Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present

商家名称	信用等级	购买信息	订购本书
		Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present
		Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present

基本信息·出版社：St. Martin's Press
·页码：272 页
·出版日期：2004年03月
·ISBN：0312313594
·条形码：9780312313593
·版本：第1版
·装帧：平装
·开本：20开 Pages Per Sheet
·丛书名：Byron Preiss Book
·外文书名：电影《黑客帝国》的始末

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Publisher Comments :
It is the beginning of the twenty-first century, and we are living on the cusp of change. Reality has already spawned one alternate state, and for many people virtual reality is now where they are most at home. But what happens when virtual worlds become indistinguishable from what we consider to be the real world? When you wake up from a dream, how do you know that you are not still dreaming? And if the reality we're in is virtual, who is doing the programming?

These questions, and many more like them, spin effortlessly out of the box-office mega-hit The Matrix. More than just a computer-aided shot-'em-up, more than just the latest cinematic expression of cyberpunk angst, The Matrix presented layer upon layer of challenging explorations of what the true nature of reality might be, and why this should (or should not) be important to us.

Exploring the Matrix presents eighteen thoughtful and thought-provoking essays on what the film had to say and exactly how it was said. Here you will discover the long and fascinating history of some of the themes set forth in the Wachowski Brothers' landmark film, why they are important, how they have been explored in the past, and their implications for the immediate future of human society. The true nature of reality in our current cyber-age is not a rhetorical question, but rather one that needs to be answered as we move closer to seamless virtual scenarios, accessible online, in video games . . . and perhaps ultimately as the result of uploading software to an implanted chip in the brain.

You can take the blue pill and stay in the dream, unaware of your status, or take the red pill and see just how deep the rabbit hole goes.

From Publishers Weekly
Larry and Andy Wachowski scored big in 1999 with The Matrix, a science-fiction film in which cyber-rebels discover the world is an artificial computer-generated construct. Beneath the film's airborne martial arts were philosophical underpinnings, and the thriller's huge success prompted piles of merchandise, animated shorts, magazines, Web sites and books. Now a new wave begins, timed to coincide with the May 15 release of The Matrix Reloaded, the second feature in the series. This anthology covers the film's concepts and themes. Haber, a veteran sci-fi and fantasy editor, assembles an array of original essays by 17 science-fiction authors and digital artists, including Alan Dean Foster, Joe Haldeman, Bruce Sterling and Ian Watson. John Shirley (Black Butterflies), insightfully explores what he defines as a new cinema movement of "films questioning reality" as he compares The Matrix with American Beauty, Fight Club and the enigmas embedded in Mulholland Drive. Shirley sees allegories amid adolescent imagery, while nanotech novelist Kathleen Ann Goonan finds the Zen within. David Brin traces fiction's "suspicion of authority"; writer-illustrator Dean Motter tours The Matrix's kinetic architecture; and Kevin J. Anderson examines the Columbine connection. Philip K. Dick and cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson both get many mentions throughout this compelling collection, yet Gibson is regrettably absent as a contributor. Displaying 20 imaginative b&w illustrations by Robert Zohrab and Darrel Anderson, these potent pages conclude with a six-page section of author profiles.


Reviews
"Editor Karen Haber has attracted an impressive list of major SF names...it's fascinating to see the reactions each of these authors has to the film."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　- Cinescape

"Dazzling...Each piece subjects the movie to a deep scrutiny that serves to make it ever more intriguing...this is at once entertaining and instructive."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　- Locus

"A fun browse for information-hungry fans."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　- Library Journal

"Interpretations and riffs, criticism and praise, pop-culture film theory and gosh-wow pseudo-philosophy...readers who loved the movies and grabbed the book because of that will discover a great many ideas they've never heard of before."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　- Analog

"Think The Matrix is just a neat Keanu Reeves sci-fi flick with cool sunglasses and big guns? Guess again, bucko. This essay collection shows how the first part of the Wachowski brothers' trilogy is really about Taoism, oracular philosophy, moral relativism, Ronald Reagan, and Big Brother...many of the pieces should also entertain."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　- Maxim

"You never know quite what to expect from nonfiction tie-in to a popular film, but Exploring the Matrix, edited by Karen Haber, exceeds whatever the expectations are--and with considerable brio . . . A must-read for the film's fans."
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　- Paula Guran, Dark Echo


About Author
Karen Haber is an award-winning author and editor of science fiction and fantasy. The author of dozens of works, her short stories have appeared in Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Age among others. Ms. Haber is the art book reviewer for Locus, and profiles artists for both Realms of Fantasy and Galaxyonline. She is co-editor, along with her husband, Robert Silverberg, of the Bantam/Spectra science fiction anthologies, Universe 1 & 2 and St. Martin's Press's Meditations on Middle Earth.

Book Dimension
Height (mm) 231 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Width (mm) 156
作者简介 Karen Haber is an award-winning author and editor of science fiction and fantasy. The author of dozens of works, her short stories have appeared in Asimov's, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Science Fiction Age among others. Ms. Haber is the art book reviewer for Locus, and profiles artists for both Realms of Fantasy and Galaxyonline. She is co-editor, along with her husband, Robert Silverberg, of the Bantam/Spectra science fiction anthologies, Universe 1 & 2 and St. Martin's Press's Meditations on Middle Earth.

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