I just started reading Neuromancer, and finished the first two chapters. Can someone encourage me to keep on reading? It’s just so… disorienting. Very quick scene changes, hard to follow dialogues (who is actually talking?), too much jargon (I have read up on some, to get the gist), … I just feel lost, and doubt I will enjoy it at some point.
I like various degrees of scifi, and many people recommended the book (and the ones following it). I also fought through some harder chapters in Trisolaris, Children of Memory, The Expanse books, CS Lewis‘ Space Trilogy, … but Neuromancer is on awholenother level.
Is it just me? Did anyone else have a hard time with it? Does it get better? Is it worth it?
It’s not written like typical sci-fi, it’s more like an art house (for lack of a better term) novel that happens to have a sci-fi setting. William Burroughs was a major influence on his writing and Neuromancer is perhaps the most obvious example of that.
It rewards re-reading immensely, I would advise to just go with the flow and don’t sweat the bits you can’t quite grasp, a lot of it makes more sense over time or clicks when you re-read it. It is incredibly worth it, imo, an absolute masterpiece of literary talent and prescient speculative fiction.
Having said that, if that style isn’t really your thing and you prefer more straight-forward sci-fi, then you will probably not dig it.
edit: After posting this comment I re-loaded my feed and there’s a post about William Burroughs directly above this one. Bill would be pleased.
After listening to the book a half dozen times or so, I came to the thought it’s like poetry in novel form, the prose can be beautiful and horrid in emotions. Case is high as often as he can and he’s the lens we see most things through so everything is a bit surreal. So I’m guessing that’s agreeing with you calling it an art house novel it that’s close to what you meant.
It’s one of my favourite novels of all time, I only wish I read it when it was newer, only got it like 10 years ago and I was prime age to read it in the 90s. Oh well,glad I got around to it.
First of all: you don’t have to like it.
I agree with you that the first chapters are confusing and overwhelming, but as others have already said this is deliberate. The storylines converge later on which makes it easier to follow what’s happening. In my experience the book handles it very well to balance its sci-fi themes with a compelling story you want to follow.
Embrace it. The chaos is part the cyberpunk form.
If you’re not into a book it is not some great personal failure to stop reading it. People put reading books on too high of a pedestal, it’s just like any other form of entertainment media and if you aren’t jiving with it you can just go do something else.
After recently reading Children Of Time and Children Of Ruin, I just don’t have the heart to read Children Of Memory. So kudos to you for that accomplishment. The writing was so rambling, verbose, and often confusing. If this book is beyond that, then I’d say… perhaps it is better reused as a doorstop? 😁
Children of memory was pretty hard to understand until just very close to the end, where the puzzle pieces finally fit together — but it was indeed very hard to go through.
My advice is to download a Neuromancer glossary from the internet and have it handy for whenever you encounter a strange word.
For me it was “trodes”. Trodes = electrodes, they allow your mind to plug into cyberspace (a futuristic version of the internet). Also, a deck, or cyberdeck, is basically a laptop without screen made to connect to Cyberspace - we have trodes now.
Take it easy, go with the flow, and play some Techno music in the background to adjust the mood 😎
I’d also recommend listening to the BBC radio play instead of trying to read the thing, it’s pretty cool.
I was basically hooked from the start. Probably just a personal preference thing, I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I still haven’t been able to read through any of The Lord of the Rings, and yet see my first sentence, lol.
LOTR I got through the first half of the first book 😄
You are not alone and I did read it for the first time this year.
I also started reading count Zero and it’s much easier to follow.
Like others said it’s somewhat supposed to be disorienting in terms of world but also the phrase structure is confusing at times. I remember that in many dialogues it was hard to keep track of who said what.
It’s a pretty good book tho. At some point in the beginning I googled and got a reddit post with people in the comments summarizing the first few chapters (that I had already read) and it was good to consolidate. You can also google some of the terms at some point. By the end it’s definitely much easier to follow
A chapter by chapter summary sounds good — I don’t want to get spoiled, so I refrained from reading any summaries so far. I’ll try to find a good one, thanks.
This is one of my all time favourite books, but I didn’t “get it” until I re-read it the first time. Thankfully it’s a short book. :)
It doesn’t get any clearer. Just read it. Just experience it. It’ll come together at some point after you finish. Stop trying to understand everything and just read!
Go up until the first major heist and if you still aren’t a fan then I’d say don’t continue, as there’s some scenes even more confusing to come. The second time you read it it’ll be more enjoyable
I think a lot of the appeal is that it does just drop you right in at the deep end and doesn’t set out much of the bigger picture stuff right there at the front. It’s not going to be to everyone’s liking.
It’s got a lot in common with hardboiled stories, except that where your classic hardboiled detective is moving through a world we are somewhat familiar with, Case is moving through somewhere rather more exotic. You might get some benefit from reading Burning Chrome and Johnny Mnemonic which are short stories then coming back.
There is probably something to be said for just visualising rather than trying to understand.
As someone with Aphantasia that’s easier said than done 😄
It’s awesome when you’re 14 and into fantasy. Not so much later in life. I reread it a few years ago because I remember loving it as a kid. I couldn’t even finish it. Maybe I’m just not as into fantasy anymore.
Are you talking about the same book?
I didn’t think it was great. I think I listened to it in the end, but I don’t really rate it. Felt the same about Snow Crash although that was slightly better. I’ll listen to both again at some point just to check if I am completely wrong.
If you don’t like it you don’t like it. Tens of thousands of books out there, don’t feel obligated to read them all.
