Neurotic Fishbowl: Neuromancer by William Gibson

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Neuromancer by William Gibson

Neuromaner by William Gibson: rarely have I had a book disappoint me as much as this one has.

This book won the Hugo Award, the Nebula Award, and the Philip K. Dick - the first novel to ever win all three sci-fi awards. It coined the term cyberspace. And yet, I found it incredibly uninvolving.

I think my main problem with the book is that when it started out, I felt slightly lost - like I was in a country where they spoke English, but the English was a little different from my own. This made me try and fit it into stories I already knew creating an amalgamation of Strange Days, Johnny Mnemonic (also written by Gibson), and The Matrix. I appreciate the fact that by not explaining the past or the present to the readers Gibson presents the novel like it is an accepted reality. I believe, though, this is why I never really was able to get into either the stories or the characters. Trying to get the simple, everyday concepts ("What the hell is a coffin? Why's he sleeping in it?") made it more of a task to read the book in turn making it harder to accept the characters and understand their motivations. I just desperately wanted it to end so I could move on to something else.

Let me say, however, that there is definitely wonderful stuff in this book - hell, the first line is great. It probably gets better with each read since more will make sense from the get-go, but my frustration and disappoint with the book will probably cause me never to give it another go.

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Comments

I've been looking for this one at a used book store. I hope I am not as disappointed. Check out Theodore Sturgeon's "More Than Human". A fantastic Sci-fi read...not to the end just quite yet but so far an A+

.: Monkeyspit said on July 22, 2003 05:47 PM :: link it :.

I also liked Neuromancer, but just because it's an amazing thought, an AI that knows it exists, it's kinda cool.

I have been a huge fan of cyberpunk stuff for awhile though, and so when I went into the novel, I wasn't really lost in it...I could find my way around, and could ask where the nearest bathroom was:)

.: Brian said on July 22, 2003 09:50 PM :: link it :.

I didn't mean "I also" I meant to say "I actually liked Neuromance"

.: Brian said on July 22, 2003 10:35 PM :: link it :.

Neuromancer was my first book for Zuly's summer reading list, and I too was disappointed by it. I was able to appreciate the novel for it's influence on modern computing, but it was so hard to figure out what they were talking about half the time that I really didn't enjoy it.

.: theresa said on July 23, 2003 10:31 AM :: link it :.

Interesting to see another, should I say generation?, to discover Neuromancer.

I must say that I was completely taken away by the book and thus my view is certainly not unbiased. Here it is anyway:

It DOES get better with each read. Not giving it another one may be a big mistake.

.: blitcz said on July 25, 2003 02:18 AM :: link it :.

I read Neuromancer before I'd been on the internet (pre '97). At the time, I thought it was very cool.

I'd be curious if I'd think differently of it now, since so much technology has happened since I read it.

I also enjoyed Dydeetown World, Altered States (movie), Freejack (movie), Strange Days (movie), and the Matrix series [1][2]. That should tell you about the sci-fi's I enjoy *S*

.: Sherri said on July 25, 2003 02:26 PM :: link it :.

"What the hell is a coffin? Why's he sleeping in it?"

I'm pretty sure these "coffins" can be compared to the rooms at capsule hotels (a href="http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=%22capsule+hotel%22">Google).

.: Sherri said on July 25, 2003 05:56 PM :: link it :.

You're too early! Come back at July 22, 2003 06:32 PM to see this post.

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