Neuromancer by William Gibson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Neuromancer
Book Review: Case Meets the Matrix [T]
Summary: 5 Stars
Neuromancer bends your thoughts and concepts with its theme of man integrating self with computerized Artificial Intelligence - what we commonly dub as AI.
Written in a style reminiscent to James Cain, Micky Spillane, Dashiell Hammett and other authors of that 19th century mystery genre, the book keeps you on your toes about what will happen when the mainframe's "matrix" ghosts collide - will their be a pulse eliminating computer use for a period of time, or will things improve?
The writing revolves around an antihero - not a guy who does this for the "good." He is a washed up hacker who abuses his system with drugs. He became washed up when "He'd made the classic mistake, the one he'd sworn he'd never make. He stole from his employers. . . They damaged his nervous system with a wartime Russian mycotoxin."And, so the protagonist Case is offered a second chance in this book, by a man named Armitage and a woman named Molly.
By now, you may have guessed that some things of this book are familiar - a rebellious young man melding with a computer: sounds like Neo in the blockbuster trilogy of "The Matrix ." Wikipedia hints of this being the story which influenced the same. There definitely is a similarity. In the end, when Case is as confused as the "Matrix" audiences, he asks the computer generated human form, "So what are you." The computer responds, "I'm the matrix, Case."
Case's entry into the computer - jacking up - brings on communications with the dead - Linda and Flatline. Reminiscent to Phil Dick's "Ubik." And like the Phil Dick novel, "Neuromancer" entails a David versus Goliath International Corporation - against the conglomerate which created and sponsored the hardware which intentionally or unintentionally creates the AI which confronts mankind.
This book also reminds me of Dan Brown's "Digital Fortress" - a geek's equivalent to "The Da Vinci Code" as the chase is not about church relics, but about computer software. The complexities and intricacies of the computer are more described in Brown's book, but conceptually there are many parallels.
Gibson won the science-fiction "triple crown" for this novel --the Nebula Award, the Philip K. Dick Award, and the Hugo Award in 1984 (could there be a better year to win?). Interestingly, having read it today, I could grasp some concepts - LED, pixels, RAM, ROM, firewalls - which I probably would not have understood in 1984. In many ways, it still is too descriptive of the computer concepts for this reader. But, the accuracy of the same astounds me and proves that he was a knowledgeable "computer person" who also is a gifted fiction writer.
Book Review: Cool idea, but disjointed storyline and characters I didn't care about
Summary: 3 Stars
The review line pretty much says it all. I am a big fan of William Gibson, but this book didn't have the characters or the universe that connected with me. Thankfully, most of his other books are awesome.Book Review: Couldn't keep my mind from wandering...
Summary: 2 Stars
I never engaged with this book. I read fiction to transport myself out of my day to day world an into someone else's. Gibson's world in Neuromancer was dreadfully dull and grimy. The plot and characters were so disjointed that I started thinking about things I needed to do at work - or whether or not I fed the dog. It's time to put this book down and watch my fingernails grow.
Yes, there are very cool and prescient concepts explored in this book. Gibson should be credited for his contributions to this genre. You can see he is a intuitive, creative and highly intelligent person... But, quite frankly, Neuromancer is just unreadable. After a 150 pages I just don't care about any of it. Yawn.
Book Review: Cyberpunk or cyberjunk?
Summary: 1 Stars
I found this book to be horrendous, if not outright painful. Perhaps the cyberpunk genre isn't my bag, but considering that my trade currently is (and has been for almost a decade now) computer programming, it should warrant a greater appreciation for the technical aspects of the novel. Unfortunately, the ideas within Neuromancer were so far fetched that it just came off as cartoonish.
In my opinion, Gibson awkwardly complicates ideas/vocabulary, in an attempt to show off erudition in technology and history, but comes off as pseudointellectual and immature. The style offers little payoff (if any) when the definition of terms manifest in later chapters and distracts from an already weak premise. The detective elements offered a hint of something to come, but the incongruous jargon and unlikeable characters left much to be desired.
I have to admit it that Neuromancer is the first fictional book (out of hundreds) I wasn't able to see to the end. I read 174 pages out of 270, and threw in the towel. Granted, Gibson occasional offered descriptive imagery which many tout poetic. Despite this, it took everything I had just to finish chapter after trite chapter, finding that with each completed page I was farther and farther away from an enjoyable plot.
Book Review: Defines a genre
Summary: 5 Stars
Neuromancer defines a genre. After reading it in college I immediately purchased every other cyberpunk novel that I could find and, unfortunately, none of them could live up my expectations after reading Neuromancer. Books like this are few and far between. Do not pass this book by, this is truly a classic.