Vurt
Encyclopedia
Vurt is a 1993
science fiction
novel written by British
author Jeff Noon
. Both Noon and small publishing house Ringpull's debut novel
, it went on to win the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke Award
and was later listed in The Best Novels of the Nineties.
. The novel is set in an alternate version of Manchester
, England, in which society has been shaped by Vurt, a hallucinogenic drug
/shared alternate reality
, accessed by sucking on colour-coded feathers. Through some (never explained) mechanism, the dream
s, mythology
, and imaginings of humanity have achieved objective reality in the Vurt and become "real".
Before the novel begins, Scribble and his sister-lover take a shared trip into a vurt called English Voodoo, but upon awakening Scribble finds his sister has been replaced by an amorphous blob he nicknames "The Thing from Outer Space". From that point on, Scribble is on a mission to find another copy of the rare and contraband Curious Yellow feather (found within English Voodoo), so that he can exchange The Thing for Desdemona.
's cyberpunk novel Neuromancer
, as well as Anthony Burgess
's A Clockwork Orange
.
In High Anxieties, a book exploring the modern concept of addiction, Scribble is used as an example of a character who has traded addiction for a chance at transcendence. Brodie et al. liken Scribble's incorporation of Vurt technology into his biological body as a metaphor for the revelation potentially gained through drug use. They point out that the exchange rate between the real and the Vurt is tempered by Hobart's Constant, or "H"—which is "not incidentally", Brodie argues, "slang for heroin."
The book has attracted criticism due to its implausible science and "wild and kaleidoscopic" yet unsatisfying plot. Entertainment Weekly
felt Vurt was undeserving of receiving the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke Award
, saying the book's "sentimental incest and adolescent self-congratulation...is never really startling or disturbing."
's The Torture Garden
, an anti-authoritarian novel written at the turn of the 20th century. Noon, recently exposed to virtual reality
technology by the magazine Mondo 2000
, depicts the torture garden as a virtual world. Noon also credits Joseph Campbell
's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces
for inspiring the narrative structure of Vurt.
The character of Desdemona is based on the character of the same name from William Shakespeare
's play Othello
.
The Curious Yellow feather is a possible allusion to the 1967 Swedish film I Am Curious (Yellow)
, which uses non-linear narrative structures and postmodern techniques like the novel. It might also be a reference to computer worms (the Vurt is riddled with virtual reality serpents which propagate from game to game, like computer worms replicate themselves by hijacking computer programs).
Vurt has been described as a retelling of Orpheus
' visit to the Underworld
. Orpheus and Scribble are both poets and musicians, and each attempts to rescue their idealized lovers from an alternate reality. As Joan Gordon points out, cyberspace represents "the underside of the human condition" and therefore the journey to virtual reality is comparable to the mythic journey to commune with the dead. In addition, the myth of Orpheus, like Vurt, explores what it means to be human in relation to the non-human; Orpheus encountered the dead, and Scribble the virtual simulations created by computers.
There are multiple allusions to stories by Lewis Carroll
, such as a club the main character walks into, referred to as the Slithy Tove, which is a quote from Carroll's poem, the Jabberwocky
scheduled to direct, he has since stated on his public website that "Of the Vurt film, all has gone silent at the moment. Don’t hold your breath."
There have been a few comic adaptations of the novel, most notably Vurt - The Comic Remix, with art by Lee O'Connor.
In 2000, Liam Steel directed Vurt: The Theatre Remix, which ran for three weeks at Contact Theatre
in Manchester.
1993 in literature
The year 1993 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Professor Stephen Hawking's book, A Brief History of Time, becomes the longest running book on the bestseller list of The Sunday Times....
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel written by British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author Jeff Noon
Jeff Noon
Jeff Noon is a novelist, short story writer and playwright whose works make extensive use of word play and fantasy. Noon's speculative fiction books have ties to the works of writers such as Lewis Carroll and Jorge Luis Borges...
. Both Noon and small publishing house Ringpull's debut novel
Debut novel
A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...
, it went on to win the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
and was later listed in The Best Novels of the Nineties.
Plot summary
Vurt tells the story of Scribble and his "gang", the Stash Riders, as they search for his missing sister/lover DesdemonaDesdemona
Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello.Desdemona may also refer to:People* Desdemona , a soprano role in the 1816 opera Otello by Gioachino Rossini...
. The novel is set in an alternate version of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England, in which society has been shaped by Vurt, a hallucinogenic drug
Drug
A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
/shared alternate reality
Parallel universe (fiction)
A parallel universe or alternative reality is a hypothetical self-contained separate reality coexisting with one's own. A specific group of parallel universes is called a "multiverse", although this term can also be used to describe the possible parallel universes that constitute reality...
, accessed by sucking on colour-coded feathers. Through some (never explained) mechanism, the dream
Dream
Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...
s, mythology
Mythology
The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...
, and imaginings of humanity have achieved objective reality in the Vurt and become "real".
Before the novel begins, Scribble and his sister-lover take a shared trip into a vurt called English Voodoo, but upon awakening Scribble finds his sister has been replaced by an amorphous blob he nicknames "The Thing from Outer Space". From that point on, Scribble is on a mission to find another copy of the rare and contraband Curious Yellow feather (found within English Voodoo), so that he can exchange The Thing for Desdemona.
Characters
- Scribble – the protagonist and first-person narrator.
- Desdemona – Scribble's sister and lover.
- Beetle – the driver, muscle and unofficial leader of the Stash Riders.
- Bridget – shadowgirl, fellow stash rider, beetles lover and powerful psychic.
- Mandy – the newest addition to the Stash Riders.
- The Thing From Outer Space – a creature from the Vurt-world, exchanged for Desdemona.
- Game Cat – the maestro, the near mythical being who knows and shares the inside info in his "Game Cat" periodical.
Literary significance and reception
Vurt achieved both critical and commercial success, attracting praise from the science fiction community as well as the literary arena. It has been stylistically compared to William GibsonWilliam Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
's cyberpunk novel Neuromancer
Neuromancer
Neuromancer is a 1984 novel by William Gibson, a seminal work in the cyberpunk genre and the first winner of the science-fiction "triple crown" — the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award. It was Gibson's debut novel and the beginning of the Sprawl trilogy...
, as well as Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
's A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange
A Clockwork Orange is a 1962 dystopian novella by Anthony Burgess. The novel contains an experiment in language: the characters often use an argot called "Nadsat", derived from Russian....
.
In High Anxieties, a book exploring the modern concept of addiction, Scribble is used as an example of a character who has traded addiction for a chance at transcendence. Brodie et al. liken Scribble's incorporation of Vurt technology into his biological body as a metaphor for the revelation potentially gained through drug use. They point out that the exchange rate between the real and the Vurt is tempered by Hobart's Constant, or "H"—which is "not incidentally", Brodie argues, "slang for heroin."
The book has attracted criticism due to its implausible science and "wild and kaleidoscopic" yet unsatisfying plot. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
felt Vurt was undeserving of receiving the 1994 Arthur C. Clarke Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
, saying the book's "sentimental incest and adolescent self-congratulation...is never really startling or disturbing."
Allusions and references
Jeff Noon says Vurt originally began as an adaptation of Octave MirbeauOctave Mirbeau
Octave Mirbeau was a French journalist, art critic, travel writer, pamphleteer, novelist, and playwright, who achieved celebrity in Europe and great success among the public, while still appealing to the literary and artistic avant-garde...
's The Torture Garden
The Torture Garden (novel)
The Torture Garden is a novel written by the French journalist, novelist and playwright Octave Mirbeau and was first published in 1899, during the Dreyfus Affair...
, an anti-authoritarian novel written at the turn of the 20th century. Noon, recently exposed to virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
technology by the magazine Mondo 2000
Mondo 2000
Mondo 2000 was a glossy cyberculture magazine published in California during the 1980s and 1990s. It covered cyberpunk topics such as virtual reality and smart drugs. It was a more anarchic and subversive prototype for the later-founded Wired magazine....
, depicts the torture garden as a virtual world. Noon also credits Joseph Campbell
Joseph Campbell
Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist, writer and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work is vast, covering many aspects of the human experience...
's book The Hero with a Thousand Faces
The Hero with a Thousand Faces
The Hero with a Thousand Faces is a non-fiction book, and seminal work of comparative mythology by Joseph Campbell...
for inspiring the narrative structure of Vurt.
The character of Desdemona is based on the character of the same name from William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's play Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
.
The Curious Yellow feather is a possible allusion to the 1967 Swedish film I Am Curious (Yellow)
I Am Curious (Yellow)
I Am Curious is a 1967 Swedish drama film written and directed by Vilgot Sjöman and starring Sjöman and Lena Nyman. It is a companion film to 1968's I Am Curious ; the two were initially intended to be one 3½ hour film...
, which uses non-linear narrative structures and postmodern techniques like the novel. It might also be a reference to computer worms (the Vurt is riddled with virtual reality serpents which propagate from game to game, like computer worms replicate themselves by hijacking computer programs).
Vurt has been described as a retelling of Orpheus
Orpheus
Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...
' visit to the Underworld
Underworld
The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...
. Orpheus and Scribble are both poets and musicians, and each attempts to rescue their idealized lovers from an alternate reality. As Joan Gordon points out, cyberspace represents "the underside of the human condition" and therefore the journey to virtual reality is comparable to the mythic journey to commune with the dead. In addition, the myth of Orpheus, like Vurt, explores what it means to be human in relation to the non-human; Orpheus encountered the dead, and Scribble the virtual simulations created by computers.
There are multiple allusions to stories by Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
, such as a club the main character walks into, referred to as the Slithy Tove, which is a quote from Carroll's poem, the Jabberwocky
Jabberwocky
"Jabberwocky" is a nonsense verse poem written by Lewis Carroll in his 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, a sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
Adaptations
Although Noon began the screenplay for the film version of Vurt in 2002, with Iain SoftleyIain Softley
Iain Softley is an English film director. He was educated at St Benedict's School, Ealing, where he played the part of Thomas Becket in its 1975 production of T. S...
scheduled to direct, he has since stated on his public website that "Of the Vurt film, all has gone silent at the moment. Don’t hold your breath."
There have been a few comic adaptations of the novel, most notably Vurt - The Comic Remix, with art by Lee O'Connor.
In 2000, Liam Steel directed Vurt: The Theatre Remix, which ran for three weeks at Contact Theatre
Contact Theatre
-Contact:Contact is a multi-disciplinary arts venue in Manchester. Originally a traditional theatre Contact was rebranded in 1999 as a space specialising in producing work and providing opportunities for young people.-History:...
in Manchester.