Konrad is a fictional character in William Gibson's novel All Tomorrow's Parties. An anonymous and quasi-mystical assassin, Konrad is moved by the Tao in all his actions, regardless of the demands of his employers. He is clad in nondescript clothing and carries a tantō, which he wields with sublime and thoughtless skill. He is haunted by the memory of his lost lover, Lise.
William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as cyberpunk. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his early works were noir, near-future stories that explored the effects of technology, cybernetics, and computer networks on humans—a "combination of lowlife and high tech"—and helped to create an iconography for the information age before the ubiquity of the Internet in the 1990s. Gibson notably coined the term "cyberspace" in his short story "Burning Chrome" (1982) and later popularized the concept in his acclaimed debut novel Neuromancer (1984). These early works have been credited with "renovating" science fiction literature.
All Tomorrow's Parties is a science fiction novel by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, the third and final book in his Bridge trilogy. Like its predecessors, All Tomorrow's Parties is a speculative fiction novel set in a postmodern, dystopian, postcyberpunk future. The novel borrows its title from a song by Velvet Underground. It is written in the third person and deals with Gibsonian themes of emergent technology. The novel was initially published by Viking Press on October 7, 1999.
Assassination is the act of killing a prominent person for either political, religious or monetary reasons.
Konrad is portrayed as a mysterious, philosophical corporate assassin.[1] He is described as a retainer for media baron Cody Harwood although his employer does not seem to issue specific orders, nor does Konrad demonstrate a willingness to obey.[2] Konrad's professional relationship to Harwood is a peculiar one; neither truly needs the other but the relationship is maintained nonetheless for collateral reasons.[3]
That which is overdesigned, too highly specific, anticipates outcome; the anticipation of outcome guarantees, if not failure, the absence of grace.
Konrad is described in All Tomorrow's Parties as a slim, middle-aged man with short, grey hair and a vaguely professorial demeanor. He wears a dark green wool coat, dark grey pants, black leather shoes and round, gold-rimmed glasses. In the opinion of The Washington Post's reviewer Michael Dirda, Konrad "nearly steals the book away".[5]
The Washington Post is a major American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., with a particular emphasis on national politics and the federal government. It has the largest circulation in the Washington metropolitan area. Its slogan "Democracy Dies in Darkness" began appearing on its masthead in 2017. Daily broadsheet editions are printed for the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia.
Michael Dirda is a book critic for the Washington Post. He has been a Fulbright Fellow and won a Pulitzer Prize in 1993.
Philosophical assassin
Konrad follows the Chinese philosophy of Taoism,[4][6] aligning his movements with the spontaneous, universal energy path of the Tao.[7] Throughout the novel, he repeatedly contemplates the Tao to guide and inform his actions. Little is revealed about Konrad's past; there are, however, hints of a previous army service (some of his actions are described as 'military') and his nostalgic, jaded view of cities suggests that his work has taken him to many places around the world. The New York Times characterized his perspective as "sentimentalist".[2]
Taoism, or Daoism, is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao. The Tao is a fundamental idea in most Chinese philosophical schools; in Taoism, however, it denotes the principle that is the source, pattern and substance of everything that exists. Taoism differs from Confucianism by not emphasizing rigid rituals and social order, but is similar in the sense that it is a teaching about the various disciplines for achieving "perfection" by becoming one with the unplanned rhythms of the universe called "the way" or "dao". Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize wu wei, "naturalness", simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: 慈 "compassion", 儉 "frugality", and 不敢為天下先 "humility".
The New York Times is an American newspaper based in New York City with worldwide influence and readership. Founded in 1851, the paper has won 127 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper. The Times is ranked 17th in the world by circulation and 2nd in the U.S.
Konrad is trained in the art of Argentine knife-fighting which he learned on a beach in Cuba. His weapon of choice is the tantō, a shorter version of the Japanesekatana sword. He carries the tantō concealed under his armpit using a magnetic clip which affixes to the blade, leaving the hilt swinging freely. His skill with the weapon is consummate and is continually compared to the sublime, transcendent, thoughtless skill of an enlightened martial artist. Gibson arrived at the character of Konrad through witnessing the serenity, the alert, relaxed presentness, the inner transparent stillness of an FBI sniper[8] he serendipitously encountered.[9]
A tantō is one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (nihonto) that were worn by the samurai class of feudal Japan. The tantō dates to the Heian period, when it was mainly used as a weapon but evolved in design over the years to become more ornate. Tantō were used in traditional martial arts (tantojutsu). The term has seen a resurgence in the West since the 1980s as a point style of modern tactical knives, designed for piercing or stabbing.
A Japanese sword is one of several types of traditionally made swords from Japan. Swords have been made from as early as the Kofun period, though generally "Japanese swords" refer to the curved blades made after the Heian period. There are many types of Japanese swords that differ by size, shape, field of application and method of manufacture. Some of the more commonly known types of Japanese swords are the katana, wakizashi, odachi, and tachi.
Historically, katana were one of the traditionally made Japanese swords that were used by the samurai of ancient and feudal Japan. The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands.
A chance apophenic glimpse of a stranger stepping onto Market Street, San Francisco (the city in which the novel is set) shortly before he began writing the novel drew the character, and his lost love—a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman named Lise, whose image haunts Konrad's dreams—from Gibson's imagination:[1]
Apophenia is the tendency to mistakenly perceive connections and meaning between unrelated things. The term was coined by psychiatrist Klaus Conrad in his 1958 publication on the beginning stages of schizophrenia. He defined it as "unmotivated seeing of connections [accompanied by] a specific feeling of abnormal meaningfulness". He described the early stages of delusional thought as self-referential, over-interpretations of actual sensory perceptions, as opposed to hallucinations.
Market Street is a major thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at the northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District, to the intersection with Corbett Avenue in the Twin Peaks neighborhood. Beyond this point, the roadway continues as Portola Drive into the southwestern quadrant of San Francisco. Portola Drive extends south to the intersection of St. Francis Boulevard and Sloat Boulevard, where it continues as Junipero Serra Boulevard.
“
Drowned down three decades, she steps fresh as creation from the bronze doors of some brokerage. And he remembers, in that instant, that she is dead, and he is not, and that this is another century, and this quite clearly another girl, some newly minted stranger, one with whom he will never speak.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Related Research Articles
Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech" featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order.
The Tao Te Ching, also known by its pinyin romanization Dao De Jing, is a Chinese classic text traditionally credited to the 6th-century BC sage Laozi. The text's authorship, date of composition and date of compilation are debated. The oldest excavated portion dates back to the late 4th century BC, but modern scholarship dates other parts of the text as having been written—or at least compiled—later than the earliest portions of the Zhuangzi.
Laozi, also rendered as Lao Tzu and Lao-Tze, was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is the reputed author of the Tao Te Ching, the founder of philosophical Taoism, and a deity in religious Taoism and traditional Chinese religions.
Wu wei (無爲) is a concept literally meaning "without exertion". Wu wei emerged in the Spring and Autumn period, and Confucianism, to become an important concept in Chinese statecraft and Taoism, and was most commonly used to refer to an ideal form of government including the behavior of the emperor. Describing a state of unconflicting personal harmony, free-flowing spontaneity and savoir faire, it generally also more properly denotes a state of spirit or mind, and in Confucianism accords with conventional morality. Sinologist Jean François Billeter describes it as a "state of perfect knowledge of the reality of the situation, perfect efficaciousness and the realization of a perfect economy of energy", which in practice Edward Slingerland qualifies as a "set of ("transformed") dispositions ... conforming with the normative order."
"Johnny Mnemonic" is a science fiction short story by American-Canadian writer William Gibson, which served as inspiration for the 1995 film of the same name. The short story first appeared in Omni magazine in May 1981, and was subsequently included in 1986's Burning Chrome, a collection of Gibson's short fiction. It takes place in the world of Gibson's cyberpunk novels, predating them by some years, and introduces the character Molly Millions, who plays a prominent role in Gibson's Sprawl trilogy of novels.
The Bridge trilogy is a series of novels by William Gibson, his second after the successful Sprawl trilogy. The trilogy comprises the novels Virtual Light (1993), Idoru, (1996) and All Tomorrow's Parties (1999). A short story, "Skinner's Room", was originally composed for Visionary San Francisco, a 1990 museum exhibition exploring the future of San Francisco.
Francisco Scaramanga is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond novel and film versions of The Man with the Golden Gun. Scaramanga's signature weapon is a golden gun. In the novel, the character is nicknamed "Pistols" Scaramanga and is also called "Paco". In the film, the character was played by Christopher Lee.
Dying Inside is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert Silverberg. It was nominated for the Nebula Award in 1972, and both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1973.
The Eastern religions are the religions that originated in East, South and Southeast Asia and thus have dissimilarities with Western religions. This includes the East Asian religions, Indian religions as well as animistic indigenous religions.
"Skinner's Room" is a science fiction short story by American-Canadian William Gibson originally composed for Visionary San Francisco, a 1990 museum exhibition exploring the future of San Francisco. It features the first appearance in Gibson's fiction of "the Bridge", which Gibson revisited as the setting of his acclaimed Bridge trilogy of novels. In the story, the Bridge is overrun by squatters, among them Skinner, who occupies a shack atop a bridgetower. An altered version of the story was published in Omni magazine and subsequently anthologized. "Skinner's Room" was nominated for the 1992 Locus Award for Best Short Story.
Konrad is a German given name and surname that means "Bold Counselor". From Proto-Germanic *kōniz + *rēdą ("counsel").
Buddhism has interacted with several East Asian religions such as Confucianism and Shintoism since it spread from India during the 2nd century AD.
The Huahujing is a Taoist book. The work is traditionally attributed to Laozi.
The Haunted Monastery is a gong'an detective novel written by Robert van Gulik and set in Imperial China. It is a fiction based on the real character of Judge Dee, a magistrate and statesman of the Tang court, who lived roughly 630–700.
In the study of comparative religion, the East Asian religions form a subset of the Eastern religions. This group includes Chinese religion overall, which further includes Ancestral Worship, Chinese folk religion, Confucianism, Taoism and so-called popular salvationist organisations, as well as elements drawn from Mahayana Buddhism that form the core of Chinese Buddhism and East Asian Buddhism at large. The group also includes Japanese Shintoism and Korean Sindoism, which have received influences from Chinese religions throughout the centuries. Chinese salvationist religions have influenced the rise of Korean and Japanese new religions—for instance, respectively, Jeungsanism, and Tenriism; these movements draw upon indigenous traditions but are heavily influenced by Chinese philosophy and theology.
