I just started reading Neuromancer, and finished the first two chapters. Can someone encourage me to keep on reading? It’s just so… disorienting. Very quick scene changes, hard to follow dialogues (who is actually talking?), too much jargon (I have read up on some, to get the gist), … I just feel lost, and doubt I will enjoy it at some point.
I like various degrees of scifi, and many people recommended the book (and the ones following it). I also fought through some harder chapters in Trisolaris, Children of Memory, The Expanse books, CS Lewis‘ Space Trilogy, … but Neuromancer is on awholenother level.
Is it just me? Did anyone else have a hard time with it? Does it get better? Is it worth it?
If you’re not into a book it is not some great personal failure to stop reading it. People put reading books on too high of a pedestal, it’s just like any other form of entertainment media and if you aren’t jiving with it you can just go do something else.
I loved it but I read fast. William Gibson books, in general, do start off sort of disjointed then begin to turn into a story, so I’d say read this one through but if you don’t like it you probably don’t like his writing style. Also, I read it when it was new so it was quite novel at that time, sure it is a different experience at this point in time.
Too lazy to dig up the source, but I remember that Gibson said something to the effect of emulating the experience of him hanging around a group of hackers irl just listening in, not having background/context, but just allowing meaning to slowly come together as an outsider.
The worlds he built do not spoon feed anything to the observer. Even the characters often have to figure out what just happened after the fact; that’s how quickly technologies and people move there.
Second read through was even more rewarding than the first, if you have the time it will not disappoint.
My advice is to download a Neuromancer glossary from the internet and have it handy for whenever you encounter a strange word.
For me it was “trodes”. Trodes = electrodes, they allow your mind to plug into cyberspace (a futuristic version of the internet). Also, a deck, or cyberdeck, is basically a laptop without screen made to connect to Cyberspace - we have trodes now.
Take it easy, go with the flow, and play some Techno music in the background to adjust the mood 😎
I’d also recommend listening to the BBC radio play instead of trying to read the thing, it’s pretty cool.
Just accept that it’s wiggy at first. You’re being dragged along on a very high level heist with experienced professionals in their field, and your primary pov is a drug-addled hacker who struggles to differentiate meatspace from cyberspace. They’re not going to stop and explain anything, but you’ll understand the vibes.
If you’re still hot for it afterwards, give it another read. A lot more makes sense once you have an understanding of the bigger picture.
I was pretty hooked from the start. My imagination really took off with it picturing all the tech.
I also enjoy the cyberpunk genre, so I’m sure it helps.
It may also be my ADHD that the jumping around really just vibed with me.
You’re supposed to feel disoriented. Gibson is trying to capture a sense of a future that is accellerating to the point where humans can no longer exist there as we are.
The terminology is supposed to feel bewildering. Don’t sweat it. You’ll piece things together through context.
Stick with it. It’s the kind of book that is capable of completely rewiring your brain. An absolute masterpiece.
With all that being said, maybe try reading the short story Johnny Mnemonic first? That functions as an introduction to the setting and might be a more approachable way to ease yourself into his style. Fewer characters, a smaller, more compact scenario.
Johny mnemonic is an amazing short story. I basically re-read it every time someone mentions it.
Johnny Mnemonic. Johnny Mnemonic. Johnny Mnemonic. Johnny Mnemonic. Johnny Mnemonic. Johnny Mnemonic.
You got some reading to do =D
Lol, i just read it again two hours ago.
Try again in a couple of months and you’ll get me.
I was basically hooked from the start. Probably just a personal preference thing, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I still haven’t been able to read through any of The Lord of the Rings, and yet see my first sentence, lol.
It’s not written like typical sci-fi, it’s more like an art house (for lack of a better term) novel that happens to have a sci-fi setting. William Burroughs was a major influence on his writing and Neuromancer is perhaps the most obvious example of that.
It rewards re-reading immensely, I would advise to just go with the flow and don’t sweat the bits you can’t quite grasp, a lot of it makes more sense over time or clicks when you re-read it. It is incredibly worth it, imo, an absolute masterpiece of literary talent and prescient speculative fiction.
Having said that, if that style isn’t really your thing and you prefer more straight-forward sci-fi, then you will probably not dig it.
edit: After posting this comment I re-loaded my feed and there’s a post about William Burroughs directly above this one. Bill would be pleased.
After listening to the book a half dozen times or so, I came to the thought it’s like poetry in novel form, the prose can be beautiful and horrid in emotions. Case is high as often as he can and he’s the lens we see most things through so everything is a bit surreal. So I’m guessing that’s agreeing with you calling it an art house novel it that’s close to what you meant.
It’s one of my favourite novels of all time, I only wish I read it when it was newer, only got it like 10 years ago and I was prime age to read it in the 90s. Oh well,glad I got around to it.
It’s awesome when you’re 14 and into fantasy. Not so much later in life. I reread it a few years ago because I remember loving it as a kid. I couldn’t even finish it. Maybe I’m just not as into fantasy anymore.
I’m going to stray from the herd here and just say ‘stop’. It’s not a good book. It is foundational to cyber punk and we wouldn’t have movies like the matrix without it, but that doesn’t mean it’s good. I’ll also give it a lot of credit for being a very well imagined future with some great settings. But the main character is unrelatable, and the supporting characters are shallow. I’ll give it a pass for being a product of its time and not call out the racism and misogyny. But it commits the worst sin of a story in that you just don’t give a shit what happens to the characters. If halfway through the story a bomb went off and the story went on with a whole new cast, you’ll be ok with that. With no connection to the characters you have no investment in the victory or concern about their defeat, so the plot just kind of happens and you feel pretty ‘meh’ about it.
