Fantasy world exists for professor
Rudy Rucker says writing is his 'life support'
Kimberly Lapham, Daily Staff Writer
- Page 1 of 1
|
Rucker, a San Jose State University computer science professor since 1986, is also an award-winning author with a penchant for painting flying saucers.
He has written 24 books, mostly science fiction, but also computer software books and a historical novel.
Today, sitting in his second floor office that is adorned with computer-generated images and doodles, he says he is sick of writing. He has submerged himself in a world of words, having been working on his latest project, a story about a 12-year-old boy who saves the universe.
"Finishing a book is like having a child, but it's also like being born," Rucker says. "You're no longer in the womb."
Although worn out from wordsmithing, once he's gone six months or so without writing, he's drawn back into it. Writing is his life-support, he says.
"It's nice to escape from daily life," Rucker says. "To create your own world."
His world includes a fourth dimension, UFOs hidden under beds and many forms of space creatures. Rucker's is a world of what he calls "transrealism."
To describe transrealism, Rucker gazes at a strip of sunlight that has filtered through a rain-stained window onto the wall. The light is distorted and shadowed as if reflecting off of water.
Rucker says with transrealism, that mangled stream of light on the wall would turn into a slug and slurp away. It's reality with some sort of fantastic twist.
Rucker says his books are semi-autobiographical - transreal representations of various periods of his life.
Rucker says he likes writing what he knows, which means characters and locations may be inspired by his life. Los Gatos (Rucker's hometown), San Jose and San Francisco locales have appeared in his books.
Jon Pearce, an SJSU computer science professor and Rucker's office mate, says Rucker's family members have appeared in disguise in all of his books. Pearce says even he and a couple students have been interpreted into Rucker's science fiction characters.
These characters live in pages in a bookcase beside Rucker's desk. It houses many of his books, which he reaches for when he speaks of them.
He is holding a copy of "As Above, So Below: A Novel of Peter Bruegel," his historical novel about the Flemish artist. This book, published last year, is his current favorite because it is his most recent.
He says he doesn't think he'll write another historical novel because he loves science fiction too much.
Rucker began teaching in 1972 and wrote his first science-fiction novel, "Spacetime Donuts," in 1976. He says he discovered his love for writing when he found he enjoyed writing letters to friends.
"In college, I imagined I would be a writer," he says.
In the 1980s, he became recognized for being one of four founding fathers of the "cyberpunk" movement, he says.
The writing style was dubbed cyberpunk, he says, because he and the other authors were part of a left-wing, underground scene and the stories, based in the near-future, reflected that.
The 1980s also brought an award for two of Rucker's books. The award was the Philip K. Dick award, given for best science-fiction paperback of the year. He won it twice, once for 1982's "Software," and again for 1988's "Wetware."
Rucker likens the award to one given for best straight-to-video movie. Rucker was a new writer at the time so his books weren't published in hardback, he says, but they are now.
However, there haven't been awards recently. He says books that win awards are usually best sellers. His books are perhaps too intellectual, Rucker says. Besides, there's a lot of politics involved with book awards, he says.
"That's not my bag," he says, leaning back in his chair and ruffling his silvering hair with his fingers.
Rucker teaches because it allows him to be useful. It also helps support him. Despite the books' publication, writing doesn't supply a large enough paycheck.
Pearce met Rucker in 1986 when Rucker began teaching at SJSU. He says Rucker is always testing his plots and early drafts on him.
"He's an eccentric character," Pearce says. "But in a good way. He thinks of all this really far-out stuff."
Aliens of many forms invade Rucker's paintings, a hobby he describes as "Sunday painting," even though many of them have served as illustrations for his books.
One painting, titled "Arf and the Saucer," depicts a dog looking on as a small, pink, star-shaped creatures emerge from a crash-landed flying saucer.
"Ancient starfish," Rucker muses with a toothy, knowing, Peter Pan smile.
He says his niece told him they were the stars from the sky that fell to earth. And yes, he had a dog named Arf.
To escape from his computer, Rucker heads outdoors. When asked what his favorite things are, he immediately replies "walking in the woods." The beach and mountain biking also bring him happiness, he says.
Pearce says Rucker and his wife go to Santa Cruz every weekend.
Rucker's travels have led him all over the world. However, he says he has yet to skin-dive off of Palau in the South Pacific and wishes to travel to Antarctica.
"I wouldn't mind going back to Fiji," Rucker says.
This weekend, he will be going back to San Francisco to serve on a panel at a science-fiction convention. He will also read from a book he wrote with his son, Rudy Rucker, Jr. The book is called "Jenna and Me."
Jenna Bush, that is. The book's cover shows a morphed Jenna, eyes bugged, head alien-shaped. Rucker says they wrote it to make fun of President Bush. He jokes they might get arrested for reading it in public.
In addition to having written a book with his son, Rucker incorporated his daughter Georgia's computer graphics talents on the cover of a software book he wrote.
"He's very devoted to his family," Pearce says. "He's this wild character, but his kids are so normal."
He says Rucker's family went to church every Sunday. According to Pearce, the family is very traditional and respectful, something that surprises Pearce considering Rucker's personality.
Pearce recalls seeing a picture of Rucker in the dust jacket of a book before they met.
"He was wearing a beat-up Rolling Stones T-shirt," Pearce says. "I thought, 'This is the kind of guy we need here (at SJSU).' "
At a Rolling Stones concert he and Rucker attended, Pearce remembers Rucker remarking about the light show.
Pearce says Rucker's fantasy was to create a computer light-art show that incorporated mathematical principles. It would be held at the Oakland Coliseum and have the Rolling Stones as back-up singers.
"I think that Rolling Stones T-shirt absorbed into his personality," Pearce says.
He says there's always a rock 'n' roll element to Rucker's work, including computer art programs that fill a computer screen with interesting shapes and forms.
Rucker's computer displays such a screen.
His upcoming book, its genre influenced by the success of "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter," needs another chapter and a half, Rucker says.
It is a bit different from his past books as it's not as autobiographical and is set further in the future. His dark eyes light up behind his glasses when he speaks of the "cool" new creatures he's created for it.
He hopes the tales of the 12-year-old boy's travels will be a best seller. Of course, he is always hoping for a best seller. He likens each book to a lottery ticket. Perhaps this one will be a winner.
Rucker suspects he will write until he can no longer remember the words.
"Or I might get sick of it," he says with a grin.
Be the first to comment on this story