I've written a 120,000 word post-cyberpunk MS that I cant wait to share when the post count lets me 
Till then, I have some rather interesting observations (theories?) to share about the genre, and its possible history.
Full disclosure, I am into Neuroscience as my primary career, so everything will inevitably filter through that.
As best as I can tell: Hardboiled is about PTSD. It is about a generation of WW1/WW2 veterans picking up the pulp they so unconsciously resonated with; being that of the fallen Alpha male, finding their place among the social order in a world they hardly understand, while combating a litany of unresolved personality flaws (alcoholism being the most prominent). It is little wonder that the progenitors of this genre (Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett) write to this Archetype; while seemingly occupying it themselves.
Flash forwards a few decades, and William Gibson writes Neuromancer. Full Disclosure #2: this is probably my favourite book of all time
Gibson was a Vietnam draft dodger, hanging out illegally in Canada, living a very tortured existence on the fringes of society and getting by however he could. Drugs seemed to play a large part in his life.
Neuromancer draws very heavily form the Hardboiled/Noir genre to get its specific tone of social isolation; but here the precise cause of the 'alienation' is different: Noir deals with neurodegeneration (Amygdala and Hippocampus) and the associated personality changes involved in that, while Cyberpunk seems to be more psychosocial--if not neurochemical in nature. In other words: Paranoia about globalisation meets paranoia from too much LSD.
Why do I bother writing all this?
As you can tell, I love Neuromancer, so anything I ever wrote was always going to be in that work's shadow. But to miss to context, and to miss the specific history is to also miss the wave, and re-write something already written, to recycle the past and to become obscure before putting pen to figurative paper.
If my theory is worth anything, Hardboiled/Cyberpunk as a kind of phenomenon will perpetually exist; but will shift rather violently in tone and flavour as the social setting shifts too. So much so that the links between them might seem glaringly inobvious. So being authentic might paradoxically involve being thoroughly creative; and capturing the zeitgeist of the times, projected into the future, as it currently feels relevant. As such, it may even involve abandoning the stereotypical 'Cyberpunk' tone quite dramatically?
Just an interesting idea. I tried writing Cyberpunk, but ended up with something much closer to this ^^^
Till then, I have some rather interesting observations (theories?) to share about the genre, and its possible history.
Full disclosure, I am into Neuroscience as my primary career, so everything will inevitably filter through that.
As best as I can tell: Hardboiled is about PTSD. It is about a generation of WW1/WW2 veterans picking up the pulp they so unconsciously resonated with; being that of the fallen Alpha male, finding their place among the social order in a world they hardly understand, while combating a litany of unresolved personality flaws (alcoholism being the most prominent). It is little wonder that the progenitors of this genre (Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett) write to this Archetype; while seemingly occupying it themselves.
Flash forwards a few decades, and William Gibson writes Neuromancer. Full Disclosure #2: this is probably my favourite book of all time
Gibson was a Vietnam draft dodger, hanging out illegally in Canada, living a very tortured existence on the fringes of society and getting by however he could. Drugs seemed to play a large part in his life.
Neuromancer draws very heavily form the Hardboiled/Noir genre to get its specific tone of social isolation; but here the precise cause of the 'alienation' is different: Noir deals with neurodegeneration (Amygdala and Hippocampus) and the associated personality changes involved in that, while Cyberpunk seems to be more psychosocial--if not neurochemical in nature. In other words: Paranoia about globalisation meets paranoia from too much LSD.
Why do I bother writing all this?
As you can tell, I love Neuromancer, so anything I ever wrote was always going to be in that work's shadow. But to miss to context, and to miss the specific history is to also miss the wave, and re-write something already written, to recycle the past and to become obscure before putting pen to figurative paper.
If my theory is worth anything, Hardboiled/Cyberpunk as a kind of phenomenon will perpetually exist; but will shift rather violently in tone and flavour as the social setting shifts too. So much so that the links between them might seem glaringly inobvious. So being authentic might paradoxically involve being thoroughly creative; and capturing the zeitgeist of the times, projected into the future, as it currently feels relevant. As such, it may even involve abandoning the stereotypical 'Cyberpunk' tone quite dramatically?
Just an interesting idea. I tried writing Cyberpunk, but ended up with something much closer to this ^^^
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