Jump to content

All Tomorrow's Parties (novel): Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous edit
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
GreenC bot (talk | contribs)
Bots
2,517,471 edits
Rescued 1 archive link. Wayback Medic 2.5 per WP:URLREQ#ew.com
 
(40 intermediate revisions by 31 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Short description|1999 novel by William Gibson}}
{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
{{Infobox book | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Novels or Wikipedia:WikiProject_Books -->
| name = All Tomorrow's Parties
| name = All Tomorrow's Parties
| image = [[File:All Tomorrow's Gibson.jpg]]
| image = All Tomorrow's Gibson.jpg
| image_caption =Cover of the British edition.
| caption =Cover of the British edition.
| author = [[William Gibson]]
| author = [[William Gibson]]
| cover_artist =
| cover_artist =
Line 17: Line 18:
| preceded_by = [[Idoru]]
| preceded_by = [[Idoru]]
}}
}}
'''''All Tomorrow's Parties''''' is the final novel in [[William Gibson]]'s [[Bridge trilogy]].<ref name=chron/> Like its predecessors, ''All Tomorrow's Parties'' is a speculative fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, [[postcyberpunk]] future. The novel borrows its title from a [[All Tomorrow's Parties (song)|song]] by [[Velvet Underground]]. It is written in the third-person and deals with Gibsonian themes of [[Emerging technologies|emergent technology]].
'''''All Tomorrow's Parties''''' is a [[science fiction]] novel by American-Canadian writer [[William Gibson]], the third and final book in his ''[[Bridge trilogy]]''.<ref name=chron/> Like its predecessors, ''All Tomorrow's Parties'' is a speculative fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, [[postcyberpunk]] future. The novel borrows its title from a [[All Tomorrow's Parties (song)|song]] by [[Velvet Underground]]. It is written in the third person and deals with Gibsonian themes of [[Emerging technologies|emergent technology]]. The novel was initially published by [[Viking Press]] on October 7, 1999.


==Plot summary==
==Plot summary==
The book has three separate but overlapping stories, with the repeated appearance of shared characters. The San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, the overarching setting of the trilogy, functions as a shared location of their convergence and resolution.
The book has three separate but overlapping stories, with the repeated appearance of shared characters. The San Francisco/Oakland [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge|Bay Bridge]], the overarching setting of the trilogy, functions as a shared location of their convergence and resolution.


The first story features former [[Security guard|rent-a-cop]] Berry Rydell, the protagonist of ''[[Virtual Light]]''. Rydell quits a temporary job as a security guard at the Lucky Dragon convenience store to run errands for atrophied computer hacker Colin Laney (the protagonist of ''[[Idoru]]''), who lives in a cardboard box in a subway in [[Shinjuku]], [[Tokyo]]. As a child, Laney was the subject of pharmaceutical trials which damaged his [[nervous system]].<ref name=botting/> As a result, he suffers from a form of [[attention deficit disorder]] but gains the ability to discern [[nodal point]]s in the undifferentiated flow of information, and from that he acquires a certain predictive faculty.<ref name=nayar/> This makes him ideal for the role of "netrunner" or data analyst.<ref name=botting/> A side effect of 5-SB, the drug administered to Laney, causes the user to become attached to strong personalities. As a result, Laney has become obsessed with media baron Cody Harwood of Harwood/Levine, a powerful [[public relations]] firm.<ref name=sfsite/> He spends his life surfing the net from his enclave in the subway, searching for traces of Harwood in the media. From this, Laney foresees a crucial historical shift which may precede the end of the world "as we know it". He predicts that Harwood, who had also taken 5-SB before (albeit voluntarily, with the knowledge of the consequences), knows this and will try to shape this historical shift to his liking. To stop Harwood, Laney hires Rydell under the guise of a courier to travel to San Francisco where he believes the next nodal point will congeal.
The first story features former cop Berry Rydell, the protagonist of ''[[Virtual Light]]''. Rydell quits a temporary job as a security guard at the Lucky Dragon convenience store to run errands for atrophied computer hacker Colin Laney (the protagonist of ''[[Idoru]]''), who lives in a cardboard box in a subway in [[Shinjuku]], [[Tokyo]]. As a child, Laney was the subject of pharmaceutical trials which damaged his [[nervous system]].<ref name=botting/> As a result, he has a form of [[attention deficit disorder]] but gains the ability to discern nodal points in the undifferentiated flow of information, and from that he acquires a certain predictive faculty.<ref name=nayar/> This makes him ideal for the role of "netrunner" or data analyst.<ref name=botting/> A side effect of 5-SB, the drug administered to Laney, causes the user to become attached to strong personalities. As a result, Laney has become obsessed with media baron Cody Harwood of Harwood/Levine, a powerful [[public relations]] firm.<ref name=sfsite/> He spends his life surfing the net from his enclave in the subway, searching for traces of Harwood in the media. From this, Laney foresees a crucial historical shift which may precede the end of the world "as we know it". He predicts that Harwood, who had also taken 5-SB before (albeit voluntarily, with the knowledge of the consequences), knows this and will try to shape this historical shift to his liking. To stop Harwood, Laney hires Rydell under the guise of a courier to travel to San Francisco where he believes the next nodal point will congeal.


The second story concerns ex-bicycle messenger Chevette Washington, also from ''Virtual Light'', who is on the run from her ex-boyfriend. She escapes to her former home, San Francisco's bridge community, to find refuge and revisit her past. She is accompanied by Tessa, an Australian media sciences student who visits the bridge to film a documentary on "interstitial communities".
The second story concerns ex-bicycle messenger Chevette Washington, also from ''Virtual Light'', who is on the run from her ex-boyfriend. She escapes to her former home, San Francisco's bridge community, to find refuge and revisit her past. She is accompanied by Tessa, an Australian media sciences student who visits the bridge to film a documentary on "interstitial communities".


The third story follows a mysterious, left-handed mercenary named [[Konrad (assassin)|Konrad]]. Although Konrad is employed by Harwood, he appears to be directed by his own motives. In particular, Konrad aligns his movements with the [[Tao]], the spontaneous, universal energy path of [[Taoism|Taoist]] philosophy.
The third story follows a mysterious, left-handed mercenary named Konrad, who, although employed by Harwood, appears to be directed by his own motives. In particular, Konrad aligns his movements with the [[Tao]],{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} the spontaneous, universal energy path of [[Taoism|Taoist]] philosophy.


==Characters==
==Characters==
Characters with point-of-view chapters:
*'''Colin Laney''' – Data analyst with an ability to sense nodal points (previously appeared in ''Idoru'').
*'''Colin Laney''' – data analyst with an ability to sense nodal points (previously appeared in ''Idoru'').
*'''Chevette Washington''' – an ex-bike messenger who lived on the Bridge for several years and is on the run from an abusive boyfriend (''Virtual Light'').
*'''Chevette Washington''' – an ex-bike messenger who lived on the Bridge for several years and is on the run from an abusive boyfriend (''Virtual Light'').
*'''Berry Rydell''' – A rent-a-cop and former lover of Chevette who is working as a security guard at a convenience store Lucky Dragon in Los Angeles (''Virtual Light'').
*'''Berry Rydell''' – a rent-a-cop and former lover of Chevette who is working as a security guard at a convenience store Lucky Dragon in Los Angeles (''Virtual Light'', ''Idoru'').
*'''Shinya Yamazaki''' – Self-described "student of existential sociology" (''Virtual Light'', ''Idoru'').
*'''Shinya Yamazaki''' – self-described "student of existential sociology" (''Virtual Light'', ''Idoru'').
⚫
*'''Konrad''' – Taoist assassin hired by Harwood.
⚫
*'''The Suit''' – an impoverished ex-[[salaryman]] who lives in the Tokyo subway and repaints his suit daily instead of purchasing a fresh one.
⚫
*'''Silencio''' – a savant boy with an extreme fascination with watches and the talent to find them, no matter the circumstances.
⚫
*'''[[Konrad (assassin)|Konrad]]''' – Taoist assassin hired by Harwood.
⚫
*'''Fontaine''' – a Bridge resident and pawn-shop owner who takes Silencio into his care. (''Virtual Light'')
*'''Boomzilla''' – a street impresario with designs on Tessa's balloon camera.

Other characters:
*'''Tessa''' – Chevette's media student roommate, who drives Chevette to the Bridge in her van in order to make a documentary on its inhabitants.
*'''Tessa''' – Chevette's media student roommate, who drives Chevette to the Bridge in her van in order to make a documentary on its inhabitants.
*'''Boomzilla''' – A street impresario with designs on Tessa's balloon camera.
*'''Rei Toei''' – a holographic idol (the beautiful "emergent system" from ''Idoru'').
⚫
*'''Buell Creedmore''' – an alcoholic/drug addict country singer with a short temper and a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time. Although he tries to pass himself off as a native Southerner, he later reveals he was born and raised in [[New Jersey]].
⚫
*'''Silencio''' – A mute savant boy with a fascination with watches.
*'''Maryalice''' – PR for Buell (''Idoru'').
⚫
*'''Fontaine''' – A Bridge resident and pawn-shop owner who takes Silencio into his care. (''Virtual Light'')
*'''Carson''' – Chevette's abusive ex.
*'''[[Rei Toei]]''' – A holographic idol (the beautiful "emergent system" from ''Idoru'').
*'''Cody Harwood''' – head of a PR company, extremely powerful behind-the-scenes player (''Virtual Light'').
⚫
*'''Buell Creedmore''' - An alcoholic/drug addicted country singer with a short temper and a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time. Although he tries to pass himself off as a native Southerner, he later reveals he was born and raised in [[New Jersey]].
⚫
*'''The Suit''' – an impoverished ex-[[salaryman]] who lives in the Tokyo subway and repaints his suit daily instead of purchasing a fresh one.


==Major themes==
==Major themes==
Major recurring Gibsonian themes which feature heavily in ''All Tomorrow's Parties'' are the sociological impact of [[Emerging technologies|emergent technology]] (notably [[nanotechnology]] and [[artificial intelligence]]), millennial alienation, the commodification of the [[counterculture]],<ref name=apocalypse/> the existence of [[Node (networking)|nodal]] points in history (most notably the dawn of the nuclear age in 1911), and the notion of the interstitial.<ref name=interstitial/><ref name=sfc/> Despite the novel's oblique reference to [[Madame_Curie#Nobel_Prizes|Madame Curie]], Gibson has stated that his placement of the last major nodal point in 1911 was a "viewpoint joke," unconnected to factual events in that year. He had heard a story that [[Virginia Woolf]] "pinned the beginning of the [[Modernist literature|modern era]] on a particular weekend in 1911."<ref name=Dupont>{{cite web|last=Dupont|first=Alexandra|title=Alexandra DuPont Interviews William 'Freakin' Gibson!!!!|url=http://www.aintitcool.com/node/5140|work=Ain't It Cool News|publisher=Harry Knowles, Ain't It Cool, Inc.|accessdate=April 23, 2012|month=February|year=2000|quote=In a way, it's a viewpoint joke: Laney and Harwood are the only two people in the world who have this peculiar sort of pathological vision that allows them to see 'OOP! that did it!' Somebody told me when I was in England that there was a Virginia Woolf essay in which she had seriously pinned the beginning of the modern era on a particular weekend in 1911. Q. Really? I was wracking my head reading the book, thinking, 'Well, Marie Curie did research on nuclear material and maybe her husband's death drove her into her research....' A. Well, I knew that people would. But you can't get here from there. Q. So there was some mischief in choosing that.}}</ref> (Woolf had actually declared that human nature underwent a fundamental change "[[Modernist_literature#Overview|on or about December 1910]]," which inspired the belief that the modernist literary movement began around that time.)
Major recurring Gibsonian themes which feature heavily in ''All Tomorrow's Parties'' are the sociological impact of [[Emerging technologies|emergent technology]] (notably [[nanotechnology]] and [[artificial intelligence]]), millennial alienation, the commodification of the [[counterculture]],<ref name=apocalypse/> the existence of [[Node (networking)|nodal]] points in history (most notably the dawn of the nuclear age in 1911), and the notion of the interstitial.<ref name=interstitial/><ref name=sfc/> Despite the novel's oblique reference to [[Madame Curie#Nobel Prizes|Madame Curie]], Gibson has stated that his placement of the last major nodal point in 1911 was a "viewpoint joke," unconnected to factual events in that year. He had heard a story that [[Virginia Woolf]] "pinned the beginning of the [[Modernist literature|modern era]] on a particular weekend in 1911."<ref name=Dupont>{{cite web|last=Dupont|first=Alexandra|title=Alexandra DuPont Interviews William 'Freakin' Gibson!!!!|url=https://www.aintitcool.com/node/5140|work=Ain't It Cool News|publisher=Harry Knowles, Ain't It Cool, Inc.|access-date=April 23, 2012|date=February 2000|quote=In a way, it's a viewpoint joke: Laney and Harwood are the only two people in the world who have this peculiar sort of pathological vision that allows them to see 'OOP! that did it!' Somebody told me when I was in England that there was a Virginia Woolf essay in which she had seriously pinned the beginning of the modern era on a particular weekend in 1911. Q. Really? I was wracking my head reading the book, thinking, 'Well, Marie Curie did research on nuclear material and maybe her husband's death drove her into her research....' A. Well, I knew that people would. But you can't get here from there. Q. So there was some mischief in choosing that.}}</ref> (Woolf had actually declared that human nature underwent a fundamental change "[[Modernist literature#Overview|on or about December 1910]]," which inspired the belief that the modernist literary movement began around that time.) The author's long-time fascination with [[Japanese culture]] continues in this novel.<ref name=sfc/>
<br />
The author's long-time fascination with [[Japanese culture]] continues in this novel.<ref name=sfc/>


==Literary significance and reception==
==Literary significance and reception==
The novel was critically well-received, with particular note given to Gibson's vivid, well-realised setting and dense prose,<ref name=poole/><ref name=darkparty/> though reviewers found its ending to be anti-climactic.<ref name=curt/><ref name=salon/><ref name=candour/><ref name=leclair/> ''[[Sci Fi Weekly]]'' reviewer Curt Wohleber praised the "precision and economy" of ''All Tomorrow's Parties'' in comparison to its sometimes dull predecessors.<ref name=curt/><ref name=burr/>
The novel was critically well-received, with particular note given to Gibson's vivid, well-realised setting and dense prose,<ref name=poole/><ref name=darkparty/> though reviewers found its ending to be anticlimactic.<ref name=curt/><ref name=salon/><ref name=candour/><ref name=leclair/> ''[[Sci Fi Weekly]]'' reviewer Curt Wohleber praised the "precision and economy" of ''All Tomorrow's Parties'' in comparison to its sometimes dull predecessors.<ref name=curt/><ref name=burr/>


Gibson scholar Tatiana Rapatzikou located the novel's significance in the fact that it had several motifs, themes and characters in common with ''Virtual Light'' and ''Idoru'' "without being sequential".<ref name=rapatzikou/>
Gibson scholar Tatiana Rapatzikou located the novel's significance in the fact that it had several motifs, themes and characters in common with ''Virtual Light'' and ''Idoru'' "without being sequential".<ref name=rapatzikou/>
Line 62: Line 67:
|work=San Francisco Chronicle
|work=San Francisco Chronicle
|date=October 19, 1999
|date=October 19, 1999
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Sullivan
|last=Sullivan
|first=James
|first=James
Line 68: Line 73:
</ref>
</ref>
<ref name=botting>{{cite book | last = Botting | first = Fred | title = Sex, Machines and Navels | publisher = Manchester University Press |location = Manchester | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-7190-5625-X | pages = 212 }}</ref>
<ref name=botting>{{cite book | last = Botting | first = Fred | title = Sex, Machines and Navels | publisher = Manchester University Press |location = Manchester | year = 1999 | isbn = 0-7190-5625-X | pages = 212 }}</ref>
<ref name=nayar>{{cite book | last = Nayar | first = Pramod | title = Virtual Worlds | publisher = Sage Publications | location = Thousand Oaks | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-7619-3229-1 |pages=118–119}}</ref> This makes him ideal for the role of "netrunner" or data analyst.<ref name=botting/>
<ref name=nayar>{{cite book | last = Nayar | first = Pramod | title = Virtual Worlds | publisher = Sage Publications | location = Thousand Oaks | year = 2004 | isbn = 0-7619-3229-1 |pages=118–119}}</ref> This makes him ideal for the role of "netrunner" or data analyst.
<ref name=sfsite>
<ref name=sfsite>
{{cite web
{{cite web
Line 74: Line 79:
|title=The SF Site Featured Review: All Tomorrow's Parties
|title=The SF Site Featured Review: All Tomorrow's Parties
|publisher=[[SF Site]]
|publisher=[[SF Site]]
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Brusso
|last=Brusso
|first=Charlene
|first=Charlene
Line 84: Line 89:
|title=Apocalypse Later
|title=Apocalypse Later
|publisher=MetroActive Bench
|publisher=MetroActive Bench
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Alderman
|last=Alderman
|first=John
|first=John
Line 91: Line 96:
<ref name=interstitial>
<ref name=interstitial>
{{cite web
{{cite web
|url=http://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews/a/all-tomorrows-parties.shtml
|url=https://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews/a/all-tomorrows-parties.shtml
|title=All Tomorrow's Parties
|title=All Tomorrow's Parties
|publisher=[[PopMatters]]
|publisher=[[PopMatters]]
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Schabe
|last=Schabe
|first=Patrick
|first=Patrick
Line 101: Line 106:
{{cite web
{{cite web
|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/12/26/RV4162.DTL
|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1999/12/26/RV4162.DTL
|title=William Gibson Hot On the Trail of `Tomorrow'
|title=William Gibson Hot On the Trail of 'Tomorrow'
|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]
|work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]]
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Linne
|last=Linne
|first=William
|first=William
Line 114: Line 119:
|title=Dark Party
|title=Dark Party
|work=[[January Magazine]]
|work=[[January Magazine]]
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Powers
|last=Powers
|first=Sienna
|first=Sienna
Line 123: Line 128:
|url=http://www.salon.com/books/review/1999/10/29/gibson/
|url=http://www.salon.com/books/review/1999/10/29/gibson/
|title="All Tomorrow's Parties" by William Gibson
|title="All Tomorrow's Parties" by William Gibson
|publisher=[[Salon.com]]
|work=[[Salon.com]]
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Houston
|last=Houston
|first=Frank
|first=Frank
Line 131: Line 136:
</ref><ref name=candour>
</ref><ref name=candour>
{{cite journal
{{cite journal
|url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue129/excess.html
|url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue129/excess.html
|title=Excessive Candour
|title=Excessive Candour
|journal=[[Science Fiction Weekly]]
|journal=[[Science Fiction Weekly]]
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Clute
|last=Clute
|first=John
|first=John
|authorlink=John Clute
|author-link=John Clute
|date=October 4, 1999
|date=October 4, 1999
|issue=129
|issue=129
|volume=5
|volume=5
⚫
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318052309/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue129/excess.html
|number=40
|archive-date=18 March 2009
⚫
| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090318052309/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue129/excess.html| archivedate= 18 March 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
|url-status=dead
}}
</ref><ref name=leclair>
</ref><ref name=leclair>
{{cite news
{{cite news
|url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/11/21/reviews/991121.21leclait.html
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/11/21/reviews/991121.21leclait.html
|title=Virtual Novel
|title=Virtual Novel
|date=November 21, 1999
|date=November 21, 1999
|work=[[The New York Times]]
|work=[[The New York Times]]
⚫
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|publisher=The New York Times Company
⚫
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|last=LeClair
|last=LeClair
|first=Tom
|first=Tom
| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090409094229/http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/11/21/reviews/991121.21leclait.html| archivedate= 9 April 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}}
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090409094229/http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/11/21/reviews/991121.21leclait.html| archive-date= 9 April 2009 | url-status= live}}
</ref>
</ref>
<ref name=curt>
<ref name=curt>
{{cite web
{{cite web
|url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/books/sfw4927.html
|url=http://www.scifi.com/sfw/books/sfw4927.html
|title=All Tomorrow's Parties
|title=All Tomorrow's Parties
|work=Sci Fi Weekly
|work=Sci Fi Weekly
|date=October 18, 1999
|date=October 18, 1999
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Wohleber
|last=Wohleber
|first=Curt
|first=Curt
| archiveurl= http://web.archive.org/web/20090304060849/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/books/sfw4927.html| archivedate= 4 March 2009 <!--DASHBot-->| deadurl= no}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304060849/http://www.scifi.com/sfw/books/sfw4927.html
|archive-date=4 March 2009
⚫
</ref><ref name=burr>{{cite journal|last=Burr|first=Ty|date=October 29, 1999|title=Book Review |journal=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,271302,00.html |authorlink=Ty Burr}}</ref>
|url-status=dead
}}
⚫
</ref><ref name=burr>{{cite magazine|last=Burr|first=Ty|date=October 29, 1999|title=Book Review |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |url=https://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,271302,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423225104/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,271302,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 23, 2008 |author-link=Ty Burr}}</ref>
<ref name=rapatzikou>{{cite book | last = Rapatzikou | first = Tatiana | title = Gothic Motifs in the Fiction of William Gibson | publisher = Rodopi | location = Amsterdam | year = 2004 | isbn = 90-420-1761-9 |page=175}}</ref>
<ref name=rapatzikou>{{cite book | last = Rapatzikou | first = Tatiana | title = Gothic Motifs in the Fiction of William Gibson | publisher = Rodopi | location = Amsterdam | year = 2004 | isbn = 90-420-1761-9 |page=175}}</ref>
<ref name=poole>
<ref name=poole>
{{cite web
{{cite web
|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/1999/oct/30/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.williamgibson
|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/1999/oct/30/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.williamgibson
|title=Nearing the nodal
|title=Nearing the nodal
|work=The Guardian
|work=The Guardian
|publisher=[[guardian.co.uk]]
|publisher=[[guardian.co.uk]]
|accessdate=March 12, 2009
|access-date=March 12, 2009
|last=Poole
|last=Poole
|first=Steven
|first=Steven
|authorlink=Steven Poole
|author-link=Steven Poole
|date=October 30, 1999
|date=October 30, 1999
}}
}}
Line 183: Line 192:


== External links ==
== External links ==
*[http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/books/parties.asp ''All Tomorrow's Parties''] at WilliamGibsonBooks.com
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090228234424/http://williamgibsonbooks.com/books/parties.asp ''All Tomorrow's Parties''] at WilliamGibsonBooks.com
*[http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/william-gibson/all-tomorrows-parties.htm ''All Tomorrow's Parties''] at FantasticFiction.co.uk
*[http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/g/william-gibson/all-tomorrows-parties.htm ''All Tomorrow's Parties''] at FantasticFiction.co.uk
*[http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/g/gibson-parties.html Chapters 1–4 of ''All Tomorrow's Parties''] at [[nytimes.com]]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/books/first/g/gibson-parties.html Chapters 1–4 of ''All Tomorrow's Parties''] at [[nytimes.com]]
{{William Gibson}}
{{William Gibson}}


[[Category:1999 novels]]
[[Category:1999 Canadian novels]]
[[Category:Bridge trilogy]]
[[Category:Bridge trilogy]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk novels]]
[[Category:Cyberpunk novels]]
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:Novels by William Gibson]]
[[Category:Novels by William Gibson]]
[[Category:1990s science fiction novels]]
[[Category:1999 science fiction novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in San Francisco, California]]
[[Category:Novels set in San Francisco]]
[[Category:Viking Press books]]
[[Category:Viking Press books]]

[[fr:Tomorrow's Parties]]
[[it:American Acropolis]]
[[hu:A holnap tegnapja]]
[[ro:All Tomorrow's Parties]]
[[sv:All Tomorrow's Parties]]

Latest revision as of 23:20, 11 July 2024

All Tomorrow's Parties
Cover of the British edition.
AuthorWilliam Gibson
LanguageEnglish
SeriesBridge trilogy
GenrePostcyberpunk
PublisherViking Press
Publication date
October 7, 1999
Publication placeUnited Kingdom
Media typePrint (hardback and paperback)
Pages320
ISBN0-670-87557-0
OCLC42136184
Preceded byIdoru 

All Tomorrow's Parties is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, the third and final book in his Bridge trilogy.[1] Like its predecessors, All Tomorrow's Parties is a speculative fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, postcyberpunk future. The novel borrows its title from a song by Velvet Underground. It is written in the third person and deals with Gibsonian themes of emergent technology. The novel was initially published by Viking Press on October 7, 1999.

Plot summary

[edit]

The book has three separate but overlapping stories, with the repeated appearance of shared characters. The San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, the overarching setting of the trilogy, functions as a shared location of their convergence and resolution.

The first story features former cop Berry Rydell, the protagonist of Virtual Light. Rydell quits a temporary job as a security guard at the Lucky Dragon convenience store to run errands for atrophied computer hacker Colin Laney (the protagonist of Idoru), who lives in a cardboard box in a subway in Shinjuku, Tokyo. As a child, Laney was the subject of pharmaceutical trials which damaged his nervous system.[2] As a result, he has a form of attention deficit disorder but gains the ability to discern nodal points in the undifferentiated flow of information, and from that he acquires a certain predictive faculty.[3] This makes him ideal for the role of "netrunner" or data analyst.[2] A side effect of 5-SB, the drug administered to Laney, causes the user to become attached to strong personalities. As a result, Laney has become obsessed with media baron Cody Harwood of Harwood/Levine, a powerful public relations firm.[4] He spends his life surfing the net from his enclave in the subway, searching for traces of Harwood in the media. From this, Laney foresees a crucial historical shift which may precede the end of the world "as we know it". He predicts that Harwood, who had also taken 5-SB before (albeit voluntarily, with the knowledge of the consequences), knows this and will try to shape this historical shift to his liking. To stop Harwood, Laney hires Rydell under the guise of a courier to travel to San Francisco where he believes the next nodal point will congeal.

The second story concerns ex-bicycle messenger Chevette Washington, also from Virtual Light, who is on the run from her ex-boyfriend. She escapes to her former home, San Francisco's bridge community, to find refuge and revisit her past. She is accompanied by Tessa, an Australian media sciences student who visits the bridge to film a documentary on "interstitial communities".

The third story follows a mysterious, left-handed mercenary named Konrad, who, although employed by Harwood, appears to be directed by his own motives. In particular, Konrad aligns his movements with the Tao,[citation needed] the spontaneous, universal energy path of Taoist philosophy.

Characters

[edit]

Characters with point-of-view chapters:

  • Colin Laney – data analyst with an ability to sense nodal points (previously appeared in Idoru).
  • Chevette Washington – an ex-bike messenger who lived on the Bridge for several years and is on the run from an abusive boyfriend (Virtual Light).
  • Berry Rydell – a rent-a-cop and former lover of Chevette who is working as a security guard at a convenience store Lucky Dragon in Los Angeles (Virtual Light, Idoru).
  • Shinya Yamazaki – self-described "student of existential sociology" (Virtual Light, Idoru).
  • Konrad – Taoist assassin hired by Harwood.
  • Silencio – a savant boy with an extreme fascination with watches and the talent to find them, no matter the circumstances.
  • Fontaine – a Bridge resident and pawn-shop owner who takes Silencio into his care. (Virtual Light)
  • Boomzilla – a street impresario with designs on Tessa's balloon camera.

Other characters:

  • Tessa – Chevette's media student roommate, who drives Chevette to the Bridge in her van in order to make a documentary on its inhabitants.
  • Rei Toei – a holographic idol (the beautiful "emergent system" from Idoru).
  • Buell Creedmore – an alcoholic/drug addict country singer with a short temper and a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time. Although he tries to pass himself off as a native Southerner, he later reveals he was born and raised in New Jersey.
  • Maryalice – PR for Buell (Idoru).
  • Carson – Chevette's abusive ex.
  • Cody Harwood – head of a PR company, extremely powerful behind-the-scenes player (Virtual Light).
  • The Suit – an impoverished ex-salaryman who lives in the Tokyo subway and repaints his suit daily instead of purchasing a fresh one.

Major themes

[edit]

Major recurring Gibsonian themes which feature heavily in All Tomorrow's Parties are the sociological impact of emergent technology (notably nanotechnology and artificial intelligence), millennial alienation, the commodification of the counterculture,[5] the existence of nodal points in history (most notably the dawn of the nuclear age in 1911), and the notion of the interstitial.[6][7] Despite the novel's oblique reference to Madame Curie, Gibson has stated that his placement of the last major nodal point in 1911 was a "viewpoint joke," unconnected to factual events in that year. He had heard a story that Virginia Woolf "pinned the beginning of the modern era on a particular weekend in 1911."[8] (Woolf had actually declared that human nature underwent a fundamental change "on or about December 1910," which inspired the belief that the modernist literary movement began around that time.) The author's long-time fascination with Japanese culture continues in this novel.[7]

Literary significance and reception

[edit]

The novel was critically well-received, with particular note given to Gibson's vivid, well-realised setting and dense prose,[9][10] though reviewers found its ending to be anticlimactic.[11][12][13][14] Sci Fi Weekly reviewer Curt Wohleber praised the "precision and economy" of All Tomorrow's Parties in comparison to its sometimes dull predecessors.[11][15]

Gibson scholar Tatiana Rapatzikou located the novel's significance in the fact that it had several motifs, themes and characters in common with Virtual Light and Idoru "without being sequential".[16]

In the words of The Guardian journalist Steven Poole, the novel completed Gibson's development "from science-fiction hotshot to wry sociologist of the near future".[9]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Sullivan, James (October 19, 1999). "Bridge To Tomorrow". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Botting, Fred (1999). Sex, Machines and Navels. Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 212. ISBN 0-7190-5625-X.
  3. ^ Nayar, Pramod (2004). Virtual Worlds. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. pp. 118–119. ISBN 0-7619-3229-1.
  4. ^ Brusso, Charlene. "The SF Site Featured Review: All Tomorrow's Parties". SF Site. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  5. ^ Alderman, John. "Apocalypse Later". MetroActive Bench. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  6. ^ Schabe, Patrick. "All Tomorrow's Parties". PopMatters. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  7. ^ a b Linne, William (December 26, 1999). "William Gibson Hot On the Trail of 'Tomorrow'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  8. ^ Dupont, Alexandra (February 2000). "Alexandra DuPont Interviews William 'Freakin' Gibson!!!!". Ain't It Cool News. Harry Knowles, Ain't It Cool, Inc. Retrieved April 23, 2012. In a way, it's a viewpoint joke: Laney and Harwood are the only two people in the world who have this peculiar sort of pathological vision that allows them to see 'OOP! that did it!' Somebody told me when I was in England that there was a Virginia Woolf essay in which she had seriously pinned the beginning of the modern era on a particular weekend in 1911. Q. Really? I was wracking my head reading the book, thinking, 'Well, Marie Curie did research on nuclear material and maybe her husband's death drove her into her research....' A. Well, I knew that people would. But you can't get here from there. Q. So there was some mischief in choosing that.
  9. ^ a b Poole, Steven (October 30, 1999). "Nearing the nodal". The Guardian. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  10. ^ Powers, Sienna. "Dark Party". January Magazine. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  11. ^ a b Wohleber, Curt (October 18, 1999). "All Tomorrow's Parties". Sci Fi Weekly. Archived from the original on 4 March 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  12. ^ Houston, Frank (October 29, 1999). ""All Tomorrow's Parties" by William Gibson". Salon.com. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  13. ^ Clute, John (October 4, 1999). "Excessive Candour". Science Fiction Weekly. 5 (129). Archived from the original on 18 March 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  14. ^ LeClair, Tom (November 21, 1999). "Virtual Novel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
  15. ^ Burr, Ty (October 29, 1999). "Book Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on April 23, 2008.
  16. ^ Rapatzikou, Tatiana (2004). Gothic Motifs in the Fiction of William Gibson. Amsterdam: Rodopi. p. 175. ISBN 90-420-1761-9.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=All_Tomorrow%27s_Parties_(novel)&oldid=1233980842"