One thing I read somewhere -- and it might have been an interview with Gibson or with someone else talking about his work -- is how much William Gibson despises derivatives of cyberpunk in the books, videogames and movies that followed.
Specifically, he dislikes the focus on the aesthetic, neon lights, mirror shades, etc. I think Gibson really dislikes Cyberpunk 2077, for example. Gibson argued they are missing the point, staying shallow and forgetting the "message", which was PUNK: a rebellion and a rejection of the mainstream state of affairs. Gibson was a punk writer, and his writing was a critique of Reaganomics and the direction the world was going back then.
I think he means we need a different kind of critique now, not anchored to neon lights and vaguely Japanese inspired retrofuturistic aesthetics which look like what the 80s thought the future would be. And nothing can be more conformist and anti-punk than lazily copying a now classic aesthetic and doing nothing else with it.
That said, I love that aesthetic myself, and have no problem being stuck in the past. But I see his point.
The Sprawl trilogy and its fashion/world is formed a lot by politics. Gibson himself says that Neuromancer is an exaggerated critique of Reaganomics and the problems it exasperated (or, at the very least, failed to address). The rampant drug abuse, sovereign corporations, the ever increasing gap of poverty and technology -- I think a lot of derivative media adopts these elements to look cool (without actually understanding their context or meaning).
I was in a bookshop in Germany the other day, and saw a "Neuromancer" cover with a cool stylized photograph of Seoul, South Korea, in the background. The most perfect metaphor for the West's present switch-over from Japanmania to the Korean Wave.
Similarly now have the modern Korean alphabet bleed into the neon signs of Cyberpunky streets of more recent movie productions where in the past you had Japanese or Chinese writing systems. The shifting representation of Asia in Western exoticism/escapism content is fascinating to observe.
Edit: Photo of the cover: https://eikehein.com/stuff/neuromancer_seoul.jpg
> When Gibson penned his opening line āthe sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channelā he merged reality and the digital in a way that seems almost prophetic today
Tangentially, I find the generational aspect of that line fun. Depending on how old the person you're talking to is, this will mean (as originally meant) a gray/staticy color, or a searingly vivid blue, (or, I guess, something else like a graphical "no signal found" screen in the most modern interpretations).
As with much sci-fi, it's a story of "the future" that's thoroughly grounded in the present day it was written in.
I was sick at home and finally picked up the Neuromancer which had been sitting in the bookshelf for years.
It was an experience indeed. At many points, very high concept (which of course has been copied to death). At other points, naive. Surprisingly few things felt old fashioned.
The biggest let down was the unrealistic behavior and motivation of people. It felt very much like an adventure game where everything revolves around the main character.
EDIT: To clarify, I liked the book very much.
William Gibson was inspired by Jean āMoebiusā Giraud, check this quote from the man himself:
> āSo itās entirely fair to say, and Iāve said it before, that the way Neuromancer-the-novel ālooksā was influenced in large part by some of the artwork I saw in āHeavy Metalā. I assume that this must also be true of John Carpenterās āEscape from New Yorkā, Ridley Scottās āBlade Runnerāā, and all other artefacts of the style sometimes dubbed ācyberpunkā. Those French guys, they got their end in early.ā
In particular, "The Long Tomorrow" by Moebius/Dan O'Bannon published in 1977 on Heavy Metal magazine was very influential to Gibson.
Gibson is still telling the same story. If you read his more recent works, like The Peripheral, you'll see it. It's still Cyberpunk. The aesthetic has been modernized. It's less neon and more black and a little too familiar, but the message is the same: Even in an overtly corrupt world, knowledge and information are supremely powerful. Because of this, an underdog can beat the system change everything.
As a 16 year old kid back in 1990, this message meant everything to me. It inspired me and gave me hope. His new stuff has less neon but is just a great to read and feels the same to me today.
So I really like this book and reread it every other year. High octane fun that tickles my programmer's fancy.
I like really well made books, so the edition I have is the Easton Press https://www.eastonpress.com/signed-editions/william-gibson-n..., from Ebay although mine is unsigned.
There is an a Suntup Editions version that is to drool over https://suntup.press/neuromancer, especially the Numbered Editions. Completely impossible to get except for thousands of dollars on Ebay. I have a Suntup Edition 451 Fahrenheit and it's amazing, so I can only imagine what this one looks like. And the circuit design has an Easter Egg, although I don't know what it is.
High quality rare books can be an expensive hobby...
The 80's were my 20s. It's hard to explain to younger folks how the 80s (especially early 80s) felt, culturally. The whole 'Japan, Inc.' thing was in full swing, and the general feeling was that Japan was eating the world. 'Tech' was this fresh, semi-mystical thing, still opaque to much of the public.
Gibson latched onto that cultural wave and took it into a possible future, and it was exciting to me. Today it's interesting to see that technofuture both commoditized and idolized.
Now in my 50s, it's still interesting but seems a bleak and not-terribly-human place that I don't want to live.
The BBC made a fantastic radio play out of Neuromancer:
Cyberpunk aesthetics are mostly hidden IMHO. I saw a few Youtube videos of chip factories that make flash drives, SSDs and integrated circuits, etc and was amazed at the efficiency & precision of the robots that make them. If you want to be reminded we're living in the future, visit some of these factories, they're mind blowing.
Anyone interested in the roots of cyberpunk might also be interested in John Brunner's 1968 novel *Stand On Zanzibar*.
I couldn't finish the book, it just had too much unexplained fictional techno-jargon to be able to enjoy for me. I know thats the style of immersion he was going for, but it didn't click for me, even though I'm a big sci-fi reader.
I was honestly underwhelmed by Neuromancer. Maybe because so many people raved about it or that I read it many years after it was written. I honestly don't know. It was... OK. But amazing? I don't see it.
I love science fiction. One thing you have to realize about science ficiton is that it is a product of the time it was written. It may share many of the aesthetics, themes, philosophies and politics of that time. Like it's hard not to look at the original Star Wars and not see the impact of 70s aesthetics.
Cyberpunk as a genre stems from xenophobia, ultimately. There was a pervasive fear in the 1980s that the Japanese were "taking over". The depiction of a dystopian future dominated by megacorps mirrors fears of Japanese culture and influence.
40 years later this dystopian future still hasn't eventuated.
Iāll write my comment to outweigh the negativity towards the game.
Iām still enjoying the game, still riding through Night City, finding new details every day: in the roads, tunnels, on the walls. A random pedestrian might have some link to a book or a movie - you just need to check their clothes and phrases. So exciting.
REDEngine is great - of course, performance is awful, but the idea of ray-traced lights is great and it looks amazing. Also, the details level and the skin rendering - are truly amazing.
Of course, the game needs more, much more work - to make it more entertaining, deeper. But still, it's an interesting world, and Iām pretty sure the price was fair.
One of the most interesting and entertaining parts for me: Cyber Engine Tweaks. Some days I spend more times for hacking than playing:)
I quite appreciate the author's use of Death Burger art as illustration in the article. For me it captures the aesthetic of modern cyberpunk quite well.
> When Gibson penned his opening line āthe sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channelā he merged reality and the digital in a way that seems almost prophetic today
It feels like Gibson was riffing on the vibe created by John Foxx's "Metamatic" [1] in 1980 (never mind his "Ultravox!" [2] in the years before that). Maybe it was Foxx though that claimed he was channelling the mood of novels like Ballard's "Crash" [3] from 1973. Computerization, synthesized music, alienation were a part of the zeitgeist of the 70's, 80's.
[1] https://youtu.be/dgaLF2F5LWg
I love neuromancer and its sequels, and like this blogs aesthetic, but good god the tracking makes it hard to read.
I read Neuromancer a few years back, I liked it. I do don't normally read scifi as it tends to annoy me. However this didnt.
One thing that really stuck out for me was that _everyone_ had memory foam mattresses. The slums, the really slick holiday homes, everyone.
I finished reading Neuromancer a week ago. I'd played Cyberpunk 2077 recently, and Dystopia further back. So many of the concepts from those games appear to come directly from Neuromancer! I stumbled upon articles implying they were indirectly influenced; Neuromancer evidently created a whole genre!
Btw, compared to hard scifi like Stephenson (relevant comparison due to Snow Crash), Neuromacer isn't really there; its strengths are outstanding creativity, world-building, character development (including top-notch implied backstories), personal interactions, and artful descriptions.
I just got into the sprawl series over the past couple of months. Finished Neuromancer and count zero, now blazing through Mona Lisa overdrive.
It's such an amazing series, it so good I find myself trying to pace myself while reading it so I can gestate more of the world and think about it for a while.
I rarely find a book or series that captivates me to this level so I'm basically in love with the sprawl trilogy right now. After I'm done ill probably read Gibsons other stuff because he is really good.
Has anyone read his Bridge trilogy?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge_trilogy
> The trilogy derives its name from the San FranciscoāOakland Bay Bridge, which was abandoned in an earthquake and has become a massive shantytown and a site of improvised shelter.
Seems sadly two heartbeats into the future for todayās Bay Area
No mention of Vernor Vinge's "True Names" from 1981. I'd say it's as close to the metaverse as Snow Crash
The Sprawl trilogy is my favorite series of books. Probably the only books that I've read over and over... and over.
I reread Neuromancer recently and it was surreal reading all the refs in it to The Matrix. literally
I'm rereading Snow Crash now and you cant go 10 pages without reading about The Metaverse. and so much of its VR world reminds me of Ready Player One
everything old thats good seems to get endlessly reinvented, riffed on, or just blatantly ripped off? lol
I read Neuromancer a few weeks ago, and couldn't get into it. I love books like Snow Crash and The Three Body Problem, but didn't track what was happening Neuromancer half the time and the other half I didn't care. I realize this is probably a personal defect, as so many others laud it as a masterpiece.
And yet we still dont have a film! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer#Film
Thing is, who could even do such a book justice as a film?
Anyone remember the videogame?
If you liked Neuromancer then you should read True Names by Vernor Vinge.
Amusing to see that the last line of the piece refers to "sci-fi on speed", as amphetamines were the drug of choice for the spiritual forefather of the movement, Philip K Dick...
Gibson's failiure was the failiure of punk in general, it was too cool and not edgy enough and was easily incorporated into mainstream.
I wonder what the greybeards that grew up on this science fiction, now in their 40s/50s?, think of the world we live in today.
I love both Snow Crash and Neuromancer. I recall someone saying that Neal is a great hacker but not a great writer - but that Gibson is a great writer / but not a great hacker.
I guess the comparison isnāt perfect but I get what it means. Snow crash made more technical sense but reads like a disaster. Neuromancer reads like a dopamine drip but misses the mark on some of the tech.
Snow Crash is funny and short. I didn't like it at first but after forcing through the first 30 pages the anarcho-libertarianism ad absurdum took hold and I was laughing my socks off. I have yet to read another Stephenson novel. Neuromancer is more intense and some of the passages are hard to follow, but I enjoyed it pretty much from the get-go. Different books. I wish there was less apparent competition between them.
Also I wish the sense of humor of Snow Crash was better understood. It really is a laugh-out-loud read and otherwise reads like a comic book (in a good way). I think some of the Americanisms irk British and Euro readers. I'm not usually one for audio books but I have heard the Snow Crash audio book carries the tone perfectly.
Neuromancer has dot matrix printers. Just like the airports!
The sleeper was a thing once upon a time. Might still be.
What came after cyberpunk?
Did anyone find a convincing way out?
gh0st, if you're watching this, I'm still looking for the rabbit hole.
I just start reading Neuromancer on my Kindle last night and then this post pops up on HN. :)
Funny, I read it and then studied it at an alternative high school in the early 90's, and see Neuromancer as just a presumed part of my culture. I read this post as a bit like someone saying when we talk about poverty in rich western countries as "Dickensian," there was a real person named Dickens who actually wrote stories of some renown about those themes.
However, what fiction, art and comics were to us in a time before we could see pictures on the internet of literally everything, travel everywhere, and read the thoughts of random strangers on every conciavable topic, is what cyberpunk signifies now.
Gibson seemed to escape the category of genre and get treated "seriously," as "literary," fiction that is usually character driven, (vs plot driven and didactic fantasy sci-fi) but in Neuromancer's case the technology was so alive it became a character, or so the conversation at the time was about the book.
Literary fiction was a way to extend your experience by developing an empathy for complex characters and exercise it in a way that could be applied to relationships with real people. You could tell when someone had read Catcher and the Rye because it was like they had adopted the mannerisms of another friend you hadn't met. The idea and aesthetic of being or becoming cyberpunk - an anti-hero with super power competence at manipulating the tech substrate of your environment and system you both existed in and were against - was what a generation of young hackers adopted from Neromancer the way boomers read 'Catcher'.
At the time, Neuromancer's Case, Artimage, and Molly replaced the Holden Caulfields, Sebastian Flytes, and Larry Darell (characters from different famous literary novels) as character archetypes a lot of young readers oriented their aspirations and identities around, where relationships with these characters often set them on a real life trajectory. If you read Neuromancer and became a hacker, it's a lot like reading Brideshead Revisited and accepting your sexuality, or reading Razor's Edge and dropping out and living in an ashram.
Fiction before the internet did that, where it was personal experience of a relationship with characters and it had downstream effects on the culture. Post-internet on instagram or a blog someone follows, the characters are literally more real because these are people sharing their lives, but also less complex because the text and images are still representations created by people who aren't deeply thoughtful and practiced writers, and by being real, they don't provide ideals or open aesthetics. Internet people/characters don't provoke and leverage imagination that lets the reader create new and beautiful things, rather, they create concrete symbols to imitate and compare with directly.
When I read the article I was nostalgic, but thought it's not so much cyberpunk that is the artifact of the past, it's that the aesthetics and experience of fiction as a perfect, distant, and open ended ideal that draws out the readers imagination to create something new themselves that feels gone. As in I don't miss cyberpunk so much as I miss fiction being meaningfully upstream of culture the way it seemed to be before the internet. Anyway, piqued.
A great and terrible book, Gibson repeatedly throwing you in to mountains of not yet explained language and concepts before dragging you out of confusion a chapter later is frustrating and tiresome, however I could not help coming back for more. I regret nothing.
Iām constantly amazed at how Metaverse aficionados quote Snow Crash and and other 1990s works as cornerstones of cyberspace, when Gibson invented the term and Neuromancer was written in 1984. Gibson is the original. The passage where Case connects to the matrix (also a Gibson term) again for the first time once his nervous system is repaired is heartbreakingly beautiful. I relate to it as a young phone phreak growing up in South Africa in the 80s and 90s when I would bluebox the home country direct phone trunks to connect to BBSs in the USA. When I could not get through, usually because they were filtering my seize tones, I felt the same deprivation. And when I finally connected I felt the same elation Case feels in this sceneā¦
āPlease, he prayed, nowā
A gray disk, the color of Chiba sky.
Nowā
Disk beginning to rotate, faster, becoming a sphere of paler gray. Expandingā
And flowed, flowered for him, fluid neon origami trick, the unfolding of his distanceless home, his country, transparent 3D chessboard extending to infinity. Inner eye opening to the stepped scarlet pyramid of the Eastern Seaboard Fission Authority burning beyond the green cubes of Mitsubishi Bank of America, and high and very far away he saw the spiral arms of military systems, forever beyond his reach.
And somewhere he was laughing, in a white-painted loft, distant fingers caressing the deck, tears of release streaking his face.ā