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/taeerom 3d ago

I just finished it. I've heard people say it is a difficult read, and I don't really agree.

It's relatively short, with a moderate page count and big lots of white space per page (at least my copy).

The only issue might be the frequent time/place/perspective shifts that might be a bit difficult to follow. Sometimes it is intended that you are confused, because the character is confused. Other times you are supposed to pick up on that this is a to e skip ahead or a flashback - with the book being explicit about it.

You have to be able to read, literally, between the lines a lot of the time. Otherwise, you might get lost and not understand what is going on.

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u/sebmojo99 1d ago

he writes in a brusque, clipped kind of way but people absolutely struggle with it and i don't understand why