William Gibson, Master of Cool
William Gibson coined the word 'Cyberspace'. His first hit novel, Neuromancer, pretty much invented the genre of cyberpunk. What else is there to say? How many authors have had the balls to invent a genre?
The reality of science fiction is that too often, there are grand and sweeping concepts, breath-taking technical innovation, yet the writing itself is perfunctory. This dearth of stylistic quality is perhaps the result of a kind of shorthand which exists between the readers and authors, an instinctive understanding of warp drive technology, terra-forming, gross biotech modifications. Science fiction is a guild, and its members are complicit in a jargon which doesn't require beautiful words.
Gibson is on a different level. His writing is stark, beautiful and simplistic in ways which are accessible to the general population. He is, on a basic level, a writer talking about technology, rather than a technophile writing fiction. The distinction is important.
I read some of his books in my early twenties, and the work stuck with me. He is a bit like a cyberpunk Hemmingway. His novels are short, unlike the doorstep volumes most space opera artistes churn out, but re-readable. I was forced to track down everything he had ever written. I loved all of it.
His cyberpunk novels are awesome, and a necessary part of any library. It's an acquired taste perhaps, although I can't imagine it would take too long to get accustomed. The book I would recommend first is from his last series, based loosely in modern times, luxuriously exploring the quirks of capitalism, nosing out weird secret worlds and obsessions.
Pattern Recognition is, without a doubt, a work of genius. It is so far removed from any genre that I am tempted to make a new category just for this. The main character, Cayce, is a pattern hunter, a girl who is so sensitized to the world of street cool, that big companies hire her to figure out whether their products will work or not. The meat of the story is about the 'Footage': shards of mysterious images followed by obsessive techies who endlessly debate its provenance. Cayce is a footage head. In the underground world of footage heads, she is the star who finally tracks down the auteur.
This is essentially a story about weird and wonderful ideas, held together by wisps. The beauty is in the peculiar details, bits of random, esoteric knowledge, such as the tale of Cayce's MA-1 Buzz Rickson WW2 American Bomber jacket, faithfully reproduced by Japanese obsessives, turning a utilitarian pre-war garment into a museum worthy piece of style as far removed as possible from the commercial, derivative fashion of the modern world.
In a final sense, this book is really about coolness. Gibson is clearly interested in obscure, cool things, and this comes through in a most natural way, woven around the characters, crafted into the very fabric of the story. This is an indictment against the cookie cutter world shoved down our throats by corporations and marketing agencies. It makes you want to go out into the world and discover something secret, something real.
I recommend reading this book once a year to counter the corrosive effects of consumerism.
Saad Z Hossain is an entrepreneur and author of “Baghdad Immortals”. He is currently working on his second novel.
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