NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/alt/cyberpun/6006

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-21 | 1.7 KB

Xref: sparky alt.cyberpunk:6006 rec.arts.sf.written:15097
Organization: Masters student, Urban and Public Affairs, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Path: sparky!uunet!cis.ohio-state.edu!news.sei.cmu.edu!fs7.ece.cmu.edu!crabapple.srv.cs.cmu.edu!andrew.cmu.edu!wg2b+
Newsgroups: alt.cyberpunk,rec.arts.sf.written
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 11:52:25 -0500
From: Scott Gregory <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Diamond-hard SF
In-Reply-To: <[e-mail]>
Lines: 23

Excerpts from netnews.alt.cyberpunk: 20-Nov-92 Re: Diamond-hard SF by
Nick [e-mail]
> Gibson is perhaps the exemplar.  He has a good understanding of how
> tech and society interact.  He has skilled style, the ability
> to vividly describe a wide variety of new situations.  Normal
> characters & plot?  Not much and not dwelt on.  Dilliard and

    Actually, one of the things Gibson has earned highest praise for is
his mastery of character development, a thing you claim to dislike.
Granted, he doesn't do a lot of "He looked sad.  He was always this or
that" kind of bad character development, yet he molds his prose around
the characters in a way that gives one a great idea as to what they are
all about.  Witness the shifts in his writing style when writing from
the point of view of Mona as opposed to Molly.
    You seem to be shifting your argument to being against *normal*
characters at this point.  That's quite a departure from your attack on
characters in general, but you still err in claiming Gibson exemplary in
this regard.  One of Gibson's great skills lies in taking characters
that our society would consider fringers, and portraying them in a way
where their basic human qualities shine forth.

-Scott