From:	Blackadder blkadder@****.net
Subject:	OT: Cyberpunk Authors [Was Re: Interesting...]
Date:	Fri, 12 Feb 1999 09:27:26 -0500

-----Stuart M. said-----
|> Cyberpunk found it's roots in the intergration of the realm of
|>high tech and the modern pop underground] I agree with Bruce
Sterling;
|>the genre hasn't died out [as players of such games as Shadowrun can
|>attest], but undergone changes, adapted to changing times.

|Considering that Sterling has heaped much scorn on Shadowrun in terms
of
|its 'ideaological correctness', saying that we can attest to the
survival
|of Cyberpunk is ironic.

Times like this I wanna say 'Why can't we all just get along?
;-]'.
I used to have this running argument with a guril I worked with.
She was an English major [Yah, I know, one of thoses ;-], and didn't
like the deconstructionist methods of modern writing some of which
appears in cyberpunk type novels, prefering a more linear style,
syntax, etc. I won't bore anyone wih the details. My major proponent
of this type of literature was the vividness it conveyed, bombarding
the senses of the reader.
The problem with most writings by new authors is that they tend
not to draw upon the richness of works laid down in the past, but
creat primarily from a base of culture derived from these works. Sort
of working with a watered down version. Becasue of this, their works
tend to be lackluster and pale in originality [here's where that old
chestnut abouit there are no new ideas to be written about, yadda
yadda yadda comes up, but I'm not even going there.]. Their stories
based on nothing more than surface concepts, without understanding the
meaning and depth behind those concepts [like knowing how to compute
square roots using a calculator, but unable to grasp the basic math
that makes it possible... hmmm maybe bad example!]
Some writers do manage to pull this off, however, but not many. I
guess an example is say you're writing a cyberpounk novel, because you
were inspired from watching the movie...<reaqches into air, and pulls
out first on> Bladerunner [which is still one of the best well done
films, scifi or otherwise IMO. I have both the theatrical and
Director's Cut versions, cause both have elements I like]. Anyway,
that person bases they novel [having no experience with other
cyberpunk works] almost solely on Ridley Scott's work. If he's highly
imaginative and creative, he may be able to take the concepts
presented in the movie and expand upon them, taking them to the next
level, so to speak. More often than not, he produces something which
is bland and derivative, lacking in any substance.
The outcome might be different if he'd also taken a look at the
book which insspired the movie by Dick, Do Androids Dream Electirc
Sleep?, as well as familiarizing himself with the actual technologies
which might have inspired the writer to come up with his vision in the
first place, as well as the social/political enviroment at the time.
You don't need to be a genius or write a thesis to do it, just so's
you have a solid grounding from which to build from.
Now, what the hell was I talking about <scritch scritch scritch>
oh...that's it I guess. I just woke up, and none of my ramblings for
the first hour or so make any sense

Later.....

The BlackAdder !!!