Literature and Entertainment
I have often been a fan of science fiction at various times of my life. Most recently I have read:
I am currently reading Altered Carbon. I believe that I have seen enough science fiction now to make a general observation, which probably includes much fantasy: There are people who have great ideas and people who are great writers. Unfortunately, they're usually not the same person. Neuromancer might have single-handedly created the cyperpunk genre. But I can remember almost nothing about the book except how boring it was. William Gibson may be a visionary in sci-fi circles, but his books are just not very readable. I just finished reading Pattern Recognition and it was a very slow, plodding effort. He relies for descriptive atmosphere on the overuse of brand names and technical jargon. For example, our heroine doesn't suffer from jet lag, she suffers from "disrupted circadian rhythm". Gibson exhaustively details brand names of clothing as though that gives us any idea of what it looks like. And who the hell knows what "long-chain monomers" are supposed to smell like?! This strains the patience of even the Google enthusiast! On the other hand, the content of Max Barry's Jennifer Government is about as fluffy as it gets, completely disposable. But that book reads so well that you just can't put it down! It is almost as though a book simply cannot be both entertaining and literary at once. I would love just once to see an ideas man who could at least put a sentence together.
- Jennifer Government;
- Pattern Recognition; and
- Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.
I am currently reading Altered Carbon. I believe that I have seen enough science fiction now to make a general observation, which probably includes much fantasy: There are people who have great ideas and people who are great writers. Unfortunately, they're usually not the same person. Neuromancer might have single-handedly created the cyperpunk genre. But I can remember almost nothing about the book except how boring it was. William Gibson may be a visionary in sci-fi circles, but his books are just not very readable. I just finished reading Pattern Recognition and it was a very slow, plodding effort. He relies for descriptive atmosphere on the overuse of brand names and technical jargon. For example, our heroine doesn't suffer from jet lag, she suffers from "disrupted circadian rhythm". Gibson exhaustively details brand names of clothing as though that gives us any idea of what it looks like. And who the hell knows what "long-chain monomers" are supposed to smell like?! This strains the patience of even the Google enthusiast! On the other hand, the content of Max Barry's Jennifer Government is about as fluffy as it gets, completely disposable. But that book reads so well that you just can't put it down! It is almost as though a book simply cannot be both entertaining and literary at once. I would love just once to see an ideas man who could at least put a sentence together.
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