William Gibson: Neuromancer

Brian G Turner

Brian G Turner

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Got to read this over the weekend - seemed to be an iconic book that may cover areas I'd need to research treatment of for my own writing...

It was interesting - the style, Bladerunner landscape, and the techno-future vision was generally engaging, but after racing through scenes for the first half/two-thirds of the book, it seemed to suddenly change tact by slowing to indulge in the final set-piece of scenes, and I found myself losing interest because of the slowing of pace.

Afterwards, it seemed that there was little that the protagonist actually achieved in the book - in fact, I don't believe we ever saw explained why Case was specifically chosen for the job despite being deeply unsuitable - can anyone correct me on this?? Overall, gave the impression of the protagonist being actually irrelevant, which probably isn't a good thing for a story.

This was a book of wonderful images - the AI and ICE in the matrix, for example - but I was left with a feeling that the story itself was more an exercise in stylish posturing than of any actual substance.

Any thoughts??
 
The only thing that I can remember about Case being chosen was that he stole from his employer and had his nervous system damaged. And he is one of the best "console cowboys" out there. I don't know if it is stated directly, but I think that we are to assume that he is chosen because of his skill and the fact that the cure for his nervous system damage can be held over him to make sure that he does the job. I could be wrong.

On the pacing bit. I didn't really notice that the pacing slowed considerably at the end. Do you mean around the villa straylight and the scenes with 3Jane? Personally, I found them a bit choppy as they shifted from Case's VR experience to the scenes with 3Jane.

I read an interview where Gibson commented on the plot of Neuromancer. He claimed that he used a readily available plot, the cowboy westen, and started with that. I guess you might say that Case fits well as a character in that plot, even if he is less than a stereotypical tough guy, a purposeful alteration on Gison's part in my opinion. He starts out as a sort of used up semi-legendary cowboy, gets a job with a group of less-than-upstanding characters, has a brief love interest, and ends up alone at the end, but sort of returns to the land of the living. In the case of Neuromancer, that means having his blood changed and his neural system restored.

I thought that the real value of the novel was in the thematic elements and the poetic prose. From the first line, where the sky is a tv, tuned to a dead channel, I found myself captivated. The matrix is a great landscape for Gibson to play out his style, too. It's a surreal space defies traditional imagery. Somehow in Neuromancer, I felt that the indulgences in style were justified--in fact an essentail part of the story.
 
Yes, I do quite agree with the language use as captivating and some of the concepts he touched upon were great to read - that's what I mean about good stylistics.

My objection with Case is when I think it's Molly states something on the lines of how they could have had 20 cowboys for the price of repairing Case, and better skilled, too. It's also stated, I think, by either Armitage or Wintermute that the hospital that performed Case's operation filed for 7 patents after because of the extreme complexity of the work accomplished under direction. So there was intense investment in using Case, but I didn't see where this investment was justified - unless they specifically needed someone withstrong self-destructive tendencies.

And, yes - it was around Straylight that everything seemed to slow - before, every scenes jumped over days, but it suddenly seemed that scenes had to suddenly cover every minute or hour, even though there was not necessary anything so plot specific going on, such as Case playing with the hard drugs social group. It seemed a change of focus and pace, in that it would no longer rush through events, but instead suddenly focus on one big set-piece.

Just my 2c.
 
I said:
This was a book of wonderful images - the AI and ICE in the matrix, for example - but I was left with a feeling that the story itself was more an exercise in stylish posturing than of any actual substance.

Any thoughts??
Click to expand...

I think "an exercise in stylish posturing" is a little harsh. It's one way of putting it, but I think it puts too a bit too much of a negative spin on it. Stylish posturing (at a character rather than narrative level) is a common theme in Cyberpunk. Think of how the characters dress in the Matrix as an example. In Neuromancer, the narrative tends towards this, but I think a large part of that is intentional. Reflecting the world being described and the attitudes of the people that inhabit it.

It might be semantic tail chasing on my part, but I think there is a difference between a work of fiction being an exercise in stylish posturing, and an author intentionally writing in a style that is stylish and posturing for an intentional effect.

... or that may make no sense whatsoever ;)

I do agree that it's not a particularly strong story and I think the fact that it has been held in such a high regard is more of a right time/right place thing than the book actually deserving it.

Gibson's stuff, for me, got better over time and I've enjoyed his more recent books a lot more. However he had several contemporaries who were writing books of a similar style, but where head and shoulders above him in terms of quality. It's always puzzzled me a little how he ended up as the cyberpunk poster-boy.
 
I did a quick search over on the Gibson board and found one reference to the "why Case" question. Case is decribed by Molly as looking like an old freind, Johnny Mnemonic. The post claims that Wintermute picks Case because of his looks, because Molly will bond better with him and protect him. She does tell him the story of her and Johnny, but I don't remember making the connection about that being the reason he's picked.

Anyhow the link can be found here:

http://williamgibsonboard.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/8606097971/m/7496026802/r/1826055853#1826055853
 
Seems a weak reason - I can't say I buy that answer, not least because it implies a reason for choosing Molly, not Case.

Thanks for the link, though. :)
 
Always thought the reason Case was chosen for his part,along with the Molly and Armitage is the stated fact that they all have fallen from grace?..:D

None of them are considered a real threat to the/by the established powers that be.

This is what I took from the story and only the story,of course.
 
I've read the book 5x. My take on it is that by repairing Case they thought they owned him and controlled him. That gave a sense of security the would not get by straight-forward hiring a cowboy. Sort of a deal with the devil.
 
Bang on target about all the Characters being subservient? to the Story though,I Brian.

Was one of the reasons i enjoyed the story/s,....No big Winners,just surviviors?.

On the style-over-content thing,count yourself lucky....:D As a genre?,CyberPunk was spotted by those of a Commercial bent and the flood of derivitives were many,and seriously bad.
Funnily enough,if I remember right what was to blame was the commercial success of a run of SF films...go figure.

Anything on this Andycook?...:)
 
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Lazygun, I had highhopes for CyberPunk after reading Neuromancer but was let down each time I tried one that claimed to be the next Neruromancer. What would you consider to be a derivitive that came close? Any exceed Neuromancer?

About the SF films, isn't that kind of a chicken and egg question? - did the SF films spur on the CyberPunk book genre or was it the reverse? Guess I am guilty of contributing to the success of some of those SF films...maybe I should have kept reading rather than going to the movies or seen move movies and read less.
 
andycook said:
Lazygun, I had highhopes for CyberPunk after reading Neuromancer but was let down each time I tried one that claimed to be the next Neruromancer. What would you consider to be a derivitive that came close? Any exceed Neuromancer?
Click to expand...

I'd say it's a warning sign when any book is "the next [anything]" instead of being its own thing, really. That said, I read (after voting for) Altered Carbon (see the thread on it on this same page) having heard it was meant to be a cyberpunk novel. Sadly, it lacked the prose and real styling of Neuromancer, trading it for.. something - action, I suppose.

Thinking about it, I think that's about right - the lovely thing about Neuromancer isn't necessarily the story, it's the prose and the world-building. I can still picture many of the scenes from Gibson's novels now, and I haven't read any for some time - the books really transported me there. And yes, it definitely doesn't help that the Internet was blooming alongside Gibson's entertaining visions of online technology.
 
Others i tried include KW Jetter,Walter Jon Williams,Bruce Sterling,Pat Cadigan and no doubt a few more.
Those above i did enjoy up to a point,but found none to match Gibson,think it might be his particular balance of man v machine....

There was an anthology "Mirrorshades" by Bruce Sterling,being memorable..

But I seemed to hitting a lot of what Orson Scott Card opinioned,"Splash some drugs onto brain-and-microchip interface....use some affected language...imitation Cyber Punk."

So gave up,...not being the stubborn kind...or having money to burn.:D

There is of course good works out there both before the 80's and after,just the unusual amount of chaff was a pain.
 
Thinking about it, I think that's about right - the lovely thing about Neuromancer isn't necessarily the story, it's the prose and the world-building. I can still picture many of the scenes from Gibson's novels now, and I haven't read any for some time - the books really transported me there.
Click to expand...
I'd agree. At points his prose has the poetic feel that Garcia Marquez does when I read it. There is that sense of magice realism in many of the surreal virtual landscapes that he offers the reader in Neuromancer. And those landscapes bleed over into the real world in some of the scenes, too. The sex scene between Molly and Case is one that I can think of in particular.

While I think that image was aways important in cyberpunk characters in a sort of "costume" fashion--e.i. the cyborgian merging of flesh and machine and the coolness of the mirrorshades image--Gibson's prose transcends cool for the sake of cool for me. It's just great writing.
 
At one-quarter of the way through the story, I have not had a chance to see the plot degrade.

I like Gibson's metaphoric style—his itemized detail. He scatters dusty stage props around the dingy setting—detailing our dystopic city piece by piece. Consumption is a horrible housekeeper—the protagonist is consumed as well. Doors are corrogated metal, windows are sheets of plastic. I love pessimistic dystopic narration and setting—the rundown human societies of the future—where the protagonist is down on his luck, even when his situation has improved. He's a cowboy, then he's a hustler with fried neurons, then a cowboy again with time-release toxins. Anti-heros seem more human—in their degraded condition—while sleeping in a "coffin". Molly grinds the rose-colored lenses under foot. World news clips remind us how all societies continue to break down.
 
I always came to the conclusion on the whole "why Case" thing in that they chose him because nobody was watching him. That because he could no longer use that matrix the authoriteis where not watching him. So that if you could fix his nerves than you esentially have a top notch hacker who would no draw suspsion onto the operation.
 
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