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A review by lauraborkpower
Neuromancer by William Gibson
5.0
This book broke my brain a little bit. And I loved it.
I don't even know where to start with this review. Gibson is brilliant, and so is this book. It's the hardest sci-fi I've read--and it might be the hardest sci-fi in existence (it's certainly what a lot of contemporary sci-fi and matrix-style distopic fiction is based on)--but I was drawn in immediately because of Gibson's unbelievably quick pace and confidence. He explains nothing. He doesn't waste time giving exposition or needless background. He just throws you in and surrounds you with the jargon, the characters, and the distopic reality that is Case's life. And it's because of this quickness that the jargon--ice, flatline, jack, flip, Hosaka, deck, construct--stuck in my lexicon so easily.
I don't think I caught or understood about 1/3 of this book, which is why it's on my "Books To Re-Read" shelf. But that doesn't matter. Gibson doesn't disregard the reader by moving so quickly and explaining so little--he does the reader a favor. He values the reader and compliments them by assuming they're as smart as he is (the man has one of the hardest working brains I've ever seen). I'm certainly not up to par, but it was fun to play.
I don't even know where to start with this review. Gibson is brilliant, and so is this book. It's the hardest sci-fi I've read--and it might be the hardest sci-fi in existence (it's certainly what a lot of contemporary sci-fi and matrix-style distopic fiction is based on)--but I was drawn in immediately because of Gibson's unbelievably quick pace and confidence. He explains nothing. He doesn't waste time giving exposition or needless background. He just throws you in and surrounds you with the jargon, the characters, and the distopic reality that is Case's life. And it's because of this quickness that the jargon--ice, flatline, jack, flip, Hosaka, deck, construct--stuck in my lexicon so easily.
I don't think I caught or understood about 1/3 of this book, which is why it's on my "Books To Re-Read" shelf. But that doesn't matter. Gibson doesn't disregard the reader by moving so quickly and explaining so little--he does the reader a favor. He values the reader and compliments them by assuming they're as smart as he is (the man has one of the hardest working brains I've ever seen). I'm certainly not up to par, but it was fun to play.