One of the first grown-up science-fiction novels William Gibson read was Heinlein’s Starship Troopers — and I don’t think he got it:
I’d gone away on a trip with my mother and I had nothing to read, and the only thing for sale was this rather adult-looking paperback. I was barely up to the reading skill required for Starship Troopers, but I can remember figuring out the first couple of pages, and it blew the top off my head. Later, when I managed to read it all the way through, I got the feeling that I was more like the juvenile delinquents who got beat up by the Starship Troopers than I was like the Starship Troopers themselves. And I remember wondering, Where did the juvenile delinquents go after they got beaten up by the Starship Troopers? What happened to them? Where did they live? Bobby [the protagonist of Gibson's Count Zero] is sort of the answer. They lived with their mothers and they were computer hackers!
The Mobile Infantry soldiers of Starship Troopers don’t beat up juvenile delinquents. More importantly, I don’t think Gibson can imagine a world without juvenile delinquents — even though the phenomenon was new and worrisome when Heinlein penned his novel in the 1950s.
Sounds like an imperfectly understood book read while young being filtered through adult prejudices.
Meanwhile, back in the real world, juvenile delinquents are not computer hackers.
Indeed, James James, that’s some serious bubble-syndrome.
There’s a scene in the novel where the protagonist goes to a bar with some of his fellow recruits. They end up getting jumped by people in their late teens or early twenties, and the recruits beat the delinquents half to death. That’s probably what Gibson was referring to.
Cet animal est tres méchant. Quand on l’attaque il se défend.
Interesting how, with the passage of years, recruits defending themselves after being jumped in a bar can transform into vicious fascistic thugs beating up delinquents for no particular reason. Why, they were just on their way to the computer lab to practice their Python!
I didn’t really get that from Gibson’s quote; he never mentions fascism or anything. It doesn’t sound like he’s defending the delinquents, just that he’s more interested in their lives.
Also, if you read Count Zero, Bobby (prototypical delinquent) comes off as a total tool who isn’t very good at hacking.
You’re probably right about me reading too much into it, Morgan. I think over the years I’ve come to automatically assume the dreaded “f-word” will come up in any discussion involving Starship Troopers.
I have not read Count Zero, but thanks to you its been added to my list. Thanks.
A little off-topic, but…
If we ever do successfully colonize the solar system, then Heinlein will probably deserve some of the credit for having inspiring the first generation of space pioneers. And while that wouldn’t make him a great writer in a literary sense, it would make him one of the most influential and important writers in human history. Not too shabby.