“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”
I don’t usually quote lines in this newsletter, a feature many have commented on with some bemusement. But with this novel, the starting line carries a punch that during its publication, kickstarted the whole cyberpunk genre in science-fiction.
Portions of it heavily inspired the Matrix trilogy (Gibson was the first to use the phrase in the cyberspace context) and some have even gone as far as to suggest that the 1984 novel inspired the Internet itself.
For me though, the audiobook reminded me why sci-fi feels better when read than heard.
The Spectacle of Sci-fi
I am a huge fan of audiobooks, as past posts have indicated. They make for compelling narratives and are a lifesaver during life’s many pauses. But with this book, I found my attention often wavering and the technoscientific language losing itself amidst the humdrum of my actual surroundings.
While we are on the topic of mediums, it came as a massive surprise to me that the novel was yet to be adapted to film. Gibson’s language begs to be translated to the visual medium, the scope of his metaphors carving out a spectacle within the mind’s eye.
Then again, perhaps the work did end up making it to the big screen, what with the slew of sci-fi content it has inspired which has become the staple diet of popular culture in recent times.
Are we heading there?
Works of sci-fi like this always beg the looming question: “Are we there yet?” While I am firmly in the aisle that science-fiction is but a reflection of one’s present and not a prediction of the future, the possibilities in 2022 do look bleak.
Mark Zuckerberg’s flimsy metaverse gamble may yet delay the kind of reality the characters of Neuromancer are addicted to, but I do wonder whether AI will eventually get there and whether it will let us know when it attains the grim milestone.
Regardless, my mind while hearing this book kept flitting to Hank Green’s excellent novels An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor. While set in starkly different time periods, the novels appear to ask fairly similar questions.
Do read this book, but beware you may get sucked into its universe in the same way its characters get sucked into cyberspace. Consider sharing and following this newsletter. I will not hack your brain if you choose not to, the social media algorithm may already be at it.