Gibson

[Paul Mackin]

On Thu, 2003-03-06 at 10:35, Richard Romeo wrote:
> --- Paul Mackin <paul.mackin at verizon.net> wrote:
> >> 
>  Read it anyway. Glad I stuck it out,
> > although if Pynchon
> > wrote like Gibson, Gravity's Rainbow would have been
> > as long as A la
> > Recherche . . .endless dwelling on brand names
> > (Google is only the tip
> > of the iceberg), which might be excused as part and
> > parcel of one theme
> > of the novel but tiresome nevertheless ... plus, why
> > does it need to
> > take pages to describe the heroine's most mundane of
> > activities. Still
> > not a bad read in my opinion. There is what seems to
> > me a worthy
> > addition to the proverbs for paranoids list on
> > pp.293-4.
> > 
> > P.
> > 
> -------------
> finished PR last night. I agree with your sentiments,
> Paul. There's bits and pieces of Pynchon scattered
> thru-out the book, but what's missing IMHO is that
> street sense awareness, that feeling of dread, wonder,
> e.g. of the common man.  It's all brand names and
> hipsters with seemingly endless supplies of hard cash.
> The 9-11 angle can be debated--why WG felt he had to
> include beyond a plot device that's revealed near the
> end of the book--is this suppose to give the book its
> moral weight or granduer?
> So, I do feel a bit cheated by the last 1/4 of the
> novel tho overall it is a pleasurable read. I just
> wish it hadn't become a Robert Ludlum novel.


Yeah, it had that pop fiction feel to it that we have to put up with
sometimes in "good reads." 

The temptation to use 9-ll as a plot device will probably be
irresistible for some time to come. It's so built into everyone's
consciousness. Big shortcut for a writer. Does Gibson use it
exploitatively, is the question that occurs to one. Part of what Rich is
getting at, I think. 9-11 is not just another fashion trend after all. 
Not saying G, in commenting on its poetic dimension, has necessarily
used it illy. Dunno the answer. Just the question.

P-listers might at least like to read the first chapter (see
mutualcode's post) if for no other reason than on p. 4 is introduced an
internet discussion list (20 regulars and a host of lurkers) that can't
help reminding one of our own list. 

Is there some secret underlying the p-list that we yet have no inkling
of? 

P.