From: jack@removegodeater.org
where to begin..
On 2004-01-19, Media Fiend wrote:
> Even a quick visit to his website will reveal the egotistical (cyber) punk
> in all his glory. He is such a wonderful (SF) writer he can't even check his
> facts. For instance, trying to make a point about why he doesn't respond to
> fan email, he uses as example of media obsession with celebrity a television
> story on the birthday of one "Harry Dean Anderson," whom he claims starred
> in the TV series MACGYVER. Well, you don't have to be a MACGYVER fan or even
> watch television regularly (as I'm sure, with all those brilliant
> word-strings he is obliged to come up with, he can not) that he really means
> RICHARD Dean Anderson, currently the star of the biggest SF hit on TV
> period, STARGATE SG-1 (no, I am not a fan or watch regularly). Now, maybe he
> was thinking of Harry Dean STANTON, laconic indy film icon and a late night
> snack for the titular character in the original ALIEN.
i'm not here to defend NS .. i'm not really a fan of his.. i'd say (with
the exception of "Zodiac", which i really did like, and "Snow Crash",
which had its moments) that i find his books to be bloated and not terribly
interesting.. his "prose style" is .. nonexistant .. but i don't think
he really cares.. he's more of an idea guy and many people seem
interested in his ideas. u and i not among them... so be it.
as to the website.. i first saw NS's website years ago after reading
Zodiac for the 1st time.. it was plain white bare bones html with
about a page of text which basically said "Hey guys.. i'm not putting
effort and time into this page, or my fan mail, because i'd rather spend
it on writing another book. Hope ur cool with that."
seemed sensible to me then and it still does now.. though the sites
clearly gotten an overhaul since my last visit.. i'd be suprised (given
his attitude in the past) if he had much to do with it personally..
where would he find the time between cranking out 30 pages of blah daily
)
The rest of his site
> is dull and verbose, just like his recent books. So why bother? Because this
> is postmodernism, folks (or is it modernism, I don't know, I read nothing
> written after 1950 or so).
is it really? i was under the impression it was pop sci-fi. u know..
sort of action adventure stuff with some wacky ideas and a heroine that
would look good in a halter top. right? did i miss something?
This man is the current darling of the hopelessly
> unoriginal "cyberpunk" genre,
sez who? i'll have u know i'm a charter member of the Cyb3rpunx
Literati and its news to me that he's our darling. do i have to buy the
dude a valentines day card now?
he's CP by default.. because of Snow Crash mostly.. and likely the
reason is that his publicist thought it would move books to slap that label
on him.
still.. not NS's fault.. and he's out there doing what he's basically
always done.. IMO not dissapointing anyone and doing his best. i have
to respect that .. even though i'd like to see someone go through his
novels with a flamethrower and burn off half the pages.. but hey, thats
just me. clearly lots of people dig those extra pages.
a contradiction in terms, as computers do
> everything to destroy literature save actually burning the books (and this
> will come when the machines take over in twenty years or so - see the
> nonfiction writings of Vernor Vinge). One need not be a "luddite" to
> appreciate that 99% of ALL great art was created long before the invention
> of the typewriter, let alone the glowing word processor.
for the record 99.9% of everything was created before the advent of the
typewriter.. right? as in 99.9% of human fucking culture occured before
the typewriter was invented.
in other news; the sky is blue and the earth may be round.
make some sense to me.
Neal, just stop.
> You are now stepping into Stephen "I retire, I unretire, I retire, I
> unretire" King's domain of long outstaying one's welcome. If you were really
> "cutting edge," or the slightest bit original, you would ignore paper and
> printing all together and just upload your groundbreaking fiction to a pay
> site and be done with it. Then all of your fans (a few hundred 12-17 year
> old scriptkiddies) could swipe their parents credit card and buy all the
> verbose meanderings you care to fart electronically into "cyberspace." The
> rest of us will be breathing fresh air and hiking in the woods. And plotting
> the downfall of the Megamachine ....
i love how u claim computers have destroyed literature.. then suggest
Neal publish in an eletronic format..
we call that "irony" where i come from.. and .. i think i'm done here.
..
alias
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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