Pynchon/Gibson

[Greg Montalbano]

Besides Gibson's oft-expressed influence by TRP, there's also an interesting
similarity in the development of their first two novels.  Both came out with
a "dazzling" first novel that floored most critics, but suffered slightly
from trying to do too much in one book;  both followed with a second novel
that was "smaller, cleaner, more tightly focused", not to mention better-
written (CL49 and COUNT ZERO, considered by many to be both authors' best
work).
Unfortunately, that's where the similarities end-- Gibson doesn't seem to
have been able to sustain or build on his early success;  THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE
was a travesty, MONA LISA OVERDRIVE started out well, but degenerated into an
action-movie parody of his first two "Sprawl" novels, and VIRTUAL LIGHT, while
fun, showed Gibson repeating himself from his earlier works (lines like "I've
got a pair of shoes older than you" and "Crazier than a shithouse rat" lose
their power to amuse with too many repetitions).
It will be interesting to see if Gibson can take what was good from his early
work and use it to build towards a newer and more satisfying next novel.
(come to think of it, I could say the same about TRP and HIS next novel.)