Rant in relation to Vurt
One of my favorite authors, Jeff Noon, wrote a book in 1993 entitled Vurt. The story follows a group of rebellious, young outcasts in a futuristic world fueled by a virtual reality drug called "vurt". The drug is housed in feathers,(like bird feathers), of various colors depending on their strength and category of emphasis, i.e. adventure, lust, and so forth. When the user indulges in a feather, it is called "plugging in". This book was a debut novel and eventually won the Clark award for excellence in relation to science fiction.
I was curious to see if any other Palahniuck fans had also read this book. If so, did anyone find the similarities in Rant and Vurt intriguing? In particular, the acts of "boosting" and "plugging in", seem to have an uncanny sense of correlation. In reading both novels, I am also slightly reminded of certain elements within the Matrix series. Never a avid fan of science fiction, these similarities have left me wondering. Like modern day Aldous Huxleys, do these creators have a premonition as to the direction of our future? Is Rant a slight nod of appreciation to these former works or is it simply further confirmation of an enlightened state of mind?
i look forward to your response. I think about this everytime I decide to re-read Rant. Passages from Vurt will pop into my head and I have to remind myself which ideas belong to each book. I just don't run across that many Noon fans to discuss it with.
Nice name and avatar, by the way. Are you a Gondry fan too?
I think the term "plugging in" has been popular ever since someone invented sockets for computers to be plugged into.
There's not exactly a good word for being...inputted into a virtual reality program. Inputted doesn't seem to work well, "pluged" just...works. And I've never read Vurt. I've just seen the Matrix and read Rant, and now I can't think of a word to use other than "plug."
I'm not reading this post because I haven't read rant yet, but all I needed to see was the title. The simple fact that someone is comparing it to vurt means i need to try reading it again. Jeff Noon is one of my absolute favorites. I have read all of his books, but only own the few i have been able to get my hands on at a reasonable price. Its a shame so many are out of print an the rest are hardly available in the US.
Anyway, welcome, new person. If you are a fan of Jeff Noon you are cool in my book.
"I'm glad I live in the GPS era. In a different century, I would've set off to visit the other side of the village and wandered off into the mountains and been eaten by a carnivorous plant. Or discovered the Americas."
-LaJessica
it's nice to find other fans of Jeff Noon. I am totally in agreement concerning the availability of his books. After I read Vurt, it took me a few months before I could find any of his other titles without spending a small fortune. Anyone who hasn't already checked it out, visit www.217babel.com. This is an ongoing story site that involves Noon and three other authors. It's a cool idea and a great way to read his work without having to sell your soul on ebay.
Let me get back to this thread once I pick up the book off my shelf. RANT that is. I read VURT a few years back alongside afterwards with POLLEN. I'm kinda curious to see the correlation you are speaking of now.
I like NOONs books also.