An Analysis of William Gibsons Idoru Essay -- Gibson Idoru Essays

William Gibsons Idoru is a novel heavyset with implications and extrapolations related to the oncoming and (present) age of electronic para- existingity. Stylistically, it is far from perfect, but in theme it has a firm grasp on the concept of the simulacra as it mimics, masks and replaces reality. Gibsons characters are rarely paintings of great depth. While I would strongly dissent with the assertion that they are archetypes cut out from a mold, I would allay none that they are not particularly rich or personal. This credibly derives from the authors style of write which is the radical end of the spectrum of showing, not telling, so that we are shown the characters pasts, physical status, and present situations, and as readers we are to intuit the logical mental conditions associated with those factors. Gibson has rich situations, not rich characters. Thats why I find it so strange that the cutting York Times Book Review wrote, Chia is one of Gibsons nearly winning cr eations. I fail to understand the logic. Its as though, by fashioning her young and in a strange situation, were to develop an instant family relationship for her. Now obviously, Gibson himself is not the one to decree that his characters are strong or weak. So it is not a flaw on the part of his writing when a reader attributes an archetype to one of his characters, but I would play to think that, by design or simple lack of skill, Gibson writes his characters a little flat. (Which, in the context of a discussion of simulacra, makes it all the to a greater extent amusingly ironic that book reviewers would attribute what they would call a hole-and-corner(a) level to the quality of the writing not otherwise apparent.) Another rhetorical tool Gibson employed wa... ...and eventually defines reality? It was a simply computer, vertical like Idoru was simply a novel. Yet the seashells in the make of that cheek serve to create a fantasy as readily and significantly as the words o n paper serve to create a reality (and, paradoxically, the reality in which those seashells existed.) Simply because each is not real does not disrupt the validity of their creations, for if that were true, then the seashells would never have existed in the first place, even in our minds. Gibson understands this closely, and Idoru does an excellent job of illustrating it. While not technically perfect, it is effective, and creates an image which is useful for us to learn from. Works Cited and Consulted Gibson, William. Neuromancer. (Ace Books New York 1984) _____, Idoru. (Berkeley Books New York 1996)