

Loading... Pattern Recognition (2003)by William Gibson
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Books Read in 2014 (83) » 14 more Books Read in 2020 (1,144) Best Books Set in London (103) Books Read in 2004 (22) Books Read in 2006 (176) KayStJ's to-read list (554) Read in 2014 (46) Unread books (734) Biggest Disappointments (501) No current Talk conversations about this book. Set a few minutes in the future, this is the story about marketing, paranoia, stalking, and crime. For me, a lot better than Neuromancer I give this three instead of two stars only because Gibson had some lovely prose in this work, some excellent turns of phrase, moments where I went, "Ooh, that was nice." It felt like reading a Murakami novel, except Gibson remains too Western, and the inchoate mood never quite settled correctly. Murakami gets away with this somehow, drawing a plot and a character along a plot as through a dream. But I wanted something more concrete from Gibson. In particular, I was annoyed that Cayce's "allergy" didn't play more of a central role – it provided emotional subtext for her, but in the end seemed like a cool idea Gibson imagined, but couldn't figure out how to properly exploit. I give this three instead of two stars only because Gibson had some lovely prose in this work, some excellent turns of phrase, moments where I went, "Ooh, that was nice." It felt like reading a Murakami novel, except Gibson remains too Western, and the inchoate mood never quite settled correctly. Murakami gets away with this somehow, drawing a plot and a character along a plot as through a dream. But I wanted something more concrete from Gibson. In particular, I was annoyed that Cayce's "allergy" didn't play more of a central role – it provided emotional subtext for her, but in the end seemed like a cool idea Gibson imagined, but couldn't figure out how to properly exploit. This took a while to build on me but it definitely has Gibson's signature world building weirdness. Not as prophetic as neuromancer but it still has that same cyberpunk noir setting I love. In a world not unlike our own in the not at all future. Looking forward to reading more.
"In this, he is basically a conservative author; he doesn't really want to engage with the possibilities of the post-human. His chosen form, the novel, doesn't allow him to do this." "Gibson's best book since Mona Lisa Overdrive should satisfy his hardcore fans while winning plenty of new ones." ''Pattern Recognition'' considers these issues with appealing care and, given that this best-selling author is his own kind of franchise, surprising modesty. "A slick but surprisingly humane piece of work from the father of cyberpunk."
Cayce Pollard, a design consultant, is on the trail of the creator of Internet videos that have attained a worldwide cult following. As she draws closer to the truth, Cayce's life is threatened by those who will stop at nothing to protect the secret of the videos. No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54 — Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The references to East Lansing, Michigan, where I work, were icing on the cake. (