All Tomorrow's Parties (novel)
OCLC 42136184 | | |
Preceded by | Idoru |
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All Tomorrow's Parties is a
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 first story features former cop Berry Rydell, the protagonist of
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
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
Major recurring Gibsonian themes which feature heavily in All Tomorrow's Parties are the sociological impact of
Literary significance and reception
The novel was critically well-received, with particular note given to Gibson's vivid, well-realised setting and dense prose,
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
- ^ Sullivan, James (October 19, 1999). "Bridge To Tomorrow". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ ISBN 0-7190-5625-X.
- ISBN 0-7619-3229-1.
- ^ Brusso, Charlene. "The SF Site Featured Review: All Tomorrow's Parties". SF Site. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ Alderman, John. "Apocalypse Later". MetroActive Bench. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ Schabe, Patrick. "All Tomorrow's Parties". PopMatters. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ a b Linne, William (December 26, 1999). "William Gibson Hot On the Trail of 'Tomorrow'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b
guardian.co.uk. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ Powers, Sienna. "Dark Party". January Magazine. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Houston, Frank (October 29, 1999). ""All Tomorrow's Parties" by William Gibson". Salon.com. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^
Science Fiction Weekly. 5 (129). Archived from the originalon 18 March 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ LeClair, Tom (November 21, 1999). "Virtual Novel". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved March 12, 2009.
- ^ Burr, Ty (October 29, 1999). "Book Review". Entertainment Weekly.
- ISBN 90-420-1761-9.
External links
- All Tomorrow's Parties at WilliamGibsonBooks.com
- All Tomorrow's Parties at FantasticFiction.co.uk
- Chapters 1–4 of All Tomorrow's Parties at nytimes.com