The Ghosts of Society's Dreams

[jamesq]

For laughingmagpie ('cause it's retro), nosarious ('cause of the architecture) and rato_do_perigo ('cause she's always on the lookout for a good story):

The Gernsback Continuum by William Gibson

The rest of you can read it too. It was a cool ten minute diversion.

Comments

[laughingmagpie.livejournal.com]

Thank you :-) I did enjoy that. It made me think quite a bit. I wonder which point of view the story is really supporting - does it contend that the Retro-Future was too perfect and horrid, or is there a subtle realization that we'd lost something important? ... that maybe if we could just stop burying ourselves in trash like "lots of television, particularly game shows and soaps [and] porn movies" we could see something more exciting?

Not that I want a future of blond people and disregard for fossil fuel limitations, in fact, that is precisely the sort of thing I wouldn't want. But I think there's still something precious about the dream of a future with crystal, dining cars, individual freedom, health, shark fins, jazz, chrome, ray guns, and space travel. And it looks sooo cool.

And... he missed the boat on his comments about Victorian style! Victorian style was NOT about minimalism and style based on pure function! It was the Arts & Crafts movement, which paved the way for Deco, that managed to peel the layers of gears and gingerbread off. (Not that I have anything against gears or gingerbread or... steam ;-) )

Thanks for sharing it!