All Yesterday's Parties
April 30, 2003 9:53 AM Subscribe
Archive footage of a lanky 19 year old draft-dodger guiding CBC documentary film makers around the LSD and cannabis addled hippie village of Yorkville back in 1967. His name? William Gibson. Via William Gibson Board.
Great link -- He looks terrific
Too bad Gibson's retiring his blog
posted by matteo at 10:42 AM on April 30, 2003
Too bad Gibson's retiring his blog
posted by matteo at 10:42 AM on April 30, 2003
Gibson rocks!
After reading his latest, Pattern Recognition, I decided it was time to reread the Neuromancer series and actually read the Bridge series. Just got started with All Tomorrow's Parties. I'll have to reread Pattern Recognition, but it seemed weaker than his others in many ways. I do wish he could figure out how to write endings...
posted by Windopaene at 11:03 AM on April 30, 2003
After reading his latest, Pattern Recognition, I decided it was time to reread the Neuromancer series and actually read the Bridge series. Just got started with All Tomorrow's Parties. I'll have to reread Pattern Recognition, but it seemed weaker than his others in many ways. I do wish he could figure out how to write endings...
posted by Windopaene at 11:03 AM on April 30, 2003
I'll have to reread Pattern Recognition, but it seemed weaker than his others in many ways. I do wish he could figure out how to write endings...
I followed Gibson around his signing tour for PatRec here in the UK. I had a chat with his publicist (who is, by the way, hot) and was fortunate enough to get an interview with him. What came to light about the structure of his novels is that they are character+character+situation. In that the story evolves itself, and he eventually lets it begin to swallow itself at the other end. I think. It's weird. The structure is a lot more about the characters than the plot.
Almost all of his books, though, tie themselves up quite completely at the end. Everyone ends up either happy or dead. Which, in it's own way, is kinda nice.
[self link] I'll have the write up, transcript and MP3s of his readings and the interview up on my web site soon.
posted by armoured-ant at 11:29 AM on April 30, 2003
I followed Gibson around his signing tour for PatRec here in the UK. I had a chat with his publicist (who is, by the way, hot) and was fortunate enough to get an interview with him. What came to light about the structure of his novels is that they are character+character+situation. In that the story evolves itself, and he eventually lets it begin to swallow itself at the other end. I think. It's weird. The structure is a lot more about the characters than the plot.
Almost all of his books, though, tie themselves up quite completely at the end. Everyone ends up either happy or dead. Which, in it's own way, is kinda nice.
[self link] I'll have the write up, transcript and MP3s of his readings and the interview up on my web site soon.
posted by armoured-ant at 11:29 AM on April 30, 2003
Gibson is a little more than in love with his post-modern experiments, armoured-ant, but since they usually work out well all's forgiven.
posted by billsaysthis at 12:10 PM on April 30, 2003
posted by billsaysthis at 12:10 PM on April 30, 2003
I'm a huge fan of the Sprawl novels, but my problem with Gibson is that he's like Woody Allen; cashing in on the same cliches he made famous for a couple of decades now.
Admittedly, I haven't read Pattern Recognition, nor am I about to because All Tomorrow's Parties was just more of the same tired Gibson we've been getting for years. Gibson is treated like P. K. Dick (who wrote a fair amount of crap); above criticism from the vast majority of reviewers.
That's bad.
posted by mark13 at 12:22 PM on April 30, 2003
Admittedly, I haven't read Pattern Recognition, nor am I about to because All Tomorrow's Parties was just more of the same tired Gibson we've been getting for years. Gibson is treated like P. K. Dick (who wrote a fair amount of crap); above criticism from the vast majority of reviewers.
That's bad.
posted by mark13 at 12:22 PM on April 30, 2003
Gibson is treated like P. K. Dick (who wrote a fair amount of crap); above criticism from the vast majority of reviewers.
Read Pattern Recognition. It's worth it, and it's not just more post-post-present stuff. Single narrator, present day mystery action novel. Relevant. Pleasant.
posted by armoured-ant at 12:56 PM on April 30, 2003
Read Pattern Recognition. It's worth it, and it's not just more post-post-present stuff. Single narrator, present day mystery action novel. Relevant. Pleasant.
posted by armoured-ant at 12:56 PM on April 30, 2003
Gibson has pointed out that his favorite WG books are Count Zero, Idoru
which is weird because they're also my favorites
but the one he still re-reads is the excellent Gibson-Sterling book The Difference Engine
posted by matteo at 2:03 PM on April 30, 2003
which is weird because they're also my favorites
but the one he still re-reads is the excellent Gibson-Sterling book The Difference Engine
posted by matteo at 2:03 PM on April 30, 2003
Did anyone actually listen to Gibson in that clip? OMG. I have never heard such vacuous, commonplace twaddle, such a stream of media cliches about the 'counterculture'. This is William Gibson?
He had to have been stoned.
In a way, it's kind of a positive thing. It says that even if you are a 19-year-old stoner, who can't articulate a single interesting or unique idea, you, too, can grow up to write Count Zero. yes, probably the best of the Sprawl novels
posted by Slithy_Tove at 6:28 PM on April 30, 2003
He had to have been stoned.
In a way, it's kind of a positive thing. It says that even if you are a 19-year-old stoner, who can't articulate a single interesting or unique idea, you, too, can grow up to write Count Zero. yes, probably the best of the Sprawl novels
posted by Slithy_Tove at 6:28 PM on April 30, 2003
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Now, where are all the early Mr. Dressup files?
posted by smcniven at 10:01 AM on April 30, 2003