Destabilizing Effect

To tell you the truth, for the first 82 pages of All Tomorrows Parties By William Gibson, I did not think I could finish this book since I despised it so much. At first, nothing made sense to me, and as soon as I would get into the story, the chapter would end and yet another confusing setting and new character was introduced. But when I started to like it a bit more, I did feel that it made me a bit uncomfortable, by its destabilizing effect. This novel got me thinking of the future, and how if it will turn into anything like All Tomorrow's Parties, I'll be glad I won't be living through it. One thing that troubles me about life on this bridge, is their lack of police service. For example, when Silencio's friends, Raton and Playboy were murdered by the man, their bodies were not confiscated by the cops and no one really made a big deal out of it, as if it was normal. And when Carson got shot by the man in the black scarf who was actually following Rydell, no help came to either seek medical attention for Carson or to arrest the shooter. That is one aspect of the story that makes me feel really uncomfortable and unsafe about the bridge, just like the medieval ages, where anything could happen to anybody for any reason due to a lack of law. These all contribute to the fact that Chevette did not want to walk back to where she had parked the van and that Fontaine pointed a gun at both Chevette who knocked at his door and Silencio who sat innocently by his window. Other things that worry me is that Fontaine had two wives, Clarisse and Tourmaline. It is as if women have lost their rights and San Francisco has gone back in time and followed the paths of some modern developing countries. And the fact that all the beaches are so polluted that they have bio-hazard signs on them, makes me think about the way that we are living as a nation right now to actually cause that in the future. I know that this book was very different from other books that I have read, but I guess William Gibson did have a destabilizing effect on me and many other people too and in a way it is a good thing, since it causes doubt about the present.