the other day, inspired by our new-ish arrivals, i saw Neuromancer on my shelf and decided to give it a read again.

I had truly forgotten what a wonderful prose stylist he is.

So who's up for a book club for Gibson?

I think Neuromancer is the best choice... begin at the beginning... the other sprawl books don't really make sense without it, and Virtual Light isn't generally considered his best work, although i have a fondness for it.

I'll give it a go! I never read it and I just checked the local library online thingy and it's there - I wanted to get some Jasper Fforde books anyway, but they read fast.

I'd be in for that, although I'd first have to hunt down my copy of Neuromancer. When would you want to start?

I dunno. i've never done a book club on here before.

It's a fairly slim book... i reckon most people could read it in a couple of weeks.

so, is it just Maeve, myself and Thirith?

If you can wait a few weeks until stress at works calms a little and I can think again, I can give it a shot. I've tried Neuromancer about four times already and haven't been able to finish it, but maybe if I can bounce ideas off of you guys, I'll be able to get through it.

Li'l he'p, from the Gibson Board's FAQ, fleshed out a bit by yours drooly:

Q: What are the titles of all your books? What order do they come in? Do I have to read them in that order? What's the best one to read first?

A: Here they are, in both publication-date and reading order, grouped where applicable:

BURNING CHROME (short stories; futuristic)

The "Sprawl" Trilogy of novels (futuristic):

NEUROMANCER
COUNT ZERO
MONA LISA OVERDRIVE

THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE (with Bruce Sterling) (retro-alternate universe, or something; I haven't read this one)

The "Bridge" Trilogy of novels (futuristic, and named for a particular bridge in the stories, not because it bridges anything literary):

VIRTUAL LIGHT
IDORU
ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES

...and these two novels, his most recent, are present-day:

PATTERN RECOGNITION
SPOOK COUNTRY


If I were to start someone on Gibson in 2007, I'd hand them the three Bridge books, taking care to point out the order. Some of the technicalities of the futuristic visions therein are a bit dated now, but the stories hold up very well, and they're all at least elegantly written. I'm a big sucker for Idoru and All Tomorrow's Parties, especially.

Your mileage may vary.

I just finished the sprawl trilogy, Murphy. I thought the OtherBoard would make more sense if I'd read their author's books, and I was right.

So not only am I in, I'm way far ahead of you guys in terms of reading schedule. :P Just kidding, I'll probably re-read or at least skim through it as y'all do.

(MOM, I'm going to read the bridge trilogy next, based on what someone in your Mirrorworld told me. Glad to hear the backup on his and/or her opinon.)

I've just started Pattern Recognition, thanks to Newro and Remote.
Don't think I'll be reading Neuromancer again any time soon.

I didn't realise it's in the present, though. It reads quite (near) futuristic.

in what way does pattern recognition read futuristic? curious.

i guess the WGB was set up partly to promote PR, so by time i read it i already had a certain idea of what it was. and as you read it certain things about time period become clear - i believe its set as being about 2003, with spook country being 2006.

i'm curently 2/3 or so through the difference engine. i guess you could count me in for neuromancer, not read it in at least a year. though plenty of other stuff to read, so i'll make it my lunch break book or something.

I think it's the way he describes a lot of techy gadgety things. And the techy way he describes the techy things. Lol.

It's just something I'm not used to paying so much attention to outside futuristic settings.

And then there's stuff like the disembodied elevator advertising voices and the apparent overabundance of fashion (how is that different in 2005 from 2000? (Which is apparently the date up to which Cayce is comfortable wearing clothing from.

And then there is some quality of his writing that puts him near the fantastic realists in that it makes the normal, unremarkable world slightly magical and weird.

It just all made me set it in the near future, mentally. A projection of where we're going, rather than where we are now.

cayce's thing is a mental thing, a slippery thing, and one that gibson admits isn't entirely consistent/sensible. though to a degree, perhaps the thing that changed after a certain date was the saturation level of advertising?

i guess what you are saying about the fantastic realists. certainly in recent years he has been reading murakami, and he often refers to borges. sterling, who did difference engine, did a full of fantastic realist novel with "zeitgiest" which was wonderful and odd.

for me spook country had more of that, or at least i was more conscious of it. i've said before elsewhere, spook country seems ephemeral to me, like a smoke artifact that you grasp for and eludes you.

I find the datedness of PR and SC in the websites mentioned... in PR, Cayce regularly checks her email on hotmail, and in SC Hollis (I think) uses Google and Wikipedia.

Yeah. Aww...no mention of gmail yet.
But it could still be the near future, with Hotmail having been revived as something totally fast and hot instead of the spam dump it currently is.

(er...sorry for hijacking the thread, Murph)

I actually have to read Neuromancer again for one of my courses very soon. It'd be neat to be able to do it with other people, especially as I found it very confusing the first time through (if this book club does happen).

quote:

Originally posted by remote:

in what way does pattern recognition read futuristic?

I'd had a similar reaction, but this thread's the first thing that's ever caused me to ponder it.

I think it was a case of realising that I didn't *quite* belong in the world the principal characters inhabit; they were all either just a little too au courant or contra-cool for me to identify with easily, a little too ahead of the curve. Lifestyles; use of and familiarity with communications technology; degrees of otaku-ness.

There was a certain degree of "I haven't been there yet" to that book for me; it definitely felt like I was reading about a universe about 3% out of phase with mine. So, maybe not quite futuristic, but a very similar dépaysagement.

It's actually one of the things I like about that book. That vague grey blur.

yeah, that's what I mean.
A lot of how we live right now or *could* live if we had the money is futuristic.
Just, I don't.

We're not the first movers, MOM!

quote:

Originally posted by Babylon the Bride:
yeah, that's what I mean.
A lot of how we live right now or *could* live if we had the money is futuristic.
Just, I don't.

We're not the first movers, MOM!

Very interesting thought(s).

Like the gap between the rich and poor is increasing so is the gap between technical versatile and those not to be able to keep up.

Technology evolves faster with every generation. And some people are left behind. That is not necessarily bound with money. Yes, of course, money buys you toys, but a kid on the street could keep up with second hand hardware, staying on the edge as Software usually runs on last gen hardware.

The gap between the ones left behind and those on the track will increase. People not adapted to DVD yet, will find it even more difficult switching to harddisk recorders and HD-DVD's.

This could, very well, become a seriouse social problem. Just like poverty today.

The example with DVD's sound harmless, but lets think about electronic banking. What if some people in 10 years time find it hard to shop at Tesco. (Already, Tesco uses self chekout counters with lasercard readers ... what if they decide to get rid of the old fashon ones?)

ok... for those that are interested in reading Neuromancer i propose that we all try to finish it by the end of september, if that's acceptable?

so how does it work? we all read it then discuss it? sounds easy enough.

Wow. They have plans and deadlines and everything. And I thought we were just going to sit around and eat crisps.

I actually have a copy of it lying around. Guess I'll dust it off.