The Girl Who Was Plugged In by James Tiptree Jr.

Now we're getting into true cyberpunk territory. This novella by James Tiptree Jr (pen-name for Alice B. Sheldon) laid the foundation to so much sci-fi that came after it. The Girl Who Was Plugged In was first published in 1974, but I read the 1989 Tor edition. It's a quick read that to me felt quite psychedelic but once you get into the swing of it you wish there was more. As a male reader I was left in introspection about my own relationship to female gender and any work of fiction that has me understanding my reality on a deeper level is always welcome.

.::[FIRST IMPRESSIONS]::.

In scrolling through The Essential Cyberpunk Reading List I initially didn't think I would be interested in reading about a 15 year old girl, but my social science student side was intrigued by the concept of feminist sci-fi. The fact that it won a Hugo Award was a plus too (earlier the better). I also recognised what must of felt like a necessity for Sheldon to write under a male pen-name to be taken seriously as a sci-fi author at that time.

.::[PART ONE - ANALYSIS]::.

Sheldon/Tiptree juxtaposes two conflicting realities which ultimately collide. The life of P. Burke and the life of Delphi the "Remote" P. Burke controls. In the future depicted due to the enforcement of the Huckster Act, almost all advertising is banned (bliss to my brain). Enterprising corporations have found a loophole however by employing celebrities for product placement (doesn't that sound familiar) and P. Burke through (un)fortunate circumstances is given the opportunity to become one of these celebrities through her surrogate Delphi.

Ultimately I think this book is based on how women are valued in society. We are given an ugly depiction of P. Burke who fulfils her role in society by conforming to idealised femininity controlled by male advertising executives in the form of her surrogate Delphi. Her real self is only a tool in the manifestation of corporate profits and her worth as an individual is determined by the sexual appeal of her idealised surrogate.

I also want to meditate on society banning advertising, in that I really want to see it happen. Or at the very least, much more stringently regulated. It's visual pollution, it's poison for our minds. As P. Burke's love interest says in the novella: "They've got the whole world programmed! Total control of communication. They've got everybody's minds wired in to think what they show them and want what they give them and they give them what they're programmed to want". We as a species have to break free from this cycle. I recommend to everyone to read No Logo by Naomi Klein.

.::[PART TWO - REVIEW]::.

This book should be essential reading for Instagram models and the Facebook famous. It's as relevant today (perhaps even more so) as it was back in the 70's. I actually read this twice in one week because I enjoyed it so much. It has me in the mood to watch Surrogates again, but I would love to see a direct film adaptation of this work. I also heard this story was a major inspiration for Gibson who I'm about to read which sounds awesome because I really liked Sheldon/Tiptree's style. Thoroughly reccomend, I'm giving it... 4 out of 5. 

Jay Walker's Theotokos: Icshor

When I look at this art installation this is what I see:

The grey horizontal lines subtly indicating toward a central point symbolise modernism. I think this because they are devoid of colour, cold, the centralising effect indicates a hierarchical structure. Left to right as science is.

The coloured vertical lines weaving and intersecting with the horizontal symbolise postmodernism. I think that because they introduce colour, the missing element from modernism, the variation of narratives indicated by a wider spectrum of colour and size. If modernism was horizontal, the reaction to it would be vertical as this adds a second dimension.

The pink diagonal lines crystallising in the middle to me represents metamodernism. I think this because it is in some way a synthesis of the vertical and horizontal; metamodernism being an oscillation between modern and postmodern ways of interpreting the world but creating something new in the process.

The cloaked figure in the middle which we are unsure if it is fading or emerging to me could represent either pre-modernism (fading) or post-postmodernism (forming). The way it is summoned centrally through the process of metamodernism could be an indication of how we as people shape our realities by navigating through these two modes of cultural reproduction.

Using tape as the medium is also interesting, to me indicating how we are stuck with the socio-cultural paradigm we operate in.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Phillip K. Dick

So many of my favourite films have their origins in works by Phillip K. Dick, so it is with some degree of shame that I admit this was the first book of his I have actually read. First published in 1968 (making it part of New Wave SF) I can see why it's considered a classic. The inspiration for the Blade Runner franchise, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep easily surpasses its derivative films even though they are great too. This is the second book from The Essential Cyberpunk Reading List and I can see why they say it was an important forerunner to the genre.

.::[FIRST IMPRESSIONS]::.

I bought it second-hand so I was a little disappointed when I got the 2017 Del Rey edition - but that's pretty superficial of me. I had re-watched the original Blade Runner a couple of weeks prior so I had the general gist of the story reasonably fresh in my mind. From the blurb on the back I was immediately intrigued by the World War that drove man-kind to the brink of extinction and off-planet as I love post-apocalyptic films. I was excited by the prospect of learning more about androids. 

.::[PART ONE - ANALYSIS]::.

The main plot of the book follows Rick Deckard a bounty hunter charged with retiring rouge androids. The method he uses to identify androids is the Voigt-Kampff Empathy Test. Empathy I would say is one of the main themes of the book, I like how PKD elevates it to the defining feature of what makes one truly human. The religion of the world, Mercerism, is some kind of fusion with a guy named Mercer in which empathy is experienced in some kind of collective experience through a device called an empathy box.

In doing some post reading research of this book to find some interesting things to share I came across the idea of the empathy box being derived from the role television played in creating a more empathetic society which is believed to have contributed to the counter-cultural revolution of the 1960's, the historical context of which this book was first published. The universal love that characterised the counter-culture of the 1960's I would say would be the highest manifestation empathy and it's interesting that PKD decides that what distinguishes humans from androids is that the latter are incapable of feeling or experiencing it.

That being said, TV is differentiated from the empathy box by means of its content. There is only one station and it broadcasts Buster Friendly and his Friendly Friends (SPOILER WARNING) which turns out to be run by androids who aim to discredit Mercerism by revealing him to be a fraud.

This dichotomy between what the empathy box and TV provides is interesting. If we take them together to be the explorations of the role TV in the real world fulfils then we see how it's dual edged. It both discredits and reinforces what makes us human and we should be cognisant of what the media we consume is really trying to achieve - is it bringing us together toward a more empathetic society through shared experiences or seeking to destroy that empathic link we all share.

The other piece of tech in the book that I loved was the Penfield mood organs. As someone who suffers from bipolar I on one hand really want a device that allows me to dial the desired mood. But on the other see how this artificial stimulation of emotion makes us more like androids.

Speaking of androids, I thought it was interesting how PKD gave them four-year life cycles. I wondered whether it was a comment on politicians lacking empathy as it's the same as their term limits.

Degenerate or Emigrate was another concept that I thought was cool. After World War Terminus people emigrated to Mars or stayed on earth because a segment of society were affected making them chickenheads or specials. I think the lesson behind this is it's important to grow and experience new things lest we degenerate. People who never take the time to grow as people should be treated as second-class citizens in my opinion. Stagnation brings damnation.

.::[PART TWO - REVIEW]::.

I loved this book and look forward to reading more PKD in the future. I enjoyed it more than I enjoyed the derivative films which in of itself speaks volumes because the films are fantastic too. I thought the last chapter or two were a bit superfluous and attempted to wrap it up too neatly. My favourite part of the book was when Deckard gets arrested and there's questions as to whether he himself is an android, something completely lacking from the film. Overall I'm giving it... 4 out of 5. 

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester

Beginning my journey into cyberpunk literature is Alfred Bester's 1956 novel The Stars My Destination. Considered to be proto-cyberpunk due to it's bleak future, cybernetic implants and corporate ruling class; the impact it had on later works of the genre will become more apparent to me as I make my way through the rest of my choices from The Essential Cyberpunk Reading List but suffice it to say I feel like a better science fiction fan for having read this book. I read the Vintage Books Edition (1996) with an introduction by Neil Gaiman.

.::[FIRST IMPRESSIONS]::.

An enigmatic cover, a shadowy hand pinching a ball of flames. Alfred Bester has won the Hugo Award for another of his books The Demolished Man (I wonder what influence that had on Demolition Man the dystopian film). The Stars My Destination is "Considered by many... to be the greatest single SF novel". I like the idea of a solitary renegade being pitted against the empire builders of the next millennium. "Education: None. Merits: None. Recommendations: None." - I can empathise. Revenge. Secrecy. The rich build labyrinths.

.::[PART ONE - ANALYSIS]::.

The book begins proper by getting us to imagine jaunting (teleportation by will). As this ability spread there were dramatic impacts on society, land riots, crashes, panics and strikes, plagues and pandemics, crime waves and a war between the Inner Planets of the solar system and the Outer Satellites. All this sounded like a great premise for a dystopian sci fi and the novel is supposed to be set across this seething background. Alas the novel never really explores these issues with the exception of the latter which it only superficially deals with. But I can forgive this lack of depth by remembering the historical context of the time the novel was written in.

From what I understand, sci fi of the 1950's would of been characterised by the pulp fiction heroic adventure tales. So it is through this lens I can appreciate how ground-breaking The Stars My Destination would of been with its dark themes and anti-hero.

A side thought about jaunting: could not the meta interpretation of this premise be that we as readers have jaunted into the fictional world before us. The Stars My Destination in its form is also quite jaunted. Almost every chapter is a self contained story that could have been the premise for an entire novel in of itself.

Enter Gully Foyle. Trapped on a space ship called the Nomad, lost in space Foyle (a simple brute of a man) is fighting for survival when another ship the Vorga passes by and doesn't rescue him. This sends Foyle into a rage and he becomes driven by one thing: seeking revenge on Vorga. He repairs Nomad enough to begin chase but instead finds himself captured by a lost tribe of scientists on an asteroid who call themselves The Scientific People.

I liked the conceptual premise of The Scientific People, a group of scientists who were marooned on an asteroid who practised a bizarre (d)evolution of the scientific method as a religion. They are antiquatedly referred to as savages, the last savages in the solar system, with Maori like tattoos on their faces. They brand Foyle with a tattoo on his face and want him to join their tribe by taking brides called gametes (scientifically mated). I would of love to have read an entire novel exploring this culture.

Foyle foils (intentional) their plans and escapes to continue his quest of revenge. I could continue to spoil the story but instead I will explore some of the other points that I found interesting and note worthy, this in of itself will continue to contain spoilers so read on with that in mind.

It would be improper to analyse this cultural artefact without mentioning the way the book depicts women. And again the historical context of the 1950's becomes apparent. Women do not hold the same level of stature as men in the world of The Stars My Destination; the women in the book are objects of Foyles lust. He even goes so far as to rape one of them but they all fall into filling a subservient role in pushing Foyle forward. Love is hollow and seemingly instantaneous with little depth to it.

The cybernetic body enhancements in The Stars My Destination were cool. I'm not sure if it was the first book to utilise them as a concept (anyone know?) but it none-the-less has me excited for the future novels of the genre I will be exploring.

I also liked the premise of the corporate clans being a dominant force in the solar system - I only wish the novel explored the politics of this reality in more depth. The old money rich show their wealth by travelling by means other than jaunting, they jaunte-proof their homes by installing labyrinths. To me this symbolises how the wealthy invest in the tangible and protect their station in life via esoteric means.

PyrE was a comment on atomic bomb. How with our thoughts we could destroy the world.

The way the book explored synesthesia I thought was really cool too and I was reminded of 2001: A Space Odyssey when I read that chapter.

.::[PART TWO - REVIEW]::.

Dated though it is, I'm glad I read it. I don't know enough about the historical context in which this book was written to give an accurate picture of how great or groundbreaking it was but I assume from it's reputation it must of everything they said it was. I on the other hand with the benefit and luxury of 62 years of time passing giving me masterpieces like Deus Ex and The Expanse can see how much more this book could of been. Overall I'm giving it... 2.5 out of 5.

Opening Remarks

I will be sharing my interpretations and analysis of the cultural artefacts that interest me as a way of being more purposeful with my free time - this may be of interest to you. A bit about me as it relates to this entry however is: I've always been a science fiction enthusiast, but up until now that has largely been based on film and computer games. Whilst I do intend to share my thoughts on films and games (as well as art, music, philosophy, etc) (and not just sci-fi either) I think it's prudent to go back to a beginning point.

Something that has been of enduring interest to me since I first saw The Matrix as a 12 year old is a sub-genre of science fiction called Cyberpunk. It appeals to me on a few levels. Firstly, the dystopian societies the protagonists inhabit speaks volumes to our present society as well as serving as prescient foreshadowing of potential futures if we're not careful. Often these societies are ruled by evil corporations just as ours is. Secondly, the issue of cybernetics (where the cyber prefix comes from); the relationship between human and machine is blurry these days, a prime example being: the internet is changing the way we think. But it goes deeper than that, so much of our lives depends on machines that we have become alienated from our humanity. Lastly, the punk aspect, the DIY subversion of the system. The act of rebellion in the face of tyranny is the calling of the change-makers.

So, back to a beginning point. In my search to become more of a true fan of the genre I stumbled upon this: The Essential Cyberpunk Reading List. Out of the 21 books it lists, 13 piqued my interest - so I ordered them. I plan on going through them in chronological order, therefore the first cultural artefact I will be analysing will be The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. All I know of this book comes from the reading list mentioned (I encourage you to check it out). My copy doesn't get here until later in the month but I am eagerly awaiting it.

Stay tuned...