Noir 53
| Noir | |
| author | K. W. Jeter |
| pages | 496 |
| publisher | Bantam Spectra |
| rating | 8 |
| reviewer | bughunter |
| ISBN | 0553576380 |
| summary | A dark-as-its-name novel in the tradition of cyberpunk but with even more cynical twists. |
Mixing metaphors like cheap liquors, K. W. Jeter manages to meld an unlikely combination of fiction elements with the surprisingly palatable success of a Long Island Iced Tea. Add to that an almost gleefully cynical look at the future of copyright law, unrestrained capitalism, and the rocky bottom of our credit-driven economy's slippery slope. With a sometimes disorienting stream-of-consciousness style, stringing together metaphors like a psychedelic chain of pearls, Jeter introduces his audience to one brilliantly disturbing and fascinating concept after another, and in the end Jeter uses every one of them to wrap up the conflict. It's a nonstop freak show, a simultaneous dirty joke, horror tale, and social commentary. It's especially rewarding, coming from the author of the bestselling sequels to Blade Runner, Blade Runner 2: The Edge of Human and Blade Runner: Replicant Night.
On one level, Noir feels like cyberpunk: it is set in a postmodern dystopia recovering from collapse, populated by cybernetically enhanced misanthropes, with a plot that skirts the edge of a metaphorical landscape. But in this novel, there's no Cyberspace; just "The Wedge," a sexually deviant skid row ruled by a mysterious goddesslike figure. Those who dare can visit The Wedge in the flesh, but most visitors to the Wedge employ replicant avatars, "prowlers," which download their Wedge experiences to their owners, delivering accumulated memories served straight.
This brings me to a warning; Noir is not for the weak of stomach. Jeter wantonly and graphically sodomizes, decapitates, disembowels, dissolves and immolates his characters with intentional disregard for good taste, exploiting the same psychological niche as rotten.com, alt.tasteless and Hannibal. It has the attraction of a car wreck -- at first tolerable only in short doses, but ultimately irresistible. Part of this irresistibility is the intelligence, wit, and cynicism of Jeter's future vision.
Predictably enough, the protagonists are anti-heroes. But to Jeter's credit, their predictability ends there. John McNihil is an asp-head - a licensed bounty hunter of copyright violators, and a man who sold his wife into purgatory in favor of buying a set of optical implants that give him a film noir view of the world. Forget rose-colored glasses, he has smoke- and whiskey-colored contact lenses.
Self-employed heroine November is more likable, but a ruthless character nonetheless, with fingertip EMP implants that allow her to induce orgasmic epileptic fits in her stalkers-slash-victims, then casually ventilate their craniums with their own guns.
The story opens with the death of a mid-level corporate exec, Travelt. McNihil and November are hired by the antagonist, Harrisch, to track down his intellectual property lost in the Edge, somehow uploaded into Travelt's prowler. In contrast to the merely dislikable McNihil and November, Harrisch is revolting. He is the devious, manipulating and ruthless chief executive of DynaZauber, a megacorporation with interests in every aspect of society. Harrisch habitually murders his freelance operatives rather than paying them, and prefers to do the wetwork himself, rendered immune to prosecution by pre-emptory payoffs to local authorities, who themselves have been reduced to agents of corporate interest.
The first third of the story revolves around Harrisch's increasingly sadistic attempts to coerce McNihil into taking the job. November is Harrisch's insurance, the second-string operative, whom he also uses as a means to coerce McNihil. Be patient; Jeter uses these events to introduce concepts that foreshadow the climactic scene. And even after McNihil and November being their hunt for Travelt's lost prowler, we continue to be exposed to essential concepts that at the time appear to be mere gratuitous depravity and cynicism.
These ideas are what make Noir worthy of a Slashdot review, and I shall attempt to relate some of them without spoiling the plot, but in doing so, I cannot reproduce their sledgehammer impact on the story:
- The elevation of intellectual property to the ultimate standard of value.
- Violation of copyright becomes punishable by death, and later by the imprisonment of the violator's seat of intellect within "trophies" - such as toasters and audio equipment - delivered to the copyright holder.
- The rights of debt holders become supreme, outlasting even the death of the debtor. Those who die in debt are reanimated until they work off their debt, if they can.
- Corporate management philosophy becomes modelled after that of the street pimp; psychological destitution of the employee is embraced as the optimal strategy for human resource management.
- In the ultimate victory of marketing over content, TIAC, or Turd In A Can, becomes the overt ideal of capitalism: use marketing and packaging to sell the customer as little value as possible, for the maximum price.
You can purhase this book at Fatbrain.
here's the author's site (Score:2)
--NDW
Re:What a hideously bad book (Score:3)
Some examples of past winners [bulwer-lytton.com]:
- The corpse exuded the irresistible aroma of a piquant, ancho chili glaze enticingly enhanced with a hint of fresh cilantro as it lay before him, coyly garnished by a garland of variegated radicchio and caramelized onions, and impishly drizzled with glistening rivulets of vintage balsamic vinegar and roasted garlic oil; yes, as he surveyed the body of the slain food critic slumped on the floor of the cozy, but nearly empty, bistro, a quick inventory of his senses told corpulent Inspector Moreau that this was, in all likelihood, an inside job.
- The moment he laid eyes on the lifeless body of the nude socialite sprawled across the bathroom floor, Detective Leary knew she had committed suicide by grasping the cap on the tamper-proof bottle, pushing down and twisting while she kept her thumb firmly pressed against the spot the arrow pointed to, until she hit the exact spot where the tab clicks into place, allowing her to remove the cap and swallow the entire contents of the bottle, thus ending her life.
- As the fading light of a dying day filtered through the window blinds, Roger stood over his victim with a smoking
.45, surprised at the serenity that filled him after pumping six slugs into the bloodless tyrant that mocked him day after day, and then he shuffled out of the office with one last look back at the shattered computer terminal lying there like a silicon armadillo left to rot on the information superhighway.
It seems that "Noir" would be a shoo-in, if it weren't a real book!--Bob Perry, Milton, MA (1998 Winner)
-- Artie Kalemeris, Fairfax, VA (1997 Winner)
--Larry Brill, Austin, Texas (1994 Winner)
Alex Bischoff
---
Some things the reviewer missed... (Score:1)
The main charactor McNihil, has an interesting name...Mc is a Gaelic construct that means "son of", and Nihil...nihilist, son of a nihilist...also, from Webster's Revised Unabridged
Dictionary:
-Nihil album (L., white nothing) (Chem.), oxide of zinc. See under (Zinc).
-Nihil debet (L., he owes nothing) (Law), the general issue in certain actions of debt.
-Nihil dicit (L., he says nothing) (Law), a declinature by the defendant to plead or answer.
Any of these can apply to our friend Mr. McNihil.
I am sure that if we took the time, we would find many other interesting things about all of the charactors names under similar analysis.
And I would disagree that there is no "cyberspace"...you see, the prowlers are essentially bio-robots that you can be linked
to, and vicariously do things, without catching a disease, or a tatoo. An interesting concept...tatoos that travel like a virus,
or chain letter. But the prowlers are the closest thing to cyberspace, since in this universe where copyright violation is a capital crime, what do you think they would do to hackers? You
can't have a consentual reality for VR, since you really can't share intellectual property. Thus you have ways to do it vicariosly...and since you own the prowler, what you do is your own IP.
Another name, "asp-head" comes from ASCAP, The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. These are the people that
collect royalties and pay them to the people who own the copyrights.
An error, he did not sell is wife to get his "Noir" eyes, he couldn't afford to pay off her debts to allow her to "die" peacefully, because he had his eyes modified (among other things, you laterfind out) You see, in this universe, if you die owning money, your creditors revive you, and sell off your body parts to pay off your debts. You can't escape debt by death.
There is also the reference to BDSM culture..."A bottom always want's to be topped", that is a submissive always find someone to dominate them. And that is how corperate people manage and
sell products. They call it "Pimp Style" management.
There is reference some of his other books, like Dr. Adder. Hence the Dr. Adder clomes (clome being another reference to an earlier work). I haven't read his other books in a long time, but this could be set in the same cyberpunk universe a few of his books are, which are excellent cyberpunk. I guess that is why he was chosen to do the "Bladerunner" books. I also like the fact that he used us Erisians as characators in some of his
early cyberpunk books.
I am a tad bit annoyed, since I was in the middle of re-reading the book to submit a Slashdot Review.
Hail Eris!
Farrell
Yes, but is it well written? (Score:2)
Re:Yes, but is it well written? (Score:4)
Re:Some things the reviewer missed... (Score:2)
At least there's someone else here that can enjoy fiction that's not written at a 9th-grade level. You appear to be a fan of Wilson and Shea's novels -- I expect that if "Illuminatus!" was published today, and reviewed here, the same pack of hyenas would dismiss it as "tripe" for it's "dense" style of prose and obtuse plot.
I wouldn't have bothered to post a review here if it wasn't for Jeter's "joke" about where the current trends in IP/copyrights are taking us. But scarce few others even commented on it, and none of them recieved any mod points.
Despite the badmouthing Jeter's obtuse writing style received in this forum, it's one that has been used by many widely acclaimed authors, from Faulkner to Joyce, Hemingway to Pohl. I feel sorry for those whose capacity to enjoy literature is limited to high school grammatically correct prose.
Re:War of the Shortstops (Score:1)
Pope
Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength! Monopolies offer Choice!
Re:Dr. Adder (Score:1)
Pope
Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength! Monopolies offer Choice!
one comment though... (Score:3)
I've tried 3 times, and couldn't get past the first 20 pages before I got tired of it. and I rarely put books down! I found it MORE interesting to re-read the lord of the rings triology. that's a bad sign when you'd rather re-read a book rather than read the brand new book you just got.
Anyway, I'll most likely give it another shot, but only when all the other books in my house are on holiday or something. Just hope it gets better than the first 20 pages.
--
Gonzo Granzeau
Short story... (Score:2)
Worldcom [worldcom.com] - Generation Duh!
Farewell Horizontal (Score:1)
Do yourself a favor and read "Farewell Horizontal" from '89. There might be books out there that are better constructed (Vernor Vinge, Gibson), but this novel has the most cool scenes and ideas I've ever seen in a scifi. Unfortunately it's out of print.
plot devices (Score:1)
--
Re:plot devices (Score:1)
Hard to say whether you'd like it, though. It would be a good one to start on, if it's your first Ellison. Also recommended are his 'Dangerous Visions' anthologies. I've got a shelf-full of his stuff.
A few years ago, (quite a few, now) someone tried to publish something with the same name (in Britain). You can copyright the work, but you can't copyright a title. Harlan took them to court and the courts told them they couldn't use his title. It's that important. At least the Brits feel that way. Love them for that.
Hah! Found it online. http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics
--
Re:What a hideously bad book (Score:2)
That's what I would have though, too. But how about taking a look at the links section on his website [europa.com] and then taking a guess at which side of the issue he comes down on?
It leaves you with a weird impression; on the one hand, you can't believe he's really serious about the scene in which a script-kiddie type is vivisected for providing the hero (acting as an undercover cop) with a key which he claims will provide access to an off-shore internet archive of copyrighted material. On the other hand, given the author's apparent views, you can't help but imagine that you're supposed to take a certain sadistic pleasure in the scene, even if it's just a joke. Since the author doesn't (as far as I can tell) ever present any middle ground, you're left with nothing to go on.
I read the book hoping I'd find some interesting thoughts on copyright issues, and was disappointed. (I was also disappointed by the prose which, as the original poster pointed out, can be tiresome.)
The copy I read actually had a URL in the back that claimed to point to an essay on his views on copryight, but the URL was bad; has anyone actually read that essay?
--Bruce Fields
Re:poorly written? (Score:2)
I'm not familiar with Mickey Spillane. The author that came to my mind was Raymond Chandler, who also does this sort of thing. Compare an excerpt from Noir:
...with an excerpt from Chandler's "The Long Goodbye":
Both of them have digressions, but some side trips are worth more than others....
--Bruce Fields
Disappointed (Score:1)
Some people will regard some of the following as spoilers for those who have not read the book. Be advised. By the time I got through the book I was basically just disappointed. There were at least a couple of bits with potential, but so little seemed to be done with them. As if I have any right to complain; being a good story-teller is hard, and I can't do it. Two specifics:
Re:What a hideously bad book (Score:2)
Is there a requirement that entries cannot be real books? If not, I would seriously consider nominating this one.
-=-=-=-=-
What a hideously bad book (Score:5)
"She slouched slowly through the smoky door, her feet making short little scraping sounds that reminded me of cats fighting on a hot sultry summer evening when you sit outside with the girl you met after class but never got to know her name because you just wanted to get in her pants...."
etc etc etc... The sheer amount of overly descriptive turn of phrase completely overwhelms the actual point the author is trying to get across, until you're just reading strings upon strings of adjectives and descriptives with the narration completely lost in the noise.
To mis-quote a quote I can't remember the source, "Reading this book is like having your head pushed through a big bowl of slightly warm oatmeal."
Nonetheless, I kept trying to slog through, hoping I could get some hang of the story. Fortunately, the very very overdone prosaic style cleared up, slightly, but then it got much, much worse:
This huge book (it's many many pages long) is nothing more than a thinly veiled rant against copyright infringement!!!
Yep, instead of putting up a website ranting about people stealing copywritten work, like any normally insane ranting raving lunatic would do, this ranting raving lunatic wrote and got published a whole damn nearly 500 page long book!
I was offended, to say the least, that I paid money for this.
The only effect on me of having read this book is that I had the overwhelming urge to scan it in and (violating copyrights left and right) post it somewhere on the internet.
But I held back because I couldn't bear the thought of intentially subjecting anyone else to the horror that was this book.
-=-=-=-=-
Hmmm.... (Score:1)
'Dark speculation' is one thing, but from the sounds of it, and from the comments already posted, this book sounds like:
a) A load of tripe [m-w.com]
b) A really poor attempt at winning the Bulwer-Lytton competition.
c) A late and poorly executed April Fool's joke.
d) A waste of good reading time.
e) All of the above.
I think I'll spend my book $$$ and reading time on something a little more interesting [slashdot.org] and culturally and historically significant.
-drin
Ew (Score:1)
Read it. Or at least about 10 pages of it :/ Hated it. Glad i only paid half-price for it in a secondhand bookstore (And not at all surprised to see it there, in hindsight.
My god.. i honestly can't remember a worse read than this.
C
--
Re:Dr. Adder - Embarrasingly Bad (Score:1)
Do yourself a favor and don't read Dr. Adder. It's an extraordinarily poor novel which wasn't even fresh back in the 70's.
The most embarassing thing about the book is the author's deliberately daring effort to include a character who is *gasp* a homosexual. The revelation of the character's sexual preference is presented in a manner that suggests that the author found this shocking, even repulsive. A contemporary reader will be left wondering what the point was.the Cyberpunk genre is not supposed to be accurate (Score:2)
Good cyberpunk isn't really about what's going to happen in ten years or twenty or fifty or whatever. It's about technological and social trends that are barely visible today, and how they impact human beings. By extrapolating these trends, good authors can make us think about what makes us human, what kind of society we live in, what kind of society we want to create for the future.
Exaggeration is certainly a part of cyberpunk's core sensibility. But exaggeration can be very helpful in illuminating things. Remember Swift's "A Modest Proposal"? It's pure satire, grossly exaggerating the situation in Ireland at the time it was written, but it was very effective in pointing out the disparities between English landowners and Irish poor.
The violence that you see in so many cyberpunk stories is an extrapolation of the violence that's endemic to American society. It's everywhere around us - on TV, in music, in films, in our schools, on our streets, in our prisons.
As for technology, the merging of man and machine isn't currently as radical as you'd see in most cyberpunk stories, but think about this: prosthetic devices are gettting better and better every year, "bionic eyes" are moving closer to reality, genetic manipulation of human DNA is no longer fiction.
By exaggerating current trends, good authors can cause us to look at our current situation and say, "well, it ain't that bad now, but let's look at where we really are headed." Unlike "hard" science fiction of the Asimov school, cyberpunk is less concerned with the "how" of technology than with the "why" of it.
Re:K.W. Jeter (Score:1)
Re:What a hideously bad book (Score:2)
Re:poorly written? (Score:1)
This isn't even a sentence:
Re:poorly written? (Score:1)
Sincerely,
Steve O.
Re:poorly written? (Score:1)
I do think "Noir" is closer to the Spillane novels, though. Spillane was a rough and tumble writer whose books had lots of flaws, but were still admirable.
I'll stand my statement that Jeter's choice was a style choice, and though the style he chose is not for everyone, it still has merit.
Steve O.
poorly written? (Score:2)
I enjoyed "Noir" immensely, because it was a skilled mix of two of my favorite genres. It's fine if you don't enjoy the noir style, but don't mistake that dislike for poor writing by the author.
Steve O.
K.W. Jeter (Score:1)
ugh (Score:1)
Re:poorly written? (Score:1)
Kind of a good example of fair use in action too. Thanks.
self-reinforcing helplessness (Score:1)
modern sensational journalism has ruinously distorted our picture of the world, making us afraid of our own neighbors.
this in turn stimulates the deterioration of community behaviors, which does promote people to feel helpless and lawless.
i would like to rest the blame for this cycle of fear, uncertainty, and doubt squarely on the media that depend upon it for their job security.
of course, we all eagerly consume those media...
---
Re:What's on topic here? (Score:1)
OK, I wanna see you set your mind to skiing
through a revolving door.
Chris Mattern
Re:Yes, but is it well written? (Score:1)
I read a section from Noir at Jeter's website, and it was among the worst tripe i've ever read! I don't expect much artistic taset from slashdot, but this is scraping the bottom of the barrel.
If that segment is any indication of the novel, it will read like cheap, sci-fi infused erotica, with too many similies that are poorly executed. If i want to read science fiction, I'll go back to the writers who knew how to do it right, Gibson, Heinlein and Bradbury.
Disclaimer: I haven't read the entire book. If you want to give me an informed opinion, but it for me, because I'll never waste my money on that crap.
Re:I quit reading this review (Score:1)
I read the entire review, it wasn't poorly written, but it fell into the same old 31337 trap. "If I like this book / person / thing that I anticipate will be cool, people will think I'm cool too!"
Re:Yes, but is it well written? (Score:1)
Buk Revue (Score:1)
I may take a break and pick up one of Jeter's works, maybe even this one.
--
Dr. Adder (Score:3)
Re:Yes, but is it well written? (Score:1)
What's on topic here? (Score:3)
The parent post to this one was a question on the cyberpunk genre, that this book is supposedly a close relation of. That seems on topic to me.
Continuing the previous poster's point, I too find many such novels to be excessively violent, and to describe scenarios that are very far fetched, both technologically and socially. This is especially poignant since they are usually set in the near future, when it should be reasonable to expect a lot of continuity from today.
If these books have made an accurate (I think it's more appealing than accurate; they seem more like macho fantasies to me) portrayal of hackers, they have also given up all semblance of accuracy on other characters. Unless the Internet is truly the next big revolutionary thing, and hackers really do assume god-like powers, the portrayals are more comic than relevant.
Re:poorly written? (Score:2)
But don't consider this a pan of Jeter's style. He's quite good if you like utter shit, and judging from the "Ender's Game" following around here, you do.
Re:I quit reading this review (Score:1)
Re:poorly written? (Score:1)
-----------------
Dystopia (Score:1)
First day of CallieGirl's Dystopia [unholyrouter.com] online today at unholyrouter.com [unholyrouter.com]
Re:plot devices (Score:1)
Re:Short story... (Score:1)
Doctor Adder (Score:1)
chase down a copy of one of Jeter's earlier
books, Doctor Adder. It's a good read.
Re:Short story... (Score:1)
is 'Repent, Harlequin, Said the Tick-Tock Man.'
In fact, why not take off a few hours and read it
right now? It's legendary 'culture hacking'
material.
Re:Dr. Adder (Score:1)
of that eroticizes multiple amputee hookers.
Re:The protagonist's name... (Score:1)
Just like 'Hiro Protagonist' was.
Re:Dr. Adder (Score:1)
I've read the book, own the DVD. I don't recall any amputee hookers. Definitely an eroticization of injury and disfigurement, of course. Vaughn in his big black Lincon gunning the engine makes you want to go out and buy a guzzler.
War of the Shortstops (Score:1)
No, Nomah is bettah than Jetah!
I'm sorry, thats all I could think of when I saw the authors name.
btw, you probably won't get this unless you live between boston and new york.
The protagonist's name... (Score:1)
"John McNihil" is neither. So it comes off like some contrived cartoonish b-movie name like "Jack Fist" or "Tina Love"
-----------------------