Comments on: All Yesterday's Parties

All Yesterday's Parties

armoured-ant — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 09:53:22 -0800

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.

By: smcniven

smcniven — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 10:01:50 -0800

I never knew that CBC had archives online. I'm sure to spend some time on this site. Thanks for the link. Now, where are all the early Mr. Dressup files?

By: matteo

matteo — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 10:42:53 -0800

Great link -- He looks terrific Too bad Gibson's retiring his blog

By: Windopaene

Windopaene — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 11:03:59 -0800

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...

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 11:06:27 -0800

Damn Hippies.

By: armoured-ant

armoured-ant — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 11:29:47 -0800

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.

By: billsaysthis

billsaysthis — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 12:10:31 -0800

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.

By: mark13

mark13 — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 12:22:29 -0800

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.

By: armoured-ant

armoured-ant — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 12:56:05 -0800

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.

By: matteo

matteo — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 14:03:51 -0800

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

By: Slithy_Tove

Slithy_Tove — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:28:58 -0800

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

By: delmoi

delmoi — Wed, 30 Apr 2003 18:47:31 -0800

Gibson's getting rid of his blog? :(

By: xmutex

xmutex — Thu, 01 May 2003 14:04:13 -0800

Everything he said in the video was a lie.

By: hyperizer

hyperizer — Thu, 01 May 2003 14:46:55 -0800

Perhaps, but use the permanent link.