Gibson's Pattern Recognition and FFFn... by zoid

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Gibson's Pattern Recognition and FFFn...

POSTED BY: ZOID
UPDATED: Friday, March 25, 2005 15:43
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Friday, March 25, 2005 1:29 AM

Greets to da Peeps!

(I don't know where that came from, but it's 4:43AM and I've only had half a cup of adrenaline.)

I just finished reading William Gibson's excellent "Pattern Recognition". I've known I'd be writing this, pretty much from page one of the book; but I wanted to finish it first, before posting.

Apart from the fact that I immensely enjoyed the book, I also felt it was pretty meta-something or other (4:49AM) regarding habitual web forum participation. The main character, Cayce Pollard, has an aversion to advertising and branding that causes panic attacks. As a result, she is a freelance consultant to advertising firms, helping them find logos that don't drive people away.

She also has an obsession with a particular filmmaker, which she scrutinizes via a web forum called F: F: F (Fetish: Footage: Forum). I thought that scenario was pretty evocative of my experience on FFFn. The fact that she is obsessed, and that she finds a community of similarly obsessed footageheads at F: F: F that help to deepen her obsession, seemed too synchronous to ignore. I thought y'all might like to know.

BTW, the book was written before Firefly was cancelled, so the similarities are strictly serendipitous. Although, I did feel compelled to check, so close was the resemblance between F: F: F and FFFn...

An excerpt, from http://www.williamgibsonbooks.com/books/pattern.asp#excerpt :

Quote:
There are perhaps twenty regular posters on F: F: F, and some much larger and uncounted number of lurkers. And right now there are three people in Chat, but there's no way of knowing exactly who until you are in there, and the chat room she finds not so comforting. It's strange even with friends, like sitting in a pitch-dark cellar conversing with people at a distance of about fifteen feet. The hectic speed, and the brevity of the lines in the thread, plus the feeling that everyone is talking at once, at counter-purposes, deter her.

Cayce and I have things in common. Her reasoning is why I prefer FFFn to the OB and NOB...

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity

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Friday, March 25, 2005 1:58 AM

CALHOUN

Quote:
zoid wrote:
Friday, March 25, 2005 01:29

it's 4:43AM and I've only had half a cup of adrenaline

Early to rise or late to bed?

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Friday, March 25, 2005 4:54 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Zoid,

I have not read Pattern Recognition, but it sounds like a very interesting book.

I admit the similarities are a bit eerie. Hopefully we are more faithful than fanatical.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Meet Up:
http://firefly.meetup.com/9/boards/

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Friday, March 25, 2005 2:20 PM

ZOID

Calhoun:

It was 'early to rise'. It's my turn to get hammered for a week of 0400 wakeups.

And I'll be in bed by 8:30 PM, so I can do it all over again tomorrow...

v/r,
-zed

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Friday, March 25, 2005 2:32 PM

ZOID

Browncoat1:

I'm sure everyone on F: F: F would describe themselves as 'The Faithful', as well. The filmmaker (or just, "The Maker", as the book has it) is a mystery to everyone. Apart from speculating on the meaning of the 20-60 second clips, they also try to figure out who is doing them and why.

The novel is set in the present day, as opposed to all Gibson's other works, which have been set in the not-too-distant future. But it still retains its cyberpunk tones, as Cayce tries to track down the Maker through Tokyo, Europe and the WorldWide Web. Gibson's fans (of which I am one) will not be disappointed by this tale.

It looks as if our digital world has finally caught up with Mr. Gibson, to the point he no longer has to set his stories in the future. And I felt he succinctly captured the 'online life' in a way every regular at FFFn would immediately recognize (to include some of the personalities and wit of the individual posters).

I highly recommend the novel, available (finally!) in paperback at a bookseller near you...

Respectfully,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity

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Friday, March 25, 2005 2:47 PM

THATWEIRDGIRL

Quote:
Originally posted by zoid:
Greets to da Peeps!

ooh, I love peeps, yum!

Quote:

Cayce and I have things in common. Her reasoning is why I prefer FFFn to the OB and NOB...

I feel the same way. Whenever I head over to the OB, I get all overwhelmed and itchy. Make sense?

Anyway, I like my folks here.

*twg makes a note in her clie to pick up Pattern Recognition*
Thanks for the book, Mr. Zed.

www.thatweirdgirl.com
---
Can we not revel in our cyber-love?

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Friday, March 25, 2005 3:43 PM

ZOID

TiPpY wrote:

Quote:
...*twg makes a note in her clie to pick up Pattern Recognition*
Thanks for the book, Mr. Zed.

I really think you'll like it. I never wanted it to end; it took me two weeks to finish the last hundred pages, because I rationed it very carefully.

I did mention I have a reading fetish, didn't I? Now, I'm reading Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos" (category "Science", not science fiction).

Have a great Friday night...

Cordially,

zoid
_________________________________________________

"Burn the land and boil the sea, you can't take the sky from me." The Ballad of Serenity

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