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All Tomorrow's Parties (novel)
Encyclopedia
All Tomorrow's Parties is the final novel in William Gibson
's Bridge trilogy
. Like its predecessors, All Tomorrow's Parties is a speculative fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, postcyberpunk future. The novel borrows its title from that of a song
by Velvet Underground. It is written in the third-person and deals with Gibsonian themes of emergent technology
.
The first story features former rent-a-cop
Berry Rydell, the protagonist of Virtual Light
. Rydell quits a temporary job as a security guard at the Lucky Dragon convenience store to run errands for atrophied computer hacker Colin Laney (the protagonist of Idoru
), who lives in a cardboard box in a subway in Shinjuku, Tokyo
. As a child, Laney was the subject of pharmaceutical trials, which damaged his nervous system
. As a result, he suffers from a form of attention deficit disorder but gains ability to discern nodal points in the undifferentiated flow of information, and hence a certain predictive faculty. This makes him ideal for the role of "netrunner" or data analyst. A side effect of 5-SB, the drug administered to Laney, causes the user to become attached to strong personalities. As a result, Laney has become obsessed with media baron Cody Harwood of Harwood/Levine, a powerful public relations
firm. He spends his life surfing the net from his enclave in the subway, searching for traces of Harwood in the media. From this, Laney foresees a crucial historical shift which may precede the end of the world. He predicts that Harwood, who had also taken 5-SB before (albeit voluntarily, with the knowledge of the consequences), knows this and will try to shape this historical shift to his liking. To stop Harwood, Laney hires Rydell under the guise of a courier to travel to San Francisco where he believes the next nodal point will unfold.
The second story concerns ex-bicycle messenger Chevette Washington, also from Virtual Light, who is on the run from her ex-boyfriend. She escapes to her former home, San Francisco's bridge community, to find refuge and revisit her past. She is accompanied by Tessa, an Australian media sciences student who visits the bridge to film a documentary on "interstitial communities".
The third story follows a mysterious, left-handed swordsman named Konrad
. Although Konrad is employed by Harwood, he appears to be directed by his own motives. In particular, Konrad aligns his movements with the Tao
, the spontaneous, universal energy path of Taoist
philosophy.
(notably nanotechnology
and artificial intelligence
), millennial alienation, the commodification of the counterculture
, the existence of nodal
points in history (most notably the dawn of the nuclear age in 1911), and the notion of the interstitial
. The author's fascination with Japanese culture is also exhibited in the novel.
Gibson scholar Tatiana Rapatzikou located the novel's significance in the fact that it had several motifs, themes and characters in common with Virtual Light and Idoru "without being sequential".
In the words of The Guardian
journalist Steven Poole
, the novel completed Gibson's development "from science-fiction hotshot to wry sociologist of the near future".
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's Bridge trilogy
Bridge trilogy
The Bridge trilogy is a series of novels by William Gibson, his second after the successful Sprawl trilogy. The trilogy comprises the novels Virtual Light , Idoru, and All Tomorrow's Parties .-Setting:...
. Like its predecessors, All Tomorrow's Parties is a speculative fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, postcyberpunk future. The novel borrows its title from that of a song
All Tomorrow's Parties (song)
"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by The Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico....
by Velvet Underground. It is written in the third-person and deals with Gibsonian themes of emergent technology
Emerging technologies
In the history of technology, emerging technologies are contemporary advances and innovation in various fields of technology. Various converging technologies have emerged in the technological convergence of different systems evolving towards similar goals...
.
Plot summary
The book has three separate but overlapping stories, with the repeated appearance of shared characters. The San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, the overarching setting of the trilogy, functions as a shared location of their convergence and resolution.The first story features former rent-a-cop
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
Berry Rydell, the protagonist of Virtual Light
Virtual Light
Virtual Light is the first book in William Gibson's Bridge trilogy. Virtual Light is a science-fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, cyberpunk future. The term 'Virtual Light' was coined by scientist Stephen Beck to describe a form of instrumentation that produces optical sensations...
. Rydell quits a temporary job as a security guard at the Lucky Dragon convenience store to run errands for atrophied computer hacker Colin Laney (the protagonist of Idoru
Idoru
Idoru is the second book in William Gibson's Bridge trilogy. Idoru is a science-fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, cyberpunk future...
), who lives in a cardboard box in a subway in Shinjuku, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. As a child, Laney was the subject of pharmaceutical trials, which damaged his nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
. As a result, he suffers from a form of attention deficit disorder but gains ability to discern nodal points in the undifferentiated flow of information, and hence a certain predictive faculty. This makes him ideal for the role of "netrunner" or data analyst. A side effect of 5-SB, the drug administered to Laney, causes the user to become attached to strong personalities. As a result, Laney has become obsessed with media baron Cody Harwood of Harwood/Levine, a powerful public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
firm. He spends his life surfing the net from his enclave in the subway, searching for traces of Harwood in the media. From this, Laney foresees a crucial historical shift which may precede the end of the world. He predicts that Harwood, who had also taken 5-SB before (albeit voluntarily, with the knowledge of the consequences), knows this and will try to shape this historical shift to his liking. To stop Harwood, Laney hires Rydell under the guise of a courier to travel to San Francisco where he believes the next nodal point will unfold.
The second story concerns ex-bicycle messenger Chevette Washington, also from Virtual Light, who is on the run from her ex-boyfriend. She escapes to her former home, San Francisco's bridge community, to find refuge and revisit her past. She is accompanied by Tessa, an Australian media sciences student who visits the bridge to film a documentary on "interstitial communities".
The third story follows a mysterious, left-handed swordsman named Konrad
Konrad (assassin)
Konrad is a fictional character in William Gibson's novel All Tomorrow's Parties. An anonymous and quasi-mystical assassin, Konrad is moved by the Tao in all his actions, heedless of the demands of his employers. He is clad in nondescript clothing and carries a tantō, which he wields with sublime...
. Although Konrad is employed by Harwood, he appears to be directed by his own motives. In particular, Konrad aligns his movements with the Tao
Tao
Dao or Tao is a Chinese word meaning 'way', 'path', 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle'...
, the spontaneous, universal energy path of Taoist
Taoism
Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...
philosophy.
Characters
- Colin Laney – Data analyst with an ability to sense nodal points (previously appeared in Idoru).
- Chevette Washington – an ex-bike messenger who lived on the Bridge for several years and is on the run from an abusive boyfriend (Virtual Light).
- Berry Rydell – A rent-a-cop and former lover of Chevette who is working as a security guard at a convenience store Lucky Dragon in Los Angeles (Virtual Light).
- Shinya Yamazaki – Self-described "student of existential sociology" (Virtual Light, Idoru).
- The Suit – an impoverished ex-salarymanSalarymanrefers to someone whose income is salary based; particularly those working for corporations. Its frequent use by Japanese corporations, and its prevalence in Japanese manga and anime has gradually led to its acceptance in English-speaking countries as a noun for a Japanese white-collar...
who lives in the Tokyo subway and repaints his suit daily instead of purchasing a fresh one. - KonradKonrad (assassin)Konrad is a fictional character in William Gibson's novel All Tomorrow's Parties. An anonymous and quasi-mystical assassin, Konrad is moved by the Tao in all his actions, heedless of the demands of his employers. He is clad in nondescript clothing and carries a tantō, which he wields with sublime...
– Taoist assassin hired by Harwood. - Tessa – Chevette's media student roommate, who drives Chevette to the Bridge in her van in order to make a documentary on its inhabitants.
- Boomzilla – A street impresario with designs on Tessa's balloon camera.
- Silencio – A mute savant boy with a fascination with watches.
- Fontaine – A Bridge resident and pawn-shop owner who takes Silencio into his care. (Virtual Light)
- Rei ToeiRei ToeiRei Toei is a fictional character in the Bridge trilogy of speculative fiction novels by William Gibson. Rei is introduced as the titular character in Gibson's 1995 novel Idoru, as an artificial intelligence, an embodied agent simulating a human female idol singer...
– A holographic idol (the beautiful "emergent system" from Idoru). - Buell Creedmore - An alcoholic/drug addicted country singer with a short temper and a knack for being in the wrong place at the right time. Although he tries to pass himself off as a native Southerner, he later reveals he was born and raised in New JerseyNew JerseyNew Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Major themes
Major recurring Gibsonian themes which feature heavily in All Tomorrow's Parties are the sociological impact of emergent technologyEmerging technologies
In the history of technology, emerging technologies are contemporary advances and innovation in various fields of technology. Various converging technologies have emerged in the technological convergence of different systems evolving towards similar goals...
(notably nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
), millennial alienation, the commodification of the counterculture
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
, the existence of nodal
Node (networking)
In communication networks, a node is a connection point, either a redistribution point or a communication endpoint . The definition of a node depends on the network and protocol layer referred to...
points in history (most notably the dawn of the nuclear age in 1911), and the notion of the interstitial
Interstitial
An interstitial space or interstice is an empty space or gap between spaces full of structure or matter.In particular, interstitial may refer to:-Physical sciences:...
. The author's fascination with Japanese culture is also exhibited in the novel.
Literary significance and reception
The novel was critically well-received, with particular note given to Gibson's vivid, well-realised setting and dense prose, though reviewers found its ending to be anti-climactic. Sci Fi Weekly reviewer Curt Wohleber praised the "precision and economy" of All Tomorrow's Parties in comparison to its sometimes dull predecessors.Gibson scholar Tatiana Rapatzikou located the novel's significance in the fact that it had several motifs, themes and characters in common with Virtual Light and Idoru "without being sequential".
In the words of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
journalist Steven Poole
Steven Poole
-Biography:Poole studied English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and has subsequently written for publications including The Independent, The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement, The Sunday Times, and the New Statesman...
, the novel completed Gibson's development "from science-fiction hotshot to wry sociologist of the near future".
External links
- All Tomorrow's Parties at WilliamGibsonBooks.com
- All Tomorrow's Parties at FantasticFiction.co.uk
- Chapters 1–4 of All Tomorrow's Parties at nytimes.com