumi was going with his analogy of Sterlings’ metion of Gibson’s blood type holding siginifigance for Japanese fans. Or at least I thought I did. Then he got all wrapped up in himself with the hole "Japanesque" and "Gibsonian" readings. And I totally got lost. I think I came out of the reading with the right impression-that Tatsumi wants us to view cyberpunk as one interpretation of our future, and that it does not consider itself a metaphor, but the truth. And he thinks that we should not lose sight of the fact that cyberpunk is fiction, not truth. But I could be wrong. I think I pretty much lost what he was trying to convey by relating the saga of English/Japanese and Japanese/English translation of cyberpunk works, and the whole misperception/perception arguement. The closest I can come is that the future of Japan presented in cyberpunk, especially Gibson’s, have led the Japanese to view their current situation differently. Overall, I was confused by this essay. As if that wasn’t evident by my ramblings.
This is a link to my first paper entitled Burgundy Nails and Rose Tattoos: The Women of Cyberpunk.
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