Vaporware books

[Yabba]

What books give you that Vaporware feeling.
Why do you like them and how did you find out about them?

For me I'd have to choose R.U. Sirius, St. Jude's, and the internet 24's unknown masterpiece How to mutate and take over the world. It's a extremely experimental book about the internet and the cypherpunk movement of the 90's. It features emails, images, and even pretend hypertext in the meaty hardcover tome it was published in. 50% intellectual ravings 50% schizo craziness the book slowly devolves into madness as you read through. It's a wild ride all the way through but, it can be hard to read at times. Really fascinating look at the 90's cypherpunk movement regardless even though it turns to fictionally early on.
You can get it on thriftbooks or Amazon.

 

[№56]

I don't remember the title and might be imagining the whole thing, but I'm pretty sure J.G. Ballard wrote a short story about astronauts exploring an alien structure that turns out to be an impossibly huge shopping mall passenger concourse.
Edit: Found it! It's more "liminal space" than "vaporware," but still relevant in my opinion.

 

[Yabba]

I don't remember the title and might be imagining the whole thing, but I'm pretty sure J.G. Ballard wrote a short story about astronauts exploring an alien structure that turns out to be an impossibly huge shopping mall passenger concourse.
Edit: Found it! It's more "liminal space" than "vaporware," but still relevant in my opinion.

I love everything J.G. Ballard. I found his books from a old collection of articles on sci-fi called Science Fiction in the Real World by Norman Spinrad. Picked up Concrete Island and High Rise at my local library and have been slowly reading through his books ever since.

 

[mauer]

Michael Crichton's "Rising Sun" definitely stands out for me in terms of that sort of book. It's an entertaining murder mystery novel that talks a LOT about Japanese business/economic culture and their perceived hostile attitude towards the U.S. in the 80s/90s. I enjoyed reading it.

 

[Cyberspace drifter]

Not a book that gives you vaporwave vibes per se because it is about vapor wave, been in my backlog for some time now, decided to read it after regaining intrest in the movment and internet cultures/subcultures in general.
So far it's been a decent read as the writer recounts past intractions online reflecting on them and seeing them through a new lens, haven't got very far but I can tell it'll be intresting, it also promises interviews with prominent figures in the gener.

 

[Markovian Parallax]

Hmm. I would say, this one

 

[Bogdonovich]

Not a book that gives you vaporwave vibes per se because it is about vapor wave, been in my backlog for some time now, decided to read it after regaining intrest in the movment and internet cultures/subcultures in general.
So far it's been a decent read as the writer recounts past intractions online reflecting on them and seeing them through a new lens, haven't got very far but I can tell it'll be intresting, it also promises interviews with prominent figures in the gener.

This book was a letdown.

 

[Bogdonovich]

Carl Hiassen- Skin Tight. Tim Dorsey- Hammerhead Ranch Hotel. Haruki Murakami- Hard Boiled wonderland. Mirrorshades.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP3D0LH_3UU

 

[WKYK]

In The Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami could fit this category I think. In fact all of Murakami's books that I've read have a strange feel to them, hard to describe but it feels similar to the way vaporwave makes me feel.

 

[Pseudiom]

Interesting so many people associate Ryu Murakami with Vaporwave. I'll admit, for years, I thought he and Haruki Murakami were the same person because their books were promoted/branded in the States in such a similar manner. Both being technically of the post-war Danso generation (1951-1960), but I associate both more with the sleek materialism Shinjinuri generation (1961-1970). Haruki Murakami was technically born in 1949, but, aesthetically, from my little exposure to him, I do not associate him with the Post-War Generation (1946-1950) at all, but that could be the fact I've read little of his work. The original otaku would have been Danso though which is odd to realize since they came to cultural power in the 1970s and 1980s. I've head both authors often deal with violence and virtual reality so maybe not as strange as I think.

Why do I associate Ryu Murakami and Haruki Murakami with the Shinjinuri? I think its judging a book by its cover. There was apparently a slang term in Japan during the 1980s: Neaka 「根赤　～　ねあか」。Neaka literally means something like "Red Root", "Red Face", or, in far less literal translations, "New Grown Red" or could even mean "Baby Face". It basically means optimism. It was use to describe a lot of the cultural optimism and shine in 1980s Japan which would later influence Vaporwave. A lot of this this was often exemplified in Japan's technological optimism of the 1980s. The "Electronic Tribe" of 1987. I would say both Murakami's made their reputation during this period such as with Norwegian Wood in 1987. A lot of both of the Murakami's book covers were influenced by this surface level Optimism and early computer graphics style.


The cover for Ryu Murakami's untranslated EV. café (1989) displays a graphical style I associate with early computer drawing and animation—even if it is a fake graphical cover meant to imitate that style.


Here is the Japanese cover for Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985) which was translated to English in 1991.

I wonder if that's because the work of both was ascendant in the West during the Your Next Boss May Be Japanese (1987) period of American-Japanese economic relations so their aesthetics became so long lasting in the United States (maybe this is also true for Europe, but Americans are the ones with a Pacific coast). The period between 1985-1987 seems important now that I look at it. As a side note, Gibson's Neuromancer was published in 1984 and Idoru in 1996.


I'm a touch sick right now, but I wanted to write the basic idea before I forgot or it was lost in the fever mists.

 

[Bogdonovich]

Interesting so many people associate Ryu Murakami with Vaporwave. I'll admit, for years, I thought he and Haruki Murakami were the same person because their books were promoted/branded in the States in such a similar manner. Both being technically of the post-war Danso generation (1951-1960), but I associate both more with the sleek materialism Shinjinuri generation (1961-1970). Haruki Murakami was technically born in 1949, but, aesthetically, from my little exposure to him, I do not associate him with the Post-War Generation (1946-1950) at all, but that could be the fact I've read little of his work. The original otaku would have been Danso though which is odd to realize since they came to cultural power in the 1970s and 1980s. I've head both authors often deal with violence and virtual reality so maybe not as strange as I think.

Why do I associate Ryu Murakami and Haruki Murakami with the Shinjinuri? I think its judging a book by its cover. There was apparently a slang term in Japan during the 1980s: Neaka 「根赤　～　ねあか」。Neaka literally means something like "Red Root", "Red Face", or, in far less literal translations, "New Grown Red" or could even mean "Baby Face". It basically means optimism. It was use to describe a lot of the cultural optimism and shine in 1980s Japan which would later influence Vaporwave. A lot of this this was often exemplified in Japan's technological optimism of the 1980s. The "Electronic Tribe" of 1987. I would say both Murakami's made their reputation during this period such as with Norwegian Wood in 1987. A lot of both of the Murakami's book covers were influenced by this surface level Optimism and early computer graphics style.

View attachment 63639
The cover for Ryu Murakami's untranslated EV. café (1989) displays a graphical style I associate with early computer drawing and animation—even if it is a fake graphical cover meant to imitate that style.

View attachment 63641
Here is the Japanese cover for Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985) which was translated to English in 1991.

I wonder if that's because the work of both was ascendant in the West during the Your Next Boss May Be Japanese (1987) period of American-Japanese economic relations so their aesthetics became so long lasting in the United States (maybe this is also true for Europe, but Americans are the ones with a Pacific coast). The period between 1985-1987 seems important now that I look at it. As a side note, Gibson's Neuromancer was published in 1984 and Idoru in 1996.
View attachment 63626View attachment 63627

I'm a touch sick right now, but I wanted to write the basic idea before I forgot or it was lost in the fever mists.
View attachment 63640

Excellent- Thank you!

 

[Bogdonovich]

Interesting so many people associate Ryu Murakami with Vaporwave. I'll admit, for years, I thought he and Haruki Murakami were the same person because their books were promoted/branded in the States in such a similar manner. Both being technically of the post-war Danso generation (1951-1960), but I associate both more with the sleek materialism Shinjinuri generation (1961-1970). Haruki Murakami was technically born in 1949, but, aesthetically, from my little exposure to him, I do not associate him with the Post-War Generation (1946-1950) at all, but that could be the fact I've read little of his work. The original otaku would have been Danso though which is odd to realize since they came to cultural power in the 1970s and 1980s. I've head both authors often deal with violence and virtual reality so maybe not as strange as I think.

Why do I associate Ryu Murakami and Haruki Murakami with the Shinjinuri? I think its judging a book by its cover. There was apparently a slang term in Japan during the 1980s: Neaka 「根赤　～　ねあか」。Neaka literally means something like "Red Root", "Red Face", or, in far less literal translations, "New Grown Red" or could even mean "Baby Face". It basically means optimism. It was use to describe a lot of the cultural optimism and shine in 1980s Japan which would later influence Vaporwave. A lot of this this was often exemplified in Japan's technological optimism of the 1980s. The "Electronic Tribe" of 1987. I would say both Murakami's made their reputation during this period such as with Norwegian Wood in 1987. A lot of both of the Murakami's book covers were influenced by this surface level Optimism and early computer graphics style.

View attachment 63639
The cover for Ryu Murakami's untranslated EV. café (1989) displays a graphical style I associate with early computer drawing and animation—even if it is a fake graphical cover meant to imitate that style.

View attachment 63641
Here is the Japanese cover for Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (1985) which was translated to English in 1991.

I wonder if that's because the work of both was ascendant in the West during the Your Next Boss May Be Japanese (1987) period of American-Japanese economic relations so their aesthetics became so long lasting in the United States (maybe this is also true for Europe, but Americans are the ones with a Pacific coast). The period between 1985-1987 seems important now that I look at it. As a side note, Gibson's Neuromancer was published in 1984 and Idoru in 1996.
View attachment 63626View attachment 63627

I'm a touch sick right now, but I wanted to write the basic idea before I forgot or it was lost in the fever mists.
View attachment 63640

Do you have a recommended starting point to get into Ryu Murakami?

 

[Pseudiom]

Do you have a recommended starting point to get into Ryu Murakami?

To be honest, I'm usually terrible at recommending a solid introduction for authors.

I usually just say start with their first published work or try one of their short story collections. Ryu Murakami could be a little difficult because of his translation history though. Coin Locker Babies might be the most accessible due to its popularity.

 

[Yabba]

In The Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami could fit this category I think. In fact all of Murakami's books that I've read have a strange feel to them, hard to describe but it feels similar to the way vaporwave makes me feel.
View attachment 63557

Finished Miso Soup, and it was definitely a captivating book. While it didn't give a Vaporware feel to me, that doesn't mean it won't for someone else;and the books ideas on the sex industry and the wider Japanese world, where very interesting. Great recommendation man!

 

[WKYK]

Finished Miso Soup, and it was definitely a captivating book. While it didn't give a Vaporware feel to me, that doesn't mean it won't for someone else;and the books ideas on the sex industry and the wider Japanese world, where very interesting. Great recommendation man!

Glad you liked it! I also took your recommendation of "How to mutate and take over the world", I downloaded it during the semester and it looks like nothing I've seen before, especially for being released in 90's. I haven't gotten very far, my internship has been keeping me really busy, but I'll report back when I finish it