Jordan Brock reviewed Neuromancer by William Gibson (Sprawl Trilogy, #1)
Still my favourite book
5 stars
35 years after first hearing about, and then trying to find Neuromancer, the writing still electrifies.
Paperback, 320 pages
Spanish language
Published Dec. 3, 2006 by Minotauro.
Un futuro invadido por microprocesadores, en el que la información es la materia prima. Vaqueros como Henry Dorrett Case se ganan la vida hurtando información, traspasando defensas electrónicas, bloques tangibles y luminosos, como rascacielos geométricos. En este espeluznante y sombrío futuro la mayor parte del este de Norteamérica es una única y gigantesca ciudad, casi toda Europa un vertedero atómico y Japón una jungla de neón, corruptora y brillante, donde una persona es la suma de sus vicios.
35 years after first hearing about, and then trying to find Neuromancer, the writing still electrifies.
[ESP] Es fácil darse cuenta de por qué es tan influyente, aunque ha quedado comprensiblemente anticuado en algunas cosas, como hace notar Gibson en el prólogo.
El libro es más o menos complicado de leer, pero tiene varios pasajes ciertamente fascinantes, en los que se describe el mundo altamente computerizado que se contruye
[ENG] It's easy to grasp why this book is so important, even though in certain aspects it's understandably outdated, as Gibson himself notes in the prologue.
The book is somewhat difficult to follow, but has some fascinating parts in how well he describes the electronics heavy world he built
It's funny, because I've always considered this book to be a lot more complex than it was. I read it in my 20s and decided to revisit it (and probably the rest of the Sprawl trilogy) after re-reading the Bridge Trilogy.
It's interesting to compare this to Gibson's later work, which tends to be a bit more cerebral and a lot more in tune, but it's still astounding how much he got right. And not just how much he got right, but how much he downright invented, concepts he introduced to our collective imagination.
It's a bit pulpier than I remember, but the story is filled with the kind of prose that elevates it to something else. It's something I've always liked about Gibson, his ability to take seemingly inane details and expound on them to make the world seem real. I think that's really what got me with this …
It's funny, because I've always considered this book to be a lot more complex than it was. I read it in my 20s and decided to revisit it (and probably the rest of the Sprawl trilogy) after re-reading the Bridge Trilogy.
It's interesting to compare this to Gibson's later work, which tends to be a bit more cerebral and a lot more in tune, but it's still astounding how much he got right. And not just how much he got right, but how much he downright invented, concepts he introduced to our collective imagination.
It's a bit pulpier than I remember, but the story is filled with the kind of prose that elevates it to something else. It's something I've always liked about Gibson, his ability to take seemingly inane details and expound on them to make the world seem real. I think that's really what got me with this one, back when I first read it.
I loved this book, and I still do.
Uno de los libros que me ha resultado más difícil de comentar/calificar... Por un lado, me parece admirable la forma en que Gibson se adelanta a su tiempo de maneras que muy pocos se atrevieron y muchos menos consiguieron convertir casi en "profecías". Por otro lado, la narrativa es difícil de seguir... No por compleja, quizás es un asunto de gusto personal o del momento de mi vida en que lo leí, pero me costó conectar emocionalmente con los personajes. Me lo apunto como un libro al que le debo una segunda lectura, con una disposición diferente de mi parte.
I had a hard time following parts of it, but felt like i recognized a lot of the concepts, only to realize that i probably knew them from media that got them from Neuromancer.
I wanted a happy ending for the characters but I guess it fits more that it wasn’t. Aesthetically it’s a master piece, it's everything I love about cyberpunk. It's a classic for a reason.
Also yea I absolutely try to look like a razorgirl any chance I get.
Anyone wanting to argue than Neuromancer has aged like either milk or wine will readily find all the examples they could want to make their case; but the depiction of the consensual hallucination in Neuromancer still reads like a more futuristic network and virtual reality technology than anything we have today.
The words visionary and iconic get thrown around by hypebeasts and idiots to the point they're a debased and inflated currency, but describing Neuromancer without them is telling lies of omission. Parts of Neuromancer still describe a vision of what may yet come (and a far from idealised vision at that).
For anyone who hasn't read it, expect it to make less sense on your first reading than the second. Some things seem overly detailed but on rereading the same ink on the same pages somehow has written different words leaving me a completely different impression second time around. …
Anyone wanting to argue than Neuromancer has aged like either milk or wine will readily find all the examples they could want to make their case; but the depiction of the consensual hallucination in Neuromancer still reads like a more futuristic network and virtual reality technology than anything we have today.
The words visionary and iconic get thrown around by hypebeasts and idiots to the point they're a debased and inflated currency, but describing Neuromancer without them is telling lies of omission. Parts of Neuromancer still describe a vision of what may yet come (and a far from idealised vision at that).
For anyone who hasn't read it, expect it to make less sense on your first reading than the second. Some things seem overly detailed but on rereading the same ink on the same pages somehow has written different words leaving me a completely different impression second time around. I imagine well written murder mystery or noir genre works achieve, but I'm a philistine who hasn't read Agatha Christie or Raymond Chandler so this is naked speculation on my part.
I don't think this would turn anyone who doesn't enjoy sci-fi or cyberpunk into a fan, but any who've enjoyed either I think it's a worth the read and re-read.
Neuromancer je dnes již klasické dílo, které před lety utvářelo jeden celý nový žánr. Jeho myšlenky byly a jsou nadčasové, forma zpracování je pro mě však obtížně stravitelná. Na čtení náročné dílo, které rozhodně nepovažuji jen za sci-fi oddychovku. Musel jsem mnohdy listovat zpět, abych našel někde zatoulanou nit. Pokud se však člověk úspěšně popere s formou, bude odměněn pozoruhodnou autorovou fantasií, která dnes již pomalu začíná prostupovat i dnešní realitou.
I was a mid-teen something or other, and this book probably had an enormous part in changing my life.
Still, there are things that I have to find out about it.
I’m free to do what I want any old time.
Neuromancer is one of my favorite books, which I have read and reread over the past two decades.
I really like the cyberpunk genre of Science Fiction, with Neuromancer being one of the fathers or founders of “the movement” (I can't leave Mirrorshades aside, nor other seminal Gibson tales that are there in Burning Chrome…).
Neuromancer has it all. A lot of younger people don't like or even don't understand the vision we had of the future in the 1980s. The Matrix and Cyberspace were just some of our fantasies of the future. It is “curious” that nowadays any child has access to this universe on a tablet, accessing the Matrix while sitting on the sofa in the living room.
Gibson's writing is incredibly vivid. The way he play with words has, in my opinion, its apex in Johnny Mnemonic, earlier work, but Neuromancer also contains these characteristics.
I also …
Neuromancer is one of my favorite books, which I have read and reread over the past two decades.
I really like the cyberpunk genre of Science Fiction, with Neuromancer being one of the fathers or founders of “the movement” (I can't leave Mirrorshades aside, nor other seminal Gibson tales that are there in Burning Chrome…).
Neuromancer has it all. A lot of younger people don't like or even don't understand the vision we had of the future in the 1980s. The Matrix and Cyberspace were just some of our fantasies of the future. It is “curious” that nowadays any child has access to this universe on a tablet, accessing the Matrix while sitting on the sofa in the living room.
Gibson's writing is incredibly vivid. The way he play with words has, in my opinion, its apex in Johnny Mnemonic, earlier work, but Neuromancer also contains these characteristics.
I also like the characters and how they live in this nihilistic madness so characteristic of cyberpunk. Call me nostalgic, but that's the truth.
For Science Fiction lovers, Neuromancer is a must-read. Gibson reset those old sci-fi standards. Contrary to what many can say, cyberpunk remains very relevant and far from dead. Long live the Neuromancer.
I thought I'd read this before, but remember nothing. Which is surprising, because it was really freak'n cool. From the very first line, it's all so dang evocative. I had to re-read so much of it to savour each description. But also had to re-read a lot because I only read a page or two at a time, and I got lost a lot returning to it, because everything moved so fast. But hot dang, I see why it's a classic.
It just felt too dated for me. Did not hold up nearly as well as Ray Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles"
"The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel."
I'm reading this for the zillionth time & I love it still. If the tropes seem familiar it's because almost every part of this book has been reproduced, repurposed, & riffed on since it was written back in the 80s. Perfect cyberpunk.