Nicole Brady

Book Review #1

William Gibson’s Neuromancer 

The past century has brought us so far technologically, from the invention to the lightbulb to the creation of the World Wide Web. For a possible glimpse to where we have yet to go, look no farther than William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer. Written, almost prophetically, before the terms cyberspace and virtual reality were commonly recognizable, this novel is credited by many as founding the science fiction genre of cyberpunk. Neauromancer went a step farther when it launched cyberpunk into the mainstream, winning the Hugo, Nebula, and Philip K. Dicks Awards for science fiction literature.

Set in a future that is completely overwhelmed with technology, the world Gibson creates is one that is a not-too-distant versionof the reality many of us presently live in. The story begins by introducing the reader to Henry Dorsett Case, a down-on-his-luck unemployed hacker, as he drowns his sorrows at a grimy watering hole in Chiba City. Case, it turns out, had been a successful "cowboy," a hacker working for multinational corporations, before he got greedy and tried to steal some data. In retaliation, his employer used mycotoxin to alter his nervous system, so that Case could never again access the global computer network. "For Case, who’d lived for the bodiless exultation of cyberspace, it was the Fall" (Gibson 6). He turns to drugs and alcohol to fill the void left within him.

However, Case receives a chance to regain access to that exultation when he is contacted by Molly, a "razorgirl" sent to recruit Case for a major project, the details of which remain secret to them both. Case quickly accepts, as soon as he realizes that they could correct his neural damage. Molly and Case receive their orders from Armitage, an emotionless ex-military man. From the beginning, it is clear to Case that Armitage is simply the mouthpiece for a higher authority. Eventually, it is discovered that he represents a powerful artificial intelligence named Wintermute, who enlists his help in binding him with his other half, an AI named Neuromancer. Together they will form a highly illegal super-AI. The mission takes Case and Molly from the dark recesses of illicit Chiba City to the urban splendor of the Sprawl. The Sprawl is an area which encompasses much of what is modern day America, stretching from Boston to Atlanta. From here, it is on to Istanbul, where they get a hold of another person that Wintermute needs to use in order to achieve his goal. This man, Riviera, is interesting in that he can bend reality as other people view it-implant subliminal messages that impact what people experience. On the motley crew forges, finally arriving at Freehold, the space station where the final battle will occur. They meet a slew of characters on the way, including Finn, Yonderboy, Maelcum, and Lady 3Jane Marie-France Tessier-Ashpool.

Neuromancer

, on the surface, is simply the story of a quest, like so many stories of the past. Delving deeper within its passages, though, one can appreciate the details Gibson presents about the various technologies of the future. One such technology is the ability to construct digital consciousness that mimics a particular person's. While in the Sprawl, Molly and Case pick up a fourth piece to the puzzle, a ROM module containing the saved consciousness of a cowboy who was a legend in his field, "The Dixie Flatline" McCoy Pauley. Through the powerful Hosaka computer Case is able to jack into the cyberspace arena that Flatline’s construct is contained in. Here, he can learn from Flatline and hold conversations with him, although in reality there is not ‘him’ to converse with-it is only a "ROM cassette replicating a dead man’s skills, obsessions, knee-jerk responses…" (Gibson 77). It is a very awe-inspiring, and simultaneously very creepy, example of what may be possible where modern technology is headed. There is another unique program called simstim, farfetched at the time this novel was written in the 1980s, though not so farfetched as we would hope in the twenty-first century. Simstim, or simulated stimulation, allows one user to jack in and gain access to the experiences of the second user. So, for example, while one person is riding a roller coaster, another could be at home, seeing the same view, hearing the same sounds, and feeling the wind in their hair. Sounds like the Wii version 235.

The beauty of Neuromancer lies, not mainly in the plotline, but, as with most great literary works, in how it is delivered. Gibson weaves Case's adventure into a beautiful and dark future, filled with people and cultures both exceedingly fantastic and frighteningly real. The opening sentence of Neuromancer sets the tone for the rest of the novel. "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel" (Gibson 3). Gibson's descriptions of the natural world using unnatural and technical terms is unique and effective. Conversely, he describes inert objects and technology with more human characteristics than the human characters in Neuromancer. One very poignant part of the book occurs when the Flatline construct asks Case to kill it after the mission is over. "This scam of yours, when it's over, you erase this goddam thing" (Gibson 106). It seems to have become more human than one would think, and sees the cruelty in its situation. Technology has permeated this book entirely, right down to the details. Because of the pervasiveness of technology, though, humans have lost their "humanness". The flesh is no longer something to revel in and enjoy. Rather, it is a cage holding us back from the boundless freedom that technology permits us. It is this freedom that Case misses when his neurons are damaged. He bemoans the "meat" that holds him back from reaching his full potential. The meshing of the human and the technical world in descriptive phrases mirrors the theme of the entire novel.

Neuromancer

has been relevant over the past two decades for many reasons. When it was created, it provided a statement on the state of society. The counterculture so predominant in Gibson's novel mirrors the cultures formed in the 1980s. Today, it is twice as relevant. It provides a valid criticism of society today and, looking back, we can see just how prophetic it has been thus far. Neuromancer makes us think, with everything else Gibson predicted, is this what lies in our future?

Gibson, William. Neuromancer. Ace Books, New York: 1984.