RE: RARA-AVIS: Cyberpunk/Noir
Mark Sullivan (ANONYMEINC@webtv.net)
Sun, 4 Apr 1999 11:46:52 -0400 (EDT)
While I know extolling cyberpunk probably goes beyond the
parameters of
this list, in addition to the best of its being the "new noir"
(as a
matter of fact, isn't that the name of a John Shirley
anthology?), as
Anthony points out, I think it has begun to repay its debt to
the
hardboiled genre as various authors adopt some of its tricks
and
attitudes. I can't conceive of Jack O'Connell's incredible
books without
cyberpunk, although I like his books far more than the
smattering of
cyberpunk I have read. In fact, I like O'Connell so much I
ordered the
British edition of his new Word Made Flesh so I won't have to
wait until
its June US pub date. I've also been reading New York Graphic
which
seems to be mining the same atmosphere.
Finally, Phillip Kerr's A Philosophical Investigation is the
perfect
melding of the two genres, a serial killer novel in the
day-after-tomorrow world where DNA is cataloged like
today's
fingerprints. And if Janet Reno has her way, that world is
not very far
in the future.
Mark
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