The girl who is plugged in

He never actually sees the woman behind Delphi, even though everything beyond her presentation is present as well. His rage is tied to his ability to own his notion of what a free Delphi is, never asking her what she wants or needs. The comfortable feeling that what he wants to consume is in front of him parallels the damage well-meaning allies, that are actually just a part of the same system of control, visit on people tied up in systemic oppression is disturbingly articulate.

One that does not feature some of the more problematic aspects first wave cyberpunk often is critiqued for. And every night around the shoulder of the world an ill-shaped thing in a dark burrow beasts its way across the sterile pool. While the world is brutal to the protagonist, like pretty much all cyberpunk, the marginalization of and fetishization of P. Burke, as she is referred to in the text, is the entire point of the story, serving to critique societal structures.

Even with this critique present, there is also no feeling of the male gaze perforating the short fiction. It some ways it is as large a contrast between some of the more typical first wave cyberpunk and the non-masculine works found in the sub-genre. Certainly nothing could surpass it in this condensed a demonstration of the contrast, anyway.

Watching P. Samples, ratings, critics, polls? Forget it. With that carrier field you can get real-time response-sensor readouts from every receiver in the world, served up at your console.

And the shame. I am not what thou lovest. And the fiercer trying. And the realization that there is no, no way, none. Jun 12, Lauren rated it it was ok. Interesting idea, but really hard to read because of the writing style. It jumps around a lot and kind of sounds like it was written in one go without any planning or structure.

It does manage to be a full story in 30ish pages though, which is impressive to me. Not really my thing though unfortunately. Nov 29, Craig rated it really liked it.

Another one of Tiptree's stories that gets stuck in your head. You have to remember this was written in !! In today's age of social media and viral videos, it's seemingly nothing special, but this was written in ! My respect for Tiptree continues to grow. Jan 16, Bil rated it really liked it. My mind breaks a little when I stumble across a year-old piece of writing that seems so fresh and prescient. Recommended to me via sarahmei on Twitter. Mar 14, tobes rated it it was amazing Shelves: forbidden-love , dystopian-favorites , first-page-sold-me , tragic-romance , girls-behaving-badly , not-online-yet , confinement.

The kind of book that makes me wonder why I read anything besides feminist speculative fiction. Amazingly written and so creative. Just wish it was longer. Five stars. It's one of those books that I really cannot decide whether I liked it or not. Main reason that I've mixed feelings about this book is that, while the futuristic dystopian universe that the writer build was exceptionally visionary and in some point scary to realizing that where mankind heads to.

And that's good, because this is what a dystopia meant to be. A warning sign. But in the other hand, I don't really know what is this but the literary language? I know it's meant to be build an intimate conversional language with the reader but I don't think it's the case here.

I also want to mention about how the holo-show and pop-icons so accurately represent our age's influencer marketing and celebrity culture that WELL.

It's a scary warning sign to us. A wake up call. Lastly, through the P. Burke-Delphy duality, writer puts theseus-ship like dilemma but I think in a philosophical level, it dully express the idea and didn't dig deeper into the problem. For me, it's an another downside. Nov 17, James rated it really liked it. I think the story itself is phenomenal.

What makes a good futuristic sci-fi is the ability to comment on universally important themes that could be relevant to society decades beforehand and decades afterwards its publication. The commentary on identity in a capitalism fueled techworld is truly timeless.

The way that she uses even minor characters to make large thematic statements is extraordinarily talented. It belongs. It seems like there was so much sass attached to the story where steady and simple plot progression should be? Whenever action really does unfold, it is often understated or worded in an unnecessarily vague way.

I might have been completely turned off if this was a full length novel but 56 pages of looking past an occasionally irksome voice is worth doing for such a fantastic story.

May 11, Adam rated it it was amazing Shelves: short-stories , science-fiction. This story gives me flashbacks of Neuromancer ; wildly confusing and simultaneously brilliant. While many will focus on the feminist angles and parallels with the female author pretending to be a man, I don't think that's the most interesting aspect to this story - yes life is always easier for beautiful women, men as well; no the science fiction w "You were warned, this is the FUTURE.

While many will focus on the feminist angles and parallels with the female author pretending to be a man, I don't think that's the most interesting aspect to this story - yes life is always easier for beautiful women, men as well; no the science fiction world didn't reject Tiptree in the end for being a woman, because her writing was brilliant.

Would she have found it harder to find success as a woman writing science fiction during the 70s? Almost definitely, so I do understand her decision and how it thematically relates to this story. What I enjoyed most was her prescient pre-internet writing on the oversaturation of ads Facebook, YouTube and the power of influencers Instagram. Her ability to create and maintain mystery and tension is brilliant, as is her prose.

Mar 03, William Leight rated it liked it. This story is probably best thought of as a forerunner of cyberpunk, with its corporate villainy and wired world. Also, under current conditions the idea that advertising would ever be banned by law sounds laughable. However, Tiptree Jr.

And you don't have to strain too hard to see a parallel between some aspects of the plot and today's social media so-called influencers. Aug 24, Ninja rated it really liked it Shelves: sci-fi , cyberpunk. Up front, I quite liked the prose style, just a little in-your-face without going full-on Beukean. Despite being a 70s novel, it catches a lot of the modern zeitgeist, with the slightly jarring exception on the advertising.

The novella races along with the cyberpunk rags-to-riches story of P. Burke, though perhaps the conclusion was I really wanted to give 5 stars. I wish it was two times longer it felt like rushed to me.

If only some major plot holes , unspoken mysteries in case of being optimistic, have been explained and more depth have been given to the characters; there isn't any reason to be remembered with glory as Fahrenheit and Thrilling concept and insane accuracy but wasted potential.

Sep 14, Angel Parrish rated it did not like it. I had to read this to coach a student through a Feminist Dystopian Literature course.

Does that sentence make sense? Neither does this story. But that IS what it is like. Weird stuff. Oct 01, Kara rated it it was amazing Shelves: sci-fi , punk-cyber.

A sci-fi story from the 's that holds up remarkably well today. Cyborg "Influencers" tell people what to buy without technically doing commercials, and everything is run by mega corporations. The idea of a brain in one place and a body in another is pretty basic by today's standards, but a huge leap at the time. Jun 29, Lara Thompson rated it really liked it. Jolting writing, a bit disorienting at times, about a girl from the gutter saved to plug into a shell of a grown beautiful "god".

Plugged in, the real girl controls the fake one that parades in real life. Fun story, anti corporate, quite cynical. Great fun! Nov 02, L rated it it was ok Shelves: sci-fi , short-stories.

Somewhere between 1. I liked the writing style, but found the story a bit difficult to follow. On top of that, the premise is interesting, but I feel like more could have been done with it.

Aug 18, Austin Whipple rated it it was ok. Really interesting, but hard to read because it is so stream-of-consciousness. Jan 17, Kristina Spralja added it. What surprised me about this novella is its relevance and the plethora of social issues it raises. Alice Bradley proved to be quite ahead of her time with this one.

Burke , a neglected year-old girl who becomes a Remote controller for a celebrity, Delphi. At first, P. Burke falls in love with her new life and excels in her role as Delphi. Then, she meets and falls for Paul Isham , a rebellious film director. Burke deeply identifies with Delphi and longs to leave her own body behind. Not understand who she is, Paul pushes Burke out of the way, severing the connection between Burke and Delphi and killing them both.

Later, a different remote takes over the role of Delphi. Although the story is set in an imagined future, Tiptree draws on social and technological trends evident in s America and critiques aspects of that society.