William Gibson: A Literary Companion

by Tom Henthorne

William Gibson, author of the cyberpunk classic, Neuromancer (1984), is one today's most widely read science fiction writers. This companion is meant both for general readers and for scholars interested in Gibson's oeuvre. In addition to providing a literary and cultural context for works ranging from Gibson's first short story, "Fragments of a Hologram Rose" (1977), to his recent, bestselling novel, Zero History (2010), the companion offers commentary on Gibson's subjects, themes, and approaches. It also surveys existing scholarship on Gibson's work in an accessible way and provides an extensive bibliography to facilitate further study of William Gibson's writing, influence, and place in the history of science fiction and in literature as a whole.

176 pages, Paperback

First published June 15, 2011

Reviews

[Evgen Novakovskyi]

базовий путівник по всій творчості Вільяма Ґібсона станом на 2010 рік, охоплює весь його творчий доробок від “Уламків голографічної троянди” до “Zero History”, плюс трішки біографії. насправді текст скомпільований доволі банально, у вигляді алфавітного довідника, та й контенту відверто мало, усього лише 175 сторінок. я б із радістю почитав більш розлогі есеї про творчість батька кіберпанку, але маємо що маємо.

окрема подяка автору за чесні посилання на першоджерела, саме так я відкрив для себе Іштвана Чичері-Роная. якщо вас попаяло “Нейромантом” так же сильно, як і мене, то обов’язково ознайомтесь зі статтею The Sentimental Futurist: Cybernetics and Art in William Gibson's Neuromancer. а якщо ви нормальна людина — сміливо проходьте повз.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Being used to literary criticisms and companions from my time as an undergraduate I endeavored to read this about one of my favorite authors. The preface hits all of the salient points that you expect providing a framework for the author and factors/inspirations for his literary work. [return][return]However, once I started to read the book it wasn't behaving like the literary companions that I was used to. There was no linear progression through the author's work, rather, the content was arranged alphabetically by character, theme, book, etc... like an encyclopedia. I didn't realize this until I was well into the Cs [shrugs]. There wasn't any discussion about the arrangement of the book and I treated it as something that should have been consumed in a linear manner.[return][return]After this discovery I was able to better utilize the companion and it became a great guide and reference book for the worlds created by Gibson.