Spike Magazine

Recommendations

Info

Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com “No. The world she’ll live in is on the other side of a technological singularity. There’s no way I can even imagine it.” No seat-of-the-pants fourth book, then. ATP is still a satisfying conclusion, but it could have gone anywhere. Many people were expecting a work on the Walled City from Idoru, for example, yet Gibson bypassed it to get straight to ATP, and the end of the world centred around – yet again – San Francisco. “The bridge was still more resonant, for me. More fun writing about a physical construct, somehow. And ATP seems to me to be about cyberspace everting itself into the physical; about the boundaries starting to blur from the other direction … Some of the most important boundaries, to me, being about genre: is this SF, a thriller, none of the above? “The San Francisco thing probably has something to do with it being on the West Coast but having the core paradigm of a European city. It makes sense in European terms; Los Angeles, for example, doesn’t. SF is a city stressed by Postmodernity, rather than an expression of Postmodernity such as LA.” Yet Postmodernism is essential to Gibson’s work. Throughout this series, for example, the media has been portrayed as ever more sensationalist. How close does he think we are to shows such as Slitscan actually coming into being? “In North America we’re well into tabloid TV, but BUY William Gibson books online from and our national print tabs are already way beyond that. Difficult, if not impossible, to parody.” But parodied they are, and ATP’s conclusion concerning information flow is a dichotomy; on the one hand, increased informational awareness will change everything, and on the other it will change nothing (for the majority of ‘ordinary’ people). Is this purposeful? “The resolution of a dichotomy usually lies in apparent paradox. But you’ve got your thumb on the book’s heart, I think, and I can’t really explicate that for you. Otherwise we’d be talking about a didactic fiction, and I hope ATP isn’t that.” Okay, time to stir up the nest. ATP essentially carries the same message as Mona Lisa Overdrive – that pure information (and artificial intelligence) will point the way to society and mankind’s next evolutionary step. Discuss. “We seem to be – through genetics, now, mainly – on the brink of taking ‘control’ of our own evolution. That’s a matter of ‘pure information’, I suppose. Though I seem to recall characters in an earlier book who used the term ‘pure information’ rather than ‘lies’. “But really I don’t see that as message so much as mimetic. A depiction of what’s happening now.” Perhaps inevitable, then, that the meme replicates from book to book. So let’s get more specific. Harwood, corporate ruler of the world and primary antagonist of ATP, declares that he wants to somehow survive 240 More Spike email RSS Facebook Twitter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, ART, IDEAS | www.spikemagazine.com beyond the singularity of the book’s climax. Is he an analogy for man’s fear of the future? “Harwood is about human will, so, yes, I suppose he’s about fear. ‘You’re so spontaneous; don’t ever change.’ All suffering is rooted in the desire for permanence.” Gibson smiles. “I heard someone say that in an Indian movie.” So is there a moral behind Harwood’s downfall being brought about by three principal characters who don’t manipulate information the way he does? “Well, there’s a satisfaction to it, for me. Morals are for fables.” We’re running out of time, but I have to ask: just who the hell is ATP’s ‘Tao man’? He’s an entirely new character, with no name, no background beyond a few vague flashbacks, and is completely amoral. Where the BUY William Gibson books online from and hell did he come from? “I thought of him as literally being someone who wandered in from another book. He turned up one day. Wouldn’t go away. After the book was finished I wondered if he weren’t some sort of avatar connected to the late William Burroughs. An unconscious expression of Burroughsness. He’s a character Burroughs would’ve enjoyed, I’m pretty certain of that.” Sounds like something straight out of Mulder’s casebook. And speaking of which, Gibson’s future plans are good news for couch potatoes… “I’m working on a second X-Files episode with Tom Maddox; talking about doing some writing for Harsh Realm, the new Chris Carter series; and getting another book proposal ready. Plus there’s Neuromancer.” Welcome back, Your Highness. � 241 More Spike email RSS Facebook Twitter A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
Page 1 and 2:
hris Abani Peter Ackroyd Douglas Ad
Page 3 and 4:
Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, A
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42:
Page 43 and 44:
Page 45 and 46:
Page 47 and 48:
Page 49 and 50:
Page 51 and 52:
Page 53 and 54:
Page 55 and 56:
Page 57 and 58:
Page 59 and 60:
Page 61 and 62:
Page 63 and 64:
Page 65 and 66:
Page 67 and 68:
Page 69 and 70:
Page 71 and 72:
Page 73 and 74:
Page 75 and 76:
Page 77 and 78:
Page 79 and 80:
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190: Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, A
Page 239: Spike | 15 YEARS OF BOOKS, MUSIC, A
Page 291 and 292:
Page 293 and 294:
Page 295 and 296:
Page 297 and 298:
Page 299 and 300:
Page 301 and 302:
Page 303 and 304:
Page 305 and 306:
Page 307 and 308:
Page 309 and 310:
Page 311 and 312:
Page 313 and 314:
Page 315 and 316:
Page 317 and 318:
Page 319 and 320:
Page 321 and 322:
Page 323 and 324:
Page 325 and 326:
Page 327 and 328:
Page 329 and 330:
Page 331 and 332:
Page 333 and 334:
Page 335 and 336:
Page 337 and 338:
Page 339 and 340:
Page 341 and 342:
Page 343 and 344:
Page 345 and 346:
Page 347 and 348:
Page 349 and 350:
Page 351 and 352:
Page 353 and 354:
Page 355 and 356:
Page 357 and 358:
Page 359 and 360:
Page 361 and 362:
Page 363 and 364:
Page 365 and 366:
Page 367 and 368:
Page 369 and 370:
Page 371 and 372:
Page 373 and 374:
Page 375 and 376:
Page 377 and 378:
Page 379 and 380:
Page 381 and 382:
Page 383 and 384:
Page 385 and 386:
Page 387 and 388:
Page 389 and 390:
Page 391 and 392:
Page 393 and 394:
Page 395 and 396:
Page 397 and 398:
Page 399 and 400:
Page 401 and 402:
Page 403 and 404:
Page 405 and 406:
Page 407 and 408:
Page 409 and 410:
Page 411 and 412:
Page 413 and 414:
Page 415 and 416:
Page 417 and 418:
Page 419 and 420:
Page 421 and 422:
Page 423 and 424:
Page 425 and 426:
Page 427 and 428:
Page 429 and 430:
Page 431 and 432:
Page 433 and 434:
Page 435 and 436:
Page 437 and 438:
Page 439 and 440:
Page 441 and 442:
Page 443 and 444:
Page 445 and 446:
Page 447 and 448:
Page 449 and 450:
Page 451 and 452:
Page 453 and 454:
Page 455 and 456:
Page 457 and 458:
Page 459 and 460:
Page 461 and 462:
Page 463 and 464:
Page 465 and 466:
Page 467 and 468:
Page 469 and 470:
Page 471 and 472:
Page 473 and 474:
Page 475 and 476:
Page 477 and 478:
Page 479 and 480:
Page 481 and 482:
Page 483 and 484:
Page 485 and 486:
Page 487 and 488:
Page 489 and 490:
Page 491 and 492:
Page 493 and 494:
Page 495 and 496:
Page 497 and 498:
Page 499 and 500:
Page 501 and 502:
Page 503 and 504:
Page 505 and 506:
Page 507 and 508:
Page 509 and 510:
Page 511 and 512:
Page 513 and 514:
Page 515 and 516:
Page 517 and 518:
Page 519 and 520:
Page 521 and 522:
Page 523 and 524:
Page 525 and 526:
Page 527 and 528:
Page 529 and 530:
Page 531 and 532:
Page 533 and 534:
Page 535 and 536:
Page 537 and 538:
Page 539 and 540:
Page 541 and 542:
Page 543 and 544:
Page 545 and 546:
Page 547 and 548:
Page 549 and 550:
Page 551 and 552:
Page 553 and 554:
Page 555 and 556:
Page 557 and 558:
Page 559 and 560:
Page 561 and 562:
Page 563 and 564:
Page 565 and 566:
Page 567 and 568:
show all

Spike Magazine

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?