[Air-l] RE: cyberculture novels

Phillip Thurtle pthurtle at ccs.carleton.ca
Wed Nov 12 06:14:42 PST 2003


I've been wondering if we should include Philip K. Dick's VALIS in this 
category. Although not cyberculture per se (some might argue that it 
was a precursor to the genre of cyber-punk) and not about the Internet 
per se (some might argue that it is about informatics and shared 
subjectivities) it is one of the first novels on information and 
culture. Other Dick novels might also be relevant: UBIK, THE THREE 
STIGMATA OF PALMER ELDRITCH, and the novella DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF 
ELECTRIC SHEEP. The inclusion of the last makes the interesting point 
that if there is a cyberculture author that has contributed most to the 
filmic versioins of cyberculture it is most likely Dick (Blade Runner, 
Total Recall, Minority Report, etc.).

best-
Phillip

Phillip Thurtle
http://www.carleton.ca/~pthurtle/





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