Just read Neuromancer, by William Gibson, and I'm disappointed. - Page 2

kennyc · 10-01-2011, 05:51 AM

I've never been able to get past the first chapter.

kennyc · 10-01-2011, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

If you want to read a more "traditional" S/F take on much of the same subject, I recommend John Brunner's The Shockwave Rider from 1975. Much more of "what comes next", but in many ways equally disturbing....

Yes!

replica145 · 10-03-2011, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Artisan

1. The "action" takes a VERY long time to get underway. The entire beginning of the book is dedicated to a back-story that is neither interesting or particularly relevant to rest of the story.

That's because it's not an action book. The world building and characters are what drive the story.

TDF · 10-03-2011, 08:47 PM

I think it's one of those books that you really have to be in the right mood to appreciate. I found it to be wonderfully bleak...

Penforhire · 10-14-2011, 06:36 PM

Anyone read an interview with Gibson in the Paris Review? http://store.theparisreview.org/prod...97-summer-2011

Great comment about Neuromancer (posted over at Boing Boing) --

INTERVIEWER

"What do you think of Neuromancer today? "

GIBSON

"When I look at Neuromancer I see a Soap Box Derby car. I felt, writing it, like I had two-by-fours and an old bicycle wheel and I’m supposed to build something that will catch a Ferrari. This is not going to fly, I thought. But I tried to do it anyway, and I produced this garage artifact, which, amazingly, is still running to this day.

Even so, I got to the end of it, and I didn’t care what it meant, I didn’t even know if it made any sense as a narrative. I didn’t have this huge feeling of, Wow, I just wrote a novel! I didn’t think it might win an award. I just thought, Phew! Now I can figure out how to write an actual novel."

kennyc · 10-14-2011, 06:39 PM

Thanks for that. There are lot of great interviews on the Paris Review site!!

KillerRabbit · 10-14-2011, 06:57 PM

To each their own... Science Fiction, like all literature, comes in many subcategories.

I read it about 3 years ago and a second time in the last year. I think that I enjoyed it more the second time.

bill_mchale · 10-19-2011, 05:26 PM

I think most readers can be divided into two basic categories. Some of us are very story driven. We might want characters, and great descriptions, but if we keep scratching our heads wondering, when anything is going to happen, we get bored with a story. Others might enjoy stories, but they read book for qualities you can't really find in say movies or TV; they want vivid descriptions, they want characters they know better than their own family and they want interesting use of language.
--
Of course Sci-Fi throws a monkey wrench in it all, because there are some readers of that genre who read it for the scientific ideas

.
--
I am definitely in the first category. I was able to get through Neuromancer, but it is hardly a book I would feel compelled to read again.

--
Bill

b0rsuk · 03-15-2012, 02:24 AM

I've also been disappointed by Neuromancer. I consider his other books better, for example Idoru (YES, you can write a book about the Japanese without uttering the word "katana" ! Amazing). But perhaps even better are Gibson's short stories. Dogfight was amazing, and I can't say why without spoiling anything. I also liked The Belonging Kind.

I think that Neuromancer was influential in the same way Citizen Kane was. It pioneered certain ideas and spread them so much to the point where it stops looking interesting. I watched Citizen Kane and I was mildly bored. I guess to enjoy it you would have to either a) know a lot about American culture and history or b) see the movie in the context of the movies of the era.

morriss003 · 03-15-2012, 03:51 PM

Never could get in to Gibson

Belfaborac · 03-15-2012, 04:48 PM

Horses for courses I guess, as with everything else. I've read it three times, loved it every time and it was my favourite Cyberpunk novel until Snow Crash hit the shelves.

plib · 03-18-2012, 05:59 AM

I've read it, at least twice that I can recall, shortly after it was first published and then again last year. It didn't have the same impact last year that I recall from my first reading however developments in society, many of them anticipated in Neuromancer, over the last few decades have diluted that impact but to me it is still a seminal novel.

I think the best way to describe it could actually be plagiarized from the OP's title -"Miles away from ordinary."

elijah · 03-18-2012, 09:28 AM

I found it a tough read, but worth it in the end. Wouldn't read it again in a hurry though.

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10-01-2011, 05:51 AM	#16
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	I've never been able to get past the first chapter.

10-03-2011, 08:47 PM	#19
TDF Enthusiast Posts: 34 Karma: 846758 Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: USA, MA Device: Onyx Boox M92, Sony PRS-505 (mostly RIP)	I think it's one of those books that you really have to be in the right mood to appreciate. I found it to be wonderfully bleak...

10-14-2011, 06:36 PM	#20
Penforhire Wizard Posts: 2,230 Karma: 7145404 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Southern California Device: Kindle Voyage & iPhone 7+	Anyone read an interview with Gibson in the Paris Review? http://store.theparisreview.org/prod...97-summer-2011 Great comment about Neuromancer (posted over at Boing Boing) -- INTERVIEWER "What do you think of Neuromancer today? " GIBSON "When I look at Neuromancer I see a Soap Box Derby car. I felt, writing it, like I had two-by-fours and an old bicycle wheel and I’m supposed to build something that will catch a Ferrari. This is not going to fly, I thought. But I tried to do it anyway, and I produced this garage artifact, which, amazingly, is still running to this day. Even so, I got to the end of it, and I didn’t care what it meant, I didn’t even know if it made any sense as a narrative. I didn’t have this huge feeling of, Wow, I just wrote a novel! I didn’t think it might win an award. I just thought, Phew! Now I can figure out how to write an actual novel."

10-14-2011, 06:39 PM	#21
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,872 Karma: 118716293 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Thanks for that. There are lot of great interviews on the Paris Review site!!

10-14-2011, 06:57 PM	#22
KillerRabbit Member Posts: 16 Karma: 10 Join Date: Aug 2006 Device: Irex Iliad	To each their own... Science Fiction, like all literature, comes in many subcategories. I read it about 3 years ago and a second time in the last year. I think that I enjoyed it more the second time.

10-19-2011, 05:26 PM	#23
bill_mchale Wizard Posts: 1,451 Karma: 1550000 Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Maryland, USA Device: Nook Simple Touch, HPC Evo 4G LTE	I think most readers can be divided into two basic categories. Some of us are very story driven. We might want characters, and great descriptions, but if we keep scratching our heads wondering, when anything is going to happen, we get bored with a story. Others might enjoy stories, but they read book for qualities you can't really find in say movies or TV; they want vivid descriptions, they want characters they know better than their own family and they want interesting use of language. -- Of course Sci-Fi throws a monkey wrench in it all, because there are some readers of that genre who read it for the scientific ideas . -- I am definitely in the first category. I was able to get through Neuromancer, but it is hardly a book I would feel compelled to read again. -- Bill

03-15-2012, 02:24 AM	#24
b0rsuk meles meles Posts: 109 Karma: 163588 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Persepolis Device: Pocketbook InkPad 3	I've also been disappointed by Neuromancer. I consider his other books better, for example Idoru (YES, you can write a book about the Japanese without uttering the word "katana" ! Amazing). But perhaps even better are Gibson's short stories. Dogfight was amazing, and I can't say why without spoiling anything. I also liked The Belonging Kind. I think that Neuromancer was influential in the same way Citizen Kane was. It pioneered certain ideas and spread them so much to the point where it stops looking interesting. I watched Citizen Kane and I was mildly bored. I guess to enjoy it you would have to either a) know a lot about American culture and history or b) see the movie in the context of the movies of the era.

03-15-2012, 03:51 PM	#25
morriss003 Evangelist Posts: 438 Karma: 3409790 Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Maui Device: kindle	Never could get in to Gibson

03-15-2012, 04:48 PM	#26
Belfaborac Wizard Posts: 1,498 Karma: 5199835 Join Date: May 2010 Location: Norway Device: Sony PRS-505, PRS-950	Horses for courses I guess, as with everything else. I've read it three times, loved it every time and it was my favourite Cyberpunk novel until Snow Crash hit the shelves.

03-18-2012, 05:59 AM	#27
plib Guru Posts: 777 Karma: 6356004 Join Date: Jan 2012 Device: Kobo Touch	I've read it, at least twice that I can recall, shortly after it was first published and then again last year. It didn't have the same impact last year that I recall from my first reading however developments in society, many of them anticipated in Neuromancer, over the last few decades have diluted that impact but to me it is still a seminal novel. I think the best way to describe it could actually be plagiarized from the OP's title -"Miles away from ordinary."

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03-18-2012, 09:28 AM	#28
elijah Junior Member Posts: 3 Karma: 10 Join Date: Mar 2012 Device: kindle	I found it a tough read, but worth it in the end. Wouldn't read it again in a hurry though.