Post Ahf4eaoYcV1VCGraHw by jakemiller@federate.social
(DIR) More posts by jakemiller@federate.social
(DIR) Post #Ahezvdn8IykNa9VTua by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-05-07T21:25:21Z
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I just re-read Neuromancer for some reason and... I still don't really get it. Though I'm not certain it's making any particular statement. The hero mall-ninja. The wasp nest of big money. It's like a bunch of dream images each with their own resonance rattling around in what would be unfair to call 90s pastiche... because to be fair to Mr. Gibson, he invented what was later imitated. But, yeah. I still don't really *get* it.
(DIR) Post #Ahf0BCQToh0rLLKW4u by SnoopJ@hachyderm.io
2024-05-07T21:28:08Z
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@futurebird I think of it as 70s pastiche. So much of that book is organized around "white flight" ideas of urban centers. The Sprawl is like the ultimate realization of a lot of that.I think he did it quite well (especially casting a total loser as the protag and putting him opposite a frighteningly competent competent woman), but the result is a pretty psychadelic blend of vibes.
(DIR) Post #Ahf0FyMTXHghAdjUvo by richpuchalsky@mastodon.social
2024-05-07T21:28:59Z
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@futurebird It's a D&D quest: they have to get together the fighter, the magic user, the thief and the cleric.
(DIR) Post #Ahf0kZOAQxCmhE78RE by christopherbrown@mastodon.social
2024-05-07T21:34:10Z
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@futurebird I find neuromancer to be what we’re experiencing now: organized criminals masquerading as government (Kendzior) and corporations of which you cannot tell the difference feeding off the rest of us lollygagging around in cyberspace for work and entertainment. I do not recall more details of the book other than to make the statement above. I guess it’s really no different than any other period or era in history other than CYBERSPACE!
(DIR) Post #Ahf1DT76qMKrdFuods by tantramar@nojack.easydns.ca
2024-05-07T21:39:48Z
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@futurebird I’ve read 3 or 4 Gibson novels — mostly when they were new, and none recently — but none have stuck with me in any way. Not the characters, plots, or situations. Zip. 🤷♂️
(DIR) Post #Ahf1H5t38rmQko4GSu by danmcd@hostux.social
2024-05-07T21:40:26Z
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@futurebird It came out in 1984, and given the permeating worry about WW3 ending the world, any future was better than no future.Also, it didn't (and for me it was a first) dwell on the ooohs and ahhhs of an advanced future, said advanced future was just the damned setting for a heist story.It also introduced then-teenage white boys like me to Marcus Garvey.
(DIR) Post #Ahf1Vk4oVwhxSEYTrc by thecorodon@wandering.shop
2024-05-07T21:43:03Z
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@futurebird There's the kick it gave sci-fi, that it's not just about "out there" and "progress" but also "down here" and how we're messing society up.I think it's interesting as Wintermute's story. It demonstrates its "humanity" (or superiority) by mastering the aspects of human experience it needs to recruit or manipulate the different players. It has to understand wealth and crime, the military, nihilism, perversity, music, religion, and so on.Those're my takeaways.
(DIR) Post #Ahf1zvspBLQYl9LL4i by jeffc@mastodon.online
2024-05-07T21:48:24Z
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@futurebirdOne thing it does is set Victorian-era social structure, income disparity, and lack of social mobility in the future. It's a warning that we could end up there again, and a look at what that might mean.
(DIR) Post #Ahf26c6z5gkHSx9Uci by kechpaja@social.kechpaja.com
2024-05-07T21:49:34Z
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@futurebird I haven't read the book in a long time, and there may be a million reasons why this doesn't make sense, but nowadays I keep wanting to see the relationship between Case and Molly through the lens of the Matrix's trans allegory. And that can get bleak if you really think about what it implies.
(DIR) Post #Ahf3k0FrMQsNaneLAm by danblondell@masto.nyc
2024-05-07T22:08:04Z
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@futurebird I’ve tried to get into that and Snow Crash so many times and neither will grab me.Maybe they’re like reading Darwin at this point.
(DIR) Post #Ahf3yaIy7kVJSE3aWe by mattmcirvin@mathstodon.xyz
2024-05-07T22:10:43Z
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@futurebird I suspect Neuromancer has not aged well. In the 1980s the imagery and ideas in it seemed new and amazing. As you say, in the 1990s a huge chunk of pop culture chased after them and they started to seem overdone. But at its heart it's basically a noir crime story with some quasi-mystical invocation of artificial intelligence attached.
(DIR) Post #Ahf4eaoYcV1VCGraHw by jakemiller@federate.social
2024-05-07T22:18:18Z
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@futurebird I think it’s the feel. The detail that he zooms in on gives the impression that the entire world is that full and rich, and it conveys this *feeling* of a possible future. (And it’s important writing because that’s as clear an example of the “Torment Nexus” as exists, inspiring half of Silicon Valley. Still.) IMO, Molly is the most sympathetic and rich character, as the reader and Case get behind her armor. Case mostly just lucks his way into survival.
(DIR) Post #Ahf5RZc9s0dZfHQ46S by nazokiyoubinbou@mastodon.social
2024-05-07T22:27:10Z
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@futurebird Some of these books like this I feel were written as a sort of wishful "I want this to be a movie" sort of thing. I think some of them make more sense in that light. I'm forgetting the specifics of this one though, so maybe that doesn't apply here.
(DIR) Post #Ahf5sIA6rjlHM82Yvw by Dave3307@mountains.social
2024-05-07T22:31:57Z
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@futurebird It’s been a solid 25+ years since I read those books but I remember Mona Lisa Overdrive being the one I really enjoyed. (Like others I can’t really remember much about it)
(DIR) Post #AhfQTdEdTgfIViEvVg by BrettCoulstock@adforward.org
2024-05-08T02:22:47Z
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@futurebird It's basically Ocean's 11 in a Blade Runner World with some Tron stuff going on as well. He basically wrote a cool heist movie.Seconding Pattern Recognition though. I do like a post-modern detective story.
(DIR) Post #Ahfp8xso0nzfK0GrA0 by japonmeneatout@piaille.fr
2024-05-08T06:59:16Z
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@futurebird I read it for the first time 2 years ago and, same as you, I didn’t get it.Don’t know if that’s because it aged poorly or it’s elements were integrated in later books and sci-fi universes but I didn’t understand how it came to become the cult-like thing it did