Thursday, September 12, 2013

Neuromancer



Neuromancer, released in 1984, is an early example of the cyberpunk genre. In fact, its author, William Gibson coined the term cyberspace. It contains the perfect opening line, "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel." 

The story revolves around Case, a cyberhacker who has run afoul of his employers by keeping a little extra money from a job. In retaliation, he was not killed, but given a mycotoxin that damaged his nervous system, rendering him unable to directly access the Matrix via his brain. Desperately depressed, he becomes addicted to amphetamines, then suicidal, taking bigger and bigger risks in dystopic Chiba City.

What better thing for a suicidal cyberhacker than to be tapped for a dangerous mission? With the promise of having his nervous system restored to normal, he joins a motley crew in order to carry out the plans of the rogue corporate computer, Wintermute. From stealing the ROM construct of a dead hacker, to collecting the sociopathic final member of the group, to the job itself, the plot runs along briskly, with interesting, well-developed characters. It is beautifully written, evoking a complex future filled with the detritus of the past. 

I have listened to the audio version twice, and the narrator Robertson Dean, has an excellent range of voice characterizations. I highly recommend him.

According to Wiki, there have been a couple failed attempts to make Neuromancer into film, but "[i]n August, 2012, GFM Films announced that it had begun casting for the film (with offers made to Liam Neeson and Mark Wahlberg), but no cast members have been confirmed yet."

And this brings me to my question for those who have read the book. Who would you cast?

Wiki

16 comments:

JAL said...

Haven't read it -- but your summary makes me want to (listen, probably). Have to check the library ...

Thanks Deb.

deborah said...

You will love it, JAL. My first listen, I was driving on a long car trip. The second time was so much better, not only because I could relax and enjoy the narrators voice work, but it was also nice to have the plot laid out.

deborah said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Synova said...

That first sentence is actually a bit ironic since no one knows what a TV tuned to a dead channel looks like any longer.

I haven't read the book but it's one of my husband's favorites.

Mumpsimus said...

I have to disagree with "well-developed characters." The characters in Neuromancer -- in fact, in his whole first trilogy, with the startling exception of Marly Krushkova in Count Zero -- are comic-book characters. Well-drawn, brilliantly colored, two-dimensional comic-book characters, in a comic-book world.

That's not a sneer. Comic-book characters, done well, are fine with me. They were fine with Homer, and Marlowe, and Dickens, and not infrequently Shakespeare. The Neuromancer trilogy is very good work.

Since then, Gibson has gotten into "well-developed characters" with a vengeance. All his later novels have been enjoyable, and some of them quite good, but none have that frenetic, sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll William Burroughs vibe the first ones (and the brilliant short stories "Burning Chrome" and "New Rose Hotel") had. You can't do that with well-developed characters.

deborah said...

Ouch, you got me, Mumps :) I got carried away. Want to take a stab at casting the movie?

deborah said...

Synova, I think enough of us still know, and people will know in the future from movies, etc. In the forward Gibson says the very same thing you did, and mentions other anachronisms. But he guessed we'd have to take it like we take The Time Machine...with a grain of salt and understanding (paraphrase).

Mumpsimus said...

Casting? No idea. Young unknowns for the leads, I guess, and hope to get lucky. I can't imagine what you'd do with Neeson or Wahlberg.

BTW, Gibson wrote a very nice screenplay for Aliens 3, which wasn't used. If he does the screenplay for Neuromancer, it might actually be watchable. Unlike previous Gibson-based movies.

Revenant said...

William Gibson coined the term cyberspace

And later cropped up in "Wild Palms" poking fun at that.

Clip here.

Revenant said...

Neuromancer was a good novel. It suffers somewhat from having been SO ripped off over the years that the original seems really cliched.

For my money, though, "Islands in the Net" is the best cyberpunk novel, and has held up a lot better.

Eric the Fruit Bat said...

I just ate a ThinkThin protein bar and I'm looking at the wrapper.

Deliciously natural nutrition. Creamy peanut butter. Managing your weight never tasted so good. We're social. Join the conversation on FaceBook, etc.

Must be aimed at women, is my surmise.

After all, it was Betty Draper who bought Heineken to serve at that fancy dinner party with an international theme.

Mitch H. said...

For my money, though, "Islands in the Net" is the best cyberpunk novel, and has held up a lot better.

IIRC, the book was mostly a picaresque about world-striding techno-hipsters glorying in their nifty new Google Glasses. I haven't read it since the mid-Nineties Not that this is a bad thing, most of Sterling's best work have been picaresques. It seems to be the natural mode for the better graduates of the cyberpunk school.

Methadras said...

I loved this book. I'll have to read it again now.

Revenant said...

IIRC, the book was mostly a picaresque about world-striding techno-hipsters glorying in their nifty new Google Glasses

That's pretty wildly far off the mark. The main character is a yuppie and new mother working as a PR executive for a multinational company. :)

deborah said...

Thanks, all. Rev, I'll check out Islands in the Net...great clip, too.

deborah said...

Mumps, I can't see Neeson as Case...too old and ponderous. I imagine they want Wahlberg for Corto...I can see that.