I don't want you to leave me cold

[brilligspoons]

I'm reading this interview with William Gibson in The Paris Review, and I just came across this:

It’s harder to imagine the past that went away than it is to imagine the future. What we were prior to our latest batch of technology is, in a way, unknowable. It would be harder to accurately imagine what New York City was like the day before the advent of broadcast television than to imagine what it will be like after life-size broadcast holography comes online. But actually the New York without the television is more mysterious, because we’ve already been there and nobody paid any attention. That world is gone.

My great-grandfather was born into a world where there was no recorded music. It’s very, very difficult to conceive of a world in which there is no possibility of audio recording at all. Some people were extremely upset by the first Edison recordings. It nauseated them, terrified them. It sounded like the devil, they said, this evil unnatural technology that offered the potential of hearing the dead speak. We don’t think about that when we’re driving somewhere and turn on the radio. We take it for granted.

So, you know. Interesting. There are a lot of other things that come up through the course of the interview that are utterly fascinating to think about, so if you have some time, I suggest giving it a read-through. Even if you don't care about William Gibson, I mean, he says a lot of thought-provoking things that are relevant to writers of all sorts.

Comments

[momebie.livejournal.com]

I fucking love William Gibson.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

I've never gotten around to reading any of his novels, but as I get further into this interview, I fall a little bit more in love with him.

[starsparkle333.livejournal.com]

I read this from your link on twitter and it was just a GREAT interview. He has a lot of thinky thoughts that make me want to sit and ponder the world.

Basically, I like him a lot.

ps - If you ever decide you want to give one of his books a try, I own nearly everything he's ever published. :P

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Right?! He says such interesting things! And I loved that he answered each question so fully, despite the interviewer seemingly jumping around in topics. All in all, an awesome interview.

Oh, nice! Are they downstairs or in your room? I might as well give it a try. ;)

[starsparkle333.livejournal.com]

Weird, my email sent this notif to spam!

He definitely seems like he has a lot of thoughts about his process and writing and sci-fi in general, and I appreciate that he wants to share it all.

If I have them here, they would be on my shelf downstairs. I am going to my parents this weekend too, so if they're not here... I will bring some back with me!

[barbed-whispers.livejournal.com]

how the beatles destroyed rock and roll really chronicled how we went from no recorded music to pop charts and how everything changed each step of the way. it was FASCINATING, if you're interested in that sort of thing.

[brilligspoons.livejournal.com]

Not really! I mean, I'm interested in the idea, but I'm not one for non-fiction most of the time, so I'll probably never read it.