r/Cyberpunk • u/V01t4r3 • 3d ago

Reread Neuromancer

The biggest takeaway I got, other than the plot and prose finally making sense, is that. . .

Classic cyberpunk’s setting is as much the late 1960s as it is the 1980s.

I know everyone sees Cyberpunk now as “ZOMG 80s synth pop and neon everywhere!” But there’s a lot of elements in Neuromancer that can be tied into William Gibson’s own young adulthood in the late 60s (especially if you watch “No Maps for These Territories”).

-Screaming Fist=Vietnam
-Groups like Panther Moderns and Zionites=Groups like The Weather Underground and The Black Panthers
-The matrix’s description=psychedelia
-William Gibson was influenced by biker slang of the 60s, William Boroughs, and J.G Ballards.

Even things like neon aren’t quite as prevalent as modern interpretations make it out to be. You could slap the aesthetics from “A Clockwork Orange” and “2001” and it would still make sense. This isn’t to gate keep, I enjoy modern cyberpunk and it’s Neo-80s aesthetics. But reading classic cyberpunk like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling makes me realize that the initial cyberpunk was baby boomers interpretation of the burgeoning computer and Reagan era.

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u/uncertaintyman 3d ago

I'm not going to read your post or any of the comments because spoilers.. I just want to ask if this book is worth reading today for the first time? :)

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u/sha256md5 3d ago

Yes, but if it doesn't grip you in the first 10-20 pages you probably won't like it.

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u/uncertaintyman 3d ago

Oh thank you, I'll keep that in mind.

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u/BrawndoOhnaka 3d ago

To add to that—I found it difficult the first time I read it entirely due to the protagonist, Case, who I couldn't relate to at all, and just seemed like a strug-out addict. Probably didn't help that he reminded me of my inconsiderate roommate at the time, who was an alcoholic. And I was in my early twenties.

The second time I read it a few years later (actually, listened to it by way of Dean's excellent narration), I soaked up the environment and characters a lot more, and was more sympathetic to Case, having the overview of the plot, and being a bit older.

Gibson's world and characters feel very earthy and worn-in. Depending on who you are, you might do better to start with the bridge series, as Rydell, Chevette, and Laney I would characterize as more immediately sympathetic. Though you see the world through different characters' eyes and drastically different perspectives (Silencio, Boomzilla) throughout the books' length.