And another

[John M. Krafft]

From:	MIAVX2::JMKRAFFT     "John M. Krafft" 21-FEB-1992 10:19:56.79
To:	
CC:	JMKRAFFT    
Subj:	Is Thomas Pynchon Gibson's Secret Love-Child?

X-News: miavx2 alt.cyberpunk:409
From: burns at latcs1.lat.oz.au (Jonathan Burns)
Subject:Is Thomas Pynchon Gibson's Secret Love-Child?
Date: 20 Feb 92 12:01:43 GMT
Message-ID:<1992Feb20.120143.23975 at latcs1.lat.oz.au>

In article <1992Feb18.220345.20640 at news.lrz-muenchen.de>
 TRINGHAM at usmv01.usm.uni-muenchen.de (Tringham, Neal) writes:

> Did anyone else who read _Vineland_ feel that it was uncannily like
> Gibson's Sprawl stories?

I read it, and wondered why we were still making such a fuss over
Gibson.

I also thought it was uncannily like Ken Kesey.

> Granted most of _Vineland_ is about the sixties,
> but the parts set in the eighties included 1) Ninjas, 
> 2) Big, menacing Japanese corporations, 3) Hits carried out on
> behalf of said corporations by means of martial arts and hi-tech (I was
> particularly impressed by the mid-air plane-jacking sequence...), 
> 4) computers, 5) terrifying subterraenean paragovernmental organisations 
> (admittedly this is hardly something new for Pynchon) and 6) the 
> `commodification' of the world (notably the way that every film title 
> given in the book is followed by its year of initial release in brackets). 
> 
> Does this mean that 
> 1) There _really was_ an eighties zeitgeist, and Gibson and Pynchon both
> caught it? (along with, perhaps, Ridley Scott, since I think Gibson
> claims never to have seen _Blade Runner_ before writing the first
> Sprawl stories, even though it predates them)

Well yeah, but I date it back to Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, and
Stanley Kubrik. Gonzo, man.

> 2) The `real eighties' (as seen by Gibson) are simply the inevitable result
> of what Pynchon saw coming in the sixties (now _there's_ a nasty thought
> for you)?
> 3) Pynchon reads Gibson?
> 4) None of the above?

5) It really _is_ like that. It's merely unfashionable to register the
gonzo all around us.
 
> Any comments? I was also intrigued, incidentally, by the way in which every 
> review of _Vineland_ I saw concentrated on the sixties parts, and not a
> thing was said about Pynchon on the eighties... (it's a conspiracy, I tell
> you!)

He was pretty gentle on the sixties, you must admit. Us old farts
appreciate that, and it fucks up our reviews.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jonathan Burns        |  They say you can go to the pits a thousand times
burns at latcs1.lat.oz.au|  and see nothing like the jaguar and the Black Knight.
Computer Science Dept |  I don't know 'bout that either. But I'm going back
La Trobe University   |  just in case I get lucky. 
                      |      Lucius Shepard, _Life During Wartime_
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~