[teekert]

I can understand how he feels. But haters gonna hate, criminals gonna crime. He threw some new thoughts into the world, he made people think. surely he did not demagnetize people's moral compasses.

It reeks of illusions of grandeur. Sure it is a nice piece, but he overestimates the influence imho. Similar to William Gibson thinking he is the father of things Steam Punk ever.

Edit: Indeed I meant cyber punk.

[drakenot]

William Gibson is the father of Cyberpunk, not Steam Punk.

Though if Gibson is the father, I might say Bester is the grandfather.

[bediger4000]

Alfred Bester has fallen into obscurity for sure. How do you figure Bester and not Lem as the grandfather?

[flohofwoe]

IMHO Lem's work has a lot of "cyber" but no "punk" in it ;)

E.g. while Lem's future (in his science fiction books) isn't exactly a happy utopia, it's also not the depressing dystopia I would associate with "cyberpunk" - but maybe... "Peace on Earth" might qualify as "robopunk"? :)

[TheOtherHobbes]

Bester and Lem are amazing in their different ways, and it's tragic that both aren't better known.

I wouldn't put one over the other, but I think Bester gets the call because his view was classic mid-century US, and was an obvious influence on Cyberpunk.

Lem had a different more subtle aesthetic.

[Apocryphon]

John Brunner is closer to being a cyberpunk grandfather, imo

[drakenot]

I just remember reading The Stars My Destination from Bester and noticing all these elements:

* Mega-corporations with immense power and influence over all of society (Kodak of Kodak)

* Drug dens offering synthetic designer drugs that made people feel as if they were various animals.

* The protagonist receiving an upgrade to his nervous system, including a tooth-based switch that allowed him to 'speed up' for brief periods.

* Status symbols of the ultra-rich, such as using the most elaborate physical conveyances in an era of effortless teleportation.

I'm probably missing some, but it felt like such a prototype novel to something like Neuromancer and was written in 1956!

[zer00eyz]

>> Similar to William Gibson thinking he is the father of things Steam Punk ever.

Great observation! Being a popular part of a zeitgeist is not the same as defining it.

I have to wonder if, and the article does hint at, "if the movie was never made..."

FTA: Burgess introduced a character “with a beard like Stanley Kubrick’s” who played Singin’ in the Rain with a trumpet — before being kicked off the stage.

[vsnf]

> Steam Punk

Cyber Punk?

[flohofwoe]

Probably a typo, but Gibson also co-authored The Difference Engine, which is as Steam Punk as it gets :)

(and according to Wikipedia "...is widely regarded as a book that helped establish the genre conventions of steampunk.")

[jjkaczor]

... Well, I think many of the genre conventions were established enough that there was even one tabletop Steam Punk RPG that predated the publication of "The Difference Engine" (1990):

Space 1889 - (first published in 1988/89)

However - I think it was essentially just a convergence of cultural zeitgeist within about an 8-year period.

(Myself, I preferred "Castle Falkenstein" (1994) - but that was because I liked just about anything Mike Pondsmith/Talsorian released)

[danjoredd]

Im going to have to read that now. Loved Neuromancer, and Steam Punk is one of my favorite genres

[justsomehnguy]

Another one of today's lucky 10000.

It's a hard piece but overall I enjoyed reading it.

[flohofwoe]

Difference Engine starts great but then towards the end kind of fizzles out (IIRC, maybe I should read it again).

[Apocryphon]

It was a Gibson-Sterling joint but you almost have to wonder if Stephenson ghostwrote the last bit.