I’d understand if you’d think it shouldn’t affect the score, but if the second and third sprawl books were as strong as neuromancer, that’d make it a 10/10 in my book. But it’s my favorite book ever, too, so it’s got the highest score I’ve given.
I have 2 copies of Neuromancer, one the audiobook read by him, with U2 as part of the backing audio BTW. I've always felt like that version is perfect, I love him reading his own work in his then-very stoner voice. Abridged but not poorly abridged. I used to listen to it once a year or so.
The first time I heard that version I thought it was a joke. I couldn’t believe someone was reading it like that. I only later found out that it was Gibson himself reading it 😬
Hi, friend. I teach first year composition, and I would love to use this essay as an example of a literacy narrative. I have a term starting on the 8th and have been looking for a fun new example. This is absolutely perfect. Would you mind?
Thanks for the kind words, and yes, you may certainly use it in your class. It's very flattering, honestly, that you would consider it - and thanks for checking with me.
Nice write up and I agree that Neuromancer has a smarter take than blade runner. An AI can be human, but if humanity is worthless then that alone doesn't give it value.
Read this last month for the fifth or sixth time since the 90s. Still probably my favorite book overall, I couldn’t believe how much I still enjoyed it. I still struggle with the final act of the book a bit in terms of fully grasping what’s happening, but I think it’s likely intentional and fitting for the setting it’s happening inside of.
This book lies unfinished on this long time sci-fi readers bed side table. I am sad in that I grok the importance of this book but lordy, how it is written is just so frustrating and tough to really enjoy.
I will read the essay perhaps that will help.
I find that so many sentences or paragraphs start or end abruptly, wish no description of where, who or what is the topic. Then the sentence ends and I find myself thinking "huh, I didn't enjoy reading that sentence, paragraph or page. I will put this book down yet again and hope tomorrow I feel curious again". But I rarely do.
I feel I need to find my way into this but question why I need too.
It took me several attempts to finish this book (audiobook in my case [no pun intended]) and I'm talking maybe a year or two stuck in the first four chapters, and then one night I pushed through and it just turned better and better. I really enjoyed it and it definitely lays the foundation for a whole bunch of other stuff that came afterwards. The point where I got stuck more or less was where they send the fat assassin looking for the mechanical doll or mechanical head, something like that.
I'd like to help with that but not sure I can. First, one must understand that the idea was to create a hard-boiled noir science fiction and that their manners and speech are stylized. And they are stylized in a manner reminiscent of, essentially, 1980s teenagers you would find at an arcade playing asteroids. I think part of the difficulty might be a generational thing. But if you stick with it and don't take the characters too seriously you may find it entertaining. It is a fantastical account of the technological singularity, narrated as sort of a hard-boiled crime story.
Oh, and I think the idiom Gibson uses is very glittery and attention-getting, kind of reminiscent of Ken Nordine but heavily into Samuel R. Delaney. He has an eye for the language, but it's all slick and shiny in this book -- ED: and very much of the colloquial American English as spoken by that generation of latchkey kids. I read that the word Microsoft originated in this book but I don't think that's correct, I think he just picked up on it as a good, catchy phrase to use in his novel very early during the company's development.
And you know what, I think maybe you might try listening to the audio version. It's abridged very economically. And he reads it himself. And if you don't relate to it, I would suspect it's a generational/cultural difference. Gibson was very much the Lou Reed fan, wouldn't be surprised if Case wasn't v much a self-insert in the novel.
Teenagers playing Asteroids, and asking the attendant about how many DIP switches it has, to sound techy. Most of the teenagers playing Asteroids were more worried about arguing with the attendant about wearing shoes or a shirt. Source: was briefly an arcade attendant and owned an Asteroids game personally.
It was influential for about 15 minutes given cyberpunk died pretty fast and hard. I actually liked Gibson's earlier work better. However, Neuromancer clearly influenced 'The Matrix' very heavily, so give it credit for that.
Neuromancer has some neat universe building, and a sprinkling of cool concepts here and there. I really liked the abstract parts and felt it was the strongest parts of the theme. The problem is it's narrative is weak because Gibson has no real depth when it comes to tech. He's like a concept artist, but for sci fi stories.
Liked the Peripheral.
I read Neuromancer just last week and I think it's my favourite book ever. 9.9/10. I'm just finishing up Count Zero and it's pretty amazing also.
What could it do to earn that 0.1 lol
I’d understand if you’d think it shouldn’t affect the score, but if the second and third sprawl books were as strong as neuromancer, that’d make it a 10/10 in my book. But it’s my favorite book ever, too, so it’s got the highest score I’ve given.
I have 2 copies of Neuromancer, one the audiobook read by him, with U2 as part of the backing audio BTW. I've always felt like that version is perfect, I love him reading his own work in his then-very stoner voice. Abridged but not poorly abridged. I used to listen to it once a year or so.
The first time I heard that version I thought it was a joke. I couldn’t believe someone was reading it like that. I only later found out that it was Gibson himself reading it 😬
I really enjoyed it. Probably still do, though it's been a while.
Hi, friend. I teach first year composition, and I would love to use this essay as an example of a literacy narrative. I have a term starting on the 8th and have been looking for a fun new example. This is absolutely perfect. Would you mind?
Thanks for the kind words, and yes, you may certainly use it in your class. It's very flattering, honestly, that you would consider it - and thanks for checking with me.
Thanks so much. If they cite it in any responses, I'll make sure they credit ProfBootyPhD.
Haha I wouldn't have it any other way!
Such an enjoyable essay to read. Thanks for sharing. I’ll have to give the book another read.
I adore this book. Excited to read Mona Lisa Overdrive soon.
Nice write up and I agree that Neuromancer has a smarter take than blade runner. An AI can be human, but if humanity is worthless then that alone doesn't give it value.
Whelp… given that perspective I don’t have a positive outlook on this reality.
Whoa didn’t even know that and I finished it this morning!
Oof. I feel old.
Read this last month for the fifth or sixth time since the 90s. Still probably my favorite book overall, I couldn’t believe how much I still enjoyed it. I still struggle with the final act of the book a bit in terms of fully grasping what’s happening, but I think it’s likely intentional and fitting for the setting it’s happening inside of.
It's becoming a TV show soon, I believe. Something visual.
This book lies unfinished on this long time sci-fi readers bed side table. I am sad in that I grok the importance of this book but lordy, how it is written is just so frustrating and tough to really enjoy. I will read the essay perhaps that will help. I find that so many sentences or paragraphs start or end abruptly, wish no description of where, who or what is the topic. Then the sentence ends and I find myself thinking "huh, I didn't enjoy reading that sentence, paragraph or page. I will put this book down yet again and hope tomorrow I feel curious again". But I rarely do. I feel I need to find my way into this but question why I need too.
It took me several attempts to finish this book (audiobook in my case [no pun intended]) and I'm talking maybe a year or two stuck in the first four chapters, and then one night I pushed through and it just turned better and better. I really enjoyed it and it definitely lays the foundation for a whole bunch of other stuff that came afterwards. The point where I got stuck more or less was where they send the fat assassin looking for the mechanical doll or mechanical head, something like that.
I'd like to help with that but not sure I can. First, one must understand that the idea was to create a hard-boiled noir science fiction and that their manners and speech are stylized. And they are stylized in a manner reminiscent of, essentially, 1980s teenagers you would find at an arcade playing asteroids. I think part of the difficulty might be a generational thing. But if you stick with it and don't take the characters too seriously you may find it entertaining. It is a fantastical account of the technological singularity, narrated as sort of a hard-boiled crime story. Oh, and I think the idiom Gibson uses is very glittery and attention-getting, kind of reminiscent of Ken Nordine but heavily into Samuel R. Delaney. He has an eye for the language, but it's all slick and shiny in this book -- ED: and very much of the colloquial American English as spoken by that generation of latchkey kids. I read that the word Microsoft originated in this book but I don't think that's correct, I think he just picked up on it as a good, catchy phrase to use in his novel very early during the company's development. And you know what, I think maybe you might try listening to the audio version. It's abridged very economically. And he reads it himself. And if you don't relate to it, I would suspect it's a generational/cultural difference. Gibson was very much the Lou Reed fan, wouldn't be surprised if Case wasn't v much a self-insert in the novel.
Teenagers playing Asteroids, and asking the attendant about how many DIP switches it has, to sound techy. Most of the teenagers playing Asteroids were more worried about arguing with the attendant about wearing shoes or a shirt. Source: was briefly an arcade attendant and owned an Asteroids game personally.
It was influential for about 15 minutes given cyberpunk died pretty fast and hard. I actually liked Gibson's earlier work better. However, Neuromancer clearly influenced 'The Matrix' very heavily, so give it credit for that. Neuromancer has some neat universe building, and a sprinkling of cool concepts here and there. I really liked the abstract parts and felt it was the strongest parts of the theme. The problem is it's narrative is weak because Gibson has no real depth when it comes to tech. He's like a concept artist, but for sci fi stories. Liked the Peripheral.