Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A Mind of Secrets and a Heroin Addicted Dolphin



    Johnny Mnemonic was an enjoyable read considering my fancy for cyberpunk stories and films. I have been a fan of Ghost in the Shell for some time now as well as Akira and the cinematic masterpiece: Blade Runner. Ever since diving into this genre years back with Akira I have enjoyed any chance I can get to obtain related material.

    I read the short story written by William Gibson for this week and thought it was a nice take on cyberpunk. I was a fan of how quickly Gibson set the tone for the piece and introduced the protagonist. The world took on its own unique look as soon as Johnny entered the Drome Bar. Body alterations were regarded with a sense of normality and even seemed mundane albeit quirky as with the twins guarding the door. Johnny clearly did not regard them with much indifference, aside from them being trained killers and exceptionally dangerous, considering they are regarded as "sisters" yet one was once male AND they are lovers. Stories like this estrange the reader and places them in a world that could possibly be seen as crude, vulgar, primal or perhaps downright abhorring to a degree that fans either really love it or would rather forget the sub-genre even exists. I make this assumption because my friends are quite black-and-white about the subject. I mention this because the story seems to follow a common denominator I have found in most cyberpunk stories, and that is exploitation of technology. Society in these times seem to have a "since now we can, we will" mentality. What I mean is; things such as body alterations to some individuals may be fantasy but are achievable in cyberpunk worlds. The divide between man and machine becomes such a small gap that, because of human nature, society could descend into the grungy, obsessive and advantageous state of being that allows these stories to be dark or even depraved.

    The concept behind the character Ralfi Face in some way reveals the idea of "individual" in the setting of the book. Since technology allows one-self to change their face so easily, a person cannot be known by appearance but perhaps by what they do and how they do it. Face alteration is made to be such an easy day-to-day thing akin to buying shoes by regarding Ralfi's current face as "the Christian White" and through his explanation of the details to such a job, implies it as a cookie-cutter thing. For all I know there could be hundreds of people walking around with similar faces in this strange world who all probably regard each other with a certain content comparable to two people seeing each other with the same shirt. From this part of the story and on, I consider Johnny's world to be a place where someone cannot be just one person but a part of a collective whole; instantaneously connected to anyone and anything. Gibson wasn't kidding when the Sprawl was described as "grey".

    In the story, Johnny is a data/info trafficker in a time of advanced technology. This scenario goes to show that the most important thing in his time and age is information, where words can still be the most powerful tool of persuasion. Johnny Mnemonic's cargo, as a result, is precious. For the right price, one could use Mnemonic as a "data whore" to get secrets from one place to another. I make this comparison because in my mind, Johnny is just that. People are using his body for personal gain at a price, so why not?

    I am also a fan of the societal hierarchy and city-scape as explained by Gibson in his fictional world. I must say the concept of the Sprawl is really cool. Mega-cities and domes that encase vast amounts of space is quite intriguing and the idea of placing a whole society of its own high above the city is appealing to me. The dredges, slums and underworlds of cyberpunk have always held a certain interest for me because of the intriguing characters that can originate from there. I find it interesting that the Lo Teks are high above the city rather than typically underground. I find it furthermore interesting that they should be called Lo Teks even though they still, in some way, are connected with advanced technology because of their altered bodies.

    I watched the movie adaptation of this short story and thought it was decent. Just as with any movie based on a written piece of fiction I found it lacking, but only because of the capacity of the human mind and the individual's ever-varying take on something that is read versus what is presented to us visually by someone else. It's amusing how Keanu Reeves played the lead in this movie and The Matrix as well. I would like to read more from William Gibson and the Sprawl Trilogy.

Monday, March 1, 2010

By the Way, You're the Son of a God


    Neil Gaiman's The Anansi Boys was an enjoyable novel. I am a fan of stories that mix modern reality with fantasy elements . It reminded me of a book I read when I was a kid called Kingdom for Sale, SOLD! by Terry Brooks. Both of these novels take a modern day individual who have ordinary lives and throws them into a new reality they were totally unaware of. This seems like an alternative way of taking the reader into another world and it works fairly well I would say. I have always been a fan of tall-tales and The Anansi Boys is a great new adaptation of one.
    I really enjoy the manner in which the story is told. I think I can see some influence from Tolkein in this. He delivers the story as a storyteller would: as if he were sitting in front of you presenting his own creative narrative spun around a modern urban setting. He would sidetrack from the main narrative and explain any details that the reader may not know about just in the manner Tolkein would. This appeals to me. I like being told a story versus simply reading words on a page that create a story.
    The imagery presented for the Gods' caves at the beginning and end of the world was quite imaginative. This was a new and imaginative vision for me, so it was refreshing to picture their caves and appearances in my mind. I thought maybe their home would be much grander than it was. I would imagine something such as an endless expanse of land with areas designed specifically for each type of animal God. However I can see the justification for what was given for the sake of continuing the story.
    On a random note, I was not a fan of Rosie as a person, but I do not hold any contempt for the writer because it helps the story. If she were truly in love with Charlie, I would feel she could see past the guise of Spider and see him for the imposter he was. This helps develop the connection, or lack-there-of, between Charlie and Rosie. This gives Charlie more of an opportunity to put his old life behind him and assume his rightful position his father once held as well as get a girl who actually loves him. The fact she cannot see past Spider's falsity helps to create the tension needed to separate Rosie and place Spider in a sticky situation one would expect him to fall into.
    The whole fiasco between Grahame Coats and Maeve Livingstone is a great device used in the book to link many things together. This was almost a whole story on its own that was interwoven with the main narrative and kept my interest throughout the book. Maeve's murder seemed to be chalked up to fate due to the fact she played a pivotal part in the finale and Anansi knew of her arrival. Her wandering ghost was a unique element to the story that really sells the tall-tale nature of the story. Her character was great. The fact she was essentially unaware, or rather, in denial of her own death at first and claims she has unfinished business was really cool.
    On the topic of appealing characters, I would say the the character I visioned as the grandest was the bird woman. If this book were to be adapted to film, her character would have an awesome screen presence. Her involvement with the Anansi bloodline and her ultimate role in the end was very compelling. Not to mention tiger's involvement with Grahame Coats. This incarnation of the tiger was definitely foreseeable as soon as Grahame committed his first murder and he goes on to say it felt good and primal.
    I would definitely recommend this to friends who are fans of this genre.