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Pattern Recognition
Pattern Recognition's Cayce Pollard is very much a Gibson protagonist -- a somewhat hapless but sympathetic outsider with a unique sensitivity for a particular class of data. Cayce has what is termed an "allergic" sensitivity to the peculiar cultural ephemera of marketing and branding, and employs the sometimes-debility (she experiences something akin to a panic attack, for example, in the presence of too much Tommy Hilfiger) as a highly paid consultant in the survival-of-the-fittest ecology of the 21st century marketing industry.
She is also a "Footagehead," a member of an internet-based community which obsessively follows and theorizes about a series of enigmatic film clips, apparently components of a larger work, which surface anonymously and without announcement in the various uncharted archives of the internet.
Cayce is led by her current employer (a Millennial marketing savant who's Swiftian name, Hubertus Bigend, is easily the funniest thing in the book) into a search for the creator of the mysterious footage. At the same time, she is plagued by an apparent conspiracy of intimidation, involving the systematic invasion of her privacy and an exploitation of her "brand allergy" gift, and haunted by memories of her father, a security consultant who disappeared in New York in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, and seems almost certainly, but not provably, dead. Her search leads her into the labyrinth depths of post-cold-war politics and economics -- depths it seems she may find increasingly difficult to navigate a path out of.
Comparisons to Gibson's earlier works are easy to find in Pattern Recognition. Its main character, with her savant informational talent, brings earlier characters like Case, Laney, and Silencio to mind. Her wealth-facilitated search for the artist of the Footage is strongly reminiscent of Marley's search for the boxmaker in Count Zero (and in fact Hubertus Bigend seems a more benevolent but still creepy combination of Virek and Cody Harwood). Certainly there seems to be a certain self-conscious recognition of these comparisons in the fact that Gibson gives his female protagonist a name phonetically equivalent to Case. Pattern Recognition is also Gibson's first novel since Neuromancer to follow a single point-of-view throughout the entire book. In this and many other respects it has a simpler and more direct story than any other Gibson novel, though it is driven by the mystery angle and contains no shortage of twists and turns.
I tend to like Gibson books better in multiple readings and I'm curious to see if this effect holds for Pattern Recognition. My first reading impression is that, while a well-written and enjoyable page-turner, this is Gibson's weakest work. The translation of his trademark savant talents, ubiquitous technology, idiosyncratic artists and post-modern robber barons to a recognizable present-day reality is hit-and-miss. Story elements that might pass easily enough in a world of the not-too-distant future ring false in this version of the present, where the comparison to what actually is is constantly invited. Likewise, the introduction of September 11th is forced and suspect. There is something slightly off in Gibson's portrayal here, something revealing that after decades as a Canadian expatriate, Gibson cannot fully align with the American viewpoint any longer. And it is perhaps to soon for this very real human tragedy, whatever its sociopolitical lessons and consequences, to be used as a plot device in a work of speculative fiction. I wasn't fully satisfied by the answer to the mystery of the Footage artist, which seemed contrived, and found the resolution of the story to contain altogether too much deus ex machina.
Gibson's facile prose and knack for telling a fast-paced and compelling story prevent these problems from derailing Pattern Recognition altogether. The book is readable, enjoyable, and not without satisfaction. Gibson is to be admired for risking a chance on a fairly radical direction in his genre and taking on the altogether less malleable present in favor of the endless possibilities of the future. The depths to which he mines his own material speaks, perhaps, to the strain of this effort. Fans will probably accept Pattern Recognition's addition to the Gibson canon, detractors of his latter works will no doubt see it as further evidence of his decline. I hope that it indicates a tentative but promising step into a larger world of narrative possibilities for Gibson, and that this promise will prove itself as our stranger-than-fiction present evolves continuously into the future.
You can purchase Pattern Recognition from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Or really, just do a search for "footagehead" at Google and you'll get several reviews and an excerpt or two.
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I have started reading Pattern Recognition after re-reading Count Zero and it definitely doesnt have the same immediate impact. The earlier book hits you hard in the first paragraph and does not let up. His works are interesting not just for the good writing, but also the creative ideas he has deaking with the future of technology.
Worst. Sig. Ever.
I'm more then half-way through with this book and I can't help but feel that he has to be on anti-depressants. His other works are darker, although I think his writing has improved. Still a good read, but it's not Neuromancer.
Pros
- Main character is quirky and engaging
- Side characters are unusually unpredictable, but very human
- Last third of the book really moves
Cons- The first 2/3rds of the book is pretty slow
- By putting the book in the current/very near future Gibson has enough technical things that are just a little off to annoy me
- It seemed very disjointed
SummaryI'd own this in trade paperback, and in hardcover I would borrow it from the library
Gibson is so focused on microcultural events that the book was dated before it was even published. Which is really funny considering that the main character has a deep revulsion to trademarks. I really got tired of seeing trademarks in the text, especially that damned iBook. At least in the Neuromancer series the trademarks were made up.
I ended up with a reviewers copy of this book from my local second hand bookstore. (yes, I'm aware that buying a proof is vaguely evil, but I never said I was a nice person) When I read it I couldn't help but notice that much of Gibson's appeal for me lies in his depiction of a wild and frighteningly believable future. Since this book is set approximately in the present, I was not as distracted by gadgets and modifications, but was forced instead to take a long hard look at his ability to create believable characters and plotlines.
The result is that I enjoyed the book, but was very aware of Gibson's limitations. I found it difficult to get lost in the world that he, the writer, creates. His ability to create atmosphere is very good, and that is definitely something I enjoyed.
Don't believe me? Check out his site, with his rather interesting blog here
I don't need to be made to look evil. I can do that on my own. - Christopher Walken
I just finished this. I enjoyed it. As the reviewer mentions, it's more in line with his later work than Neuromancer. I like that - you can see he's progressing with his writing style.
That said, for some reason he's reused one of the character names - Darryl Musashi, which you will recognize from the X-Files episode he wrote entitled "First Person Shooter" (the guy who got his hands chopped off and then his head by the "goddess").
The science was unimpressive and, worse, uninteresting. The scrappy, plucky, aww-shucks main characters weren't remotely realistic or resonant, and the stock, two-dimensional villains almost as embarassing as his overreliance on deus ex machina.
The last few books of his that I would read I would approach as if they were bad scifi movies, and I would wait for the villain to vanish in 'death', and then I would wait and call to the page when he would 'mysteriously' return. Then I just gave up.
I have limited time in this world to read truly excellent work. Hell, there's better trash sci-fi being put out in comics these days if that's what floats your boat.
Neuromancer will always rank as something extremely special to me, but it was obviously time to move on from Gibson's lowered expectations a long time ago. Maybe if I hear that he's gone back to writing books instead of crappy screenplays (or horrificly cheezy and outdated X-Files episodes) I'll give him another shot. In the mean time, Im giving a pass on Pattern Recognition.
On the flipside, my check out Richard Powers for tech and CS stuff worked subtly into really good fiction. Especially good was a scene in Plowing the Dark (which is a novel about real life virtual reality) in which Adventure suddenly comes up on all the coder's terminals, and they all play through it and recollect how they'd all played it as kids or in college, and compare notes. Really nice.
IP is just rude.
Is there any torture so subl
But yeah, I thought it was pretty odd that a girl with a total aversion to brand could even stand to use a Mac. I mean, it kind of made sense that all these 'creative' types would use them, but Cayce? Granted, they did give it to her, but you'd think she'd ditch it for the most no-name PC clone laptop she could get her hands on.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
Personally, I don't think Snow Crash is even remotely as good as Neuromancer. I must confess that I'm not exactly a huge sci-fi fan, let alone a cyberpunk devotee, but IMO Neuromancer is a well-written (or, at the very least, "interestingly-written") book with plenty of literary merit; I've re-read it a couple of times (something I rarely do) and it never fails to affect me emotionally. Snow Crash, on the other hand...Well, it's certainly entertaining enough, but hardly very deep or compelling (as far as I'm concerned, anyway). Maybe it's just me, but I didn't find any of the characters to be all that interesting (except maybe in a "he's a half-black half-Asian dreadlocked katana-wielding computer nerd, cool" kinda way), and the whole Sumerian angle seemed incredibly far-fetched to me. Also, while Molly is the sort of strong woman rarely found in contemporary sci-fi, Y.T. is...a glorified adolescent fantasy, basically. I find Stephenson's obsession with "funny" dialogue and "clever" plot twists frustrating; he is plainly capable of far more than that. As for the Cryptonomicon, I haven't read it myself but a friend of mine tried and gave up halfway through, largely for the reasons detailed above. Then again, another friend of mine loved it. There's no accounting for taste, I guess :)
The problem with Idoru is that it was the middle book of a trilogy, but nobody knew it was a trilogy until All Tomorrow's Parties arrived, when Gibson tied Idoru back to Virtual Light. Gibson's problem is that he doesn't know how to write a cliffhanger. Idoru ended on its own terms, wrapped up well enough to suggest no sequel was forthcoming, but not well enough to give the reader a satisfactory resolution. As a result, many fans skipped ATP, figuring that Gibson's fading relevance finally went out-of-scale low. It's a shame. ATP's ending is as deus ex left field as Mona Lisa Overdrive's, (and Pattern Recognition's, apparently), but far more satisfying than Idoru's.
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I read this over last weekend, and I have to agree with some of the reviews here, the first 1/3 is pretty slow, but then it moves back into the old Gibson style breakneck speed where you can't stop until you put it down.
The only thing about this latest offering is that it seems to be moving in a trend away from sci-fi and they 'cyberpunk' related themes that really hooked me on Gibson's earlier writings (i.e. Neuromancer etc. etc.). I think that if instead of reading those more hard edge technology based stories I had read the later books first (Pattern Recognition/All tomorrow's parties) I'm not sure if I would have lumped him into the same category and not sure if I would have been anticipating his new releases as much as I usually do.
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Yeesh. Sometimes it seems like everyone expects Gibson to just write the same novel over and over and over. If what you want is a Neuromancer/Count Zero clone then write it yourself. Chances are you won't be able to sell it...
Besides Gibson tends to cover the same ground in his novels perhaps a little too much as it is. Personally I am happy to see him stretch a little, and applaud him for trying even if it isn't entirely successful. If you are going to critisize Pattern Recognition on its merits as a novel unconnected to the Sprawl trilogy, fine. But please don't bitch because it isn't Neuromancer v2.0!
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Are you an SF Fan? Are you a Tru-Fan?
While I am looking forward to reading "Pattern Recognition," I am not surprised at the direction of Gibson's work. I always felt that Gibson grabbed the tiger by the tail with "Neuromancer" and he has been searching for that tiger ever since. What really powers "Neuromancer" is Gibson's rage and scorn. Those of you who happened to pick up the audio book version of "Neuromancer," narrated by Gibson himself know what I'm talking about. The audio book is a treat, almost making Gibson himself a character. As we get older, sustaining that kind of rage is not an easy thing to do. Gibson has more going for him than attitude. With his later books I think he has started to forsake the "Neuromancer" tiger and just go hunting for new game.
It's funny. A lot of people hate Idoru, but it's not really all that bad. Like Virtual Light before it, it ends on its own terms but it's not really complete. All Tomorrow's Parties really finishes both of them up.
Everyone also seems to hate The Difference Engine, which I don't quite understand either. I guess I have some personal attachment to it because I'm a paleontology student, but it did seem like a very good book to me. Yes, things went on...and on...and on. Yes, the language was difficult. But when was Gibson EVER easy to read? Yes, he makes you work for everything you get out of his books. But is that really so bad?
As for the difference between Gibson and Stephenson, Gibson writes collages and Stephenson writes comic books. Snow Crash was silly. It was a fun read, yes, but it was silly and impossible to take seriously. The plot was contrived, the atmosphere was so chaotic and often contradicted itself. Cryptonomicon went on and on, and The Diamond Age felt like reading The Difference Engine...but without anything interesting going on at all. He's funny, sure, but I find that Gibson's more subtle humor is far more satisfying.
That said, I liked Pattern Recognition. A lot. It's different from Neuromancer and Count Zero and Virtual Light, but that doesn't mean it sucks.
If not all sentients are human, couldn't it be possible that not all humans are sentient either?
For the past three books the same criticisms have been levelled at Gibson's latest book by the geek cognescenti here at Slashdot. It gets pretty boring. I think the problem is Gibson's fustion of noir and attitude to computers gave socially inept people who did not generally have a badass bone in them some kind of feeling that they did; when that became less interesting to him, because it wasn't really even on the money for the most part, most geeks became bored.
Here's some rebuttal to some of those criticisms:
The usage of Sept. 11th makes perfect, absolute sense. I'd like to understand why a poster above refers to the book as speculative fiction. Although marketed as such there is nary a piece of technology nor a futuristic setting to suggest that P.R. is even a work of science fiction, despite being marketed as such by the publisher. If you've worked in filmmaking or advertising on a Transoceanic basis in the past year, this book reads more believable than anything out there.
I think it's obvious that Gibson has taken the central themes in all of his books and reformed them into this and set it in the present day because there's no longer a need to push it forward. The perception of time is a constant underlying theme in Gibson's work, and this one deals with the immediate and what's in fashion because it dominates our day to day living. September 11th is immediate and cannot be ignored, and ultimately the book is about any human search, no matter the time or place, for meaning in a sea of information that is incomprehensible due to its complexity. P.R. does not offer any easy answers or political commentary on Sept. 11th, only a raw sort of need to understand and contextualize something that horrific into a person's life.
That fits into the broader idea of the book, the old Gibson standby of someone trying to track down an artist. The footageheads who trawl the web and dissect and bisect the pieces of anonymous footage are really doing what humans have always done in culture; once again, searching for meaning where there is none.
If anyone can point me to a book which captures the sensation of what it's like to be part of an online community or to communicate with friends daily, globally and immediately; please offer suggestions. That's what P.R. nails.
** http://www.nkhumanrights.or.kr/ ** Human rights in North Korea. 1 million estimated dead from starvation.
The way I see it Gibson is Thomas Pynchon and Stephenson is Kurt Vonnegut.
I think they come from very different schools of writing. Gibson believes in complex language and leaving lots of things unsaid, whereas Stephenson makes it very clear what's happening and what his characters are feeling.
Personally I think the Vonnegut style is more difficult to write in a "serious novel" (as opposed to thriller novels). I understand that lots of people like obfuscated stories, but that doesn't mean they're better (or worse), and calling Stephenson's novels comic books is rather condescending.
Crytonomicon did ramble on a bit, but it was interesting the whole way through. I haven't read Pattern Recognition, but I've read the rest of Gibson's books. I loved Neuromancer when I read it in high school, but as I got older and read the rest of his stuff I got annoyed at most of his style. I really miss the technical accuracy of Stephenson, Gibson leaves so much unsaid it seems like he knows the story but isn't telling us, and his endings always have some big event that's supposed to wrap things up but seems completely unrelated to the rest of the story and leaves you thinking "...well, ok. I guess that's the end."
You could obviously say that I'm too dumb to understand his style, and that's certainly possible, although I don't consider myself that dense. I read lots of books by lots of authors. I read all his books because I really wanted to like him, but it was so hard to. Then I read Stephenson and thought, "this is what I was looking for." Snow Crash was purposefully over the top ("Hiro Protagaonist"? Come on), but just because a novel has comedy in it doesn't mean it can't be taken seriously. Is Catch-22 just a silly comic novel? Breakfast of Champions? Huckleberry Finn?
I know I'm ranting, but I had a writing teacher in college who thought Pynchon-style stories were the ultimate in writing. I find that opinion quite arrogant. You can tell by my handle I'm a Vonnegut fan.
I always thought the short stories in 'Burning Chrome' contained some of his strongest work. Suprised noone has brought it up yet. I found 'dogfight' to be rather poignant, and 'red star, winter orbit' too. I agree that the later work is not as good, but I recommend reading 'Burning Chrome'. The stories take place in all kinds of weird settings-- only one of them is a traditional 'cyberpunk'-style story-- and they are crisp, short, and well-written.
iopha