1974

circa. 2003

- sally mckay 2-06-2004 8:35 am

Ah! that explains everything! I feel like I now know who shot JFK!

BTW I'm reading the New Gibson book and so far it _is_ his best effort since neuromancer (sp) just like the jacket says.

- joester (guest) 2-06-2004 7:19 pm


fine. Gibson...whatever. I'll pick up a copy next time I'm at the airport. but what about that Neal Stephenson book? The only person I know who's read it is JimB, and despite (or because of) my occasional prodding, he seems reluctant to say how he liked it. (ps. you spelled neuromancer right)
- sally mckay 2-06-2004 7:35 pm


How'd you end up at the ariport without a book to read? Looser.
- joester 2-06-2004 9:58 pm


"Quicksilver" by Neal Stephenson? I actively hated it.
Didn't get past the first chapter. (very rare for me to feel that much hostility to a writer within the first few pages) I hated all the twee archaic spellings of scientific terms printed in italics and each page stunk with that particular smugness some writers have when they manage to weave their intensive historical research into a piece of mediocre fiction.

For some brilliant but sadly, short novels on dead scientists, read John Banville's "Doctor Copernicus", "The Newton Letter", and "Kepler"

(... hmmmm....never felt the urge to comment until I had a hissy fit to launch, mustn't vent, mustn't rant...)

- LM 2-07-2004 2:12 am


too bad! that's disappointing. Did you read "Cryptonomicon"? If yes, did you like it?
- sally mckay 2-07-2004 9:10 am


yes, I did read Cryptonomicon and I can be kinder about about that novel. (First of all, I'll read anything about the WW2 code breakers and cold war spycraft. Love that crap!) He gives a good description of that period, and it is worth a swift read. But at the end of it all I'm irritated by his stupid little device of illustrating a history of cryptology by attributing all further plot to descendents of the initial characters (who are oh so coincidentally tossed together, years later, into the action)

It really could have been better with a little less conceit, (unfortunately the odour got stronger in "Quicksilver") but there are people who don't vomit when they read the word "Cypherpunk", so my opinion won't harm his future sales.


- LM (guest) 2-08-2004 9:25 pm


Hm. Just found someone else who read Quicksilver and she was lukewarm. I'm gonna track down some John Banville like you suggest. Just saw Copenhagen today - it's really great. Will post a proper review soon.
- sally mckay 2-09-2004 8:25 am


I only got to page 70, although I was enjoying it. It seems I've lost the ability to read fiction in direct proportion to the ability I've gained to enjoy reading stuff like Learning Python 2nd Edition.
- jim 2-09-2004 9:01 pm


My post (which I mentioned to Joe the other night) on Gibson, Pattern Recognition, and reading fiction vs other things is here. I'll probably skip the new Stephenson. It sounds too breezy (a la Douglas Hofstadter).

- tom moody 2-09-2004 9:15 pm


I know I'm dismissing Gibson too fast (and also Joe, sorry Joe). It's just my plot addiction. He did, after all give us this (quoted from Gibson's Sprawl glossary):

Matrix
Information dataspace, abstract representation of the relationship between data systems that facilitates the handling and exchange of massive quantities of data. 

Gibson blows Stephenson out of the water for riffing with the off-hand, scene-setting detail. Stephenson writes better stories and characters, Gibson creates better environments. Neither one can hold a candle to Lem for word play and layers of consciousness. And then of course there's Anthony Burgess for an immersive ficto-future. I liked reading Stephenson, Lem and Burgess better than I liked reading Gibson. But Gibson got the internet really really well. His characters may be wooden and his plots predictable, but he nailed the guilty, obsessive pleasure in scratching a technological itch, the compulsion to see how far it can go, the physiological thrill that comes with body/mind separation. As do the Matrix movies, for all their dreadful faults.
- sally mckay 2-10-2004 7:23 am


Got bogged down with Idoru, didn't bother with All Tomorrow's Parties. But now, more sorry to Joe, I find myself really curious to read Pattern Recognition. In a parallel universe, I would love to incarnate a version of myself that could glean meaning from Learning Python 2nd Edition.
- sally mckay 2-10-2004 7:29 am





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