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Why do I feel this way? How can I say these things? The book needed me, and those like me, to be complete. Every time this book is read by a talented reader, it is being written. I am not going to discuss the connections in the book. I am not going to talk about how personal this was to read. Just read it yourself. Make your own connections. Become part of the process of Pattern Recognition and let yourself analyze it, let yourself dig deep.
View all 12 comments. I loved Pattern Recognition nearly as much as Neuromancer and felt the two novels had a lot of similarities. Even though it is classified as general fiction, the novel has a strong SF feel to it. The highly technological societies New York and the "mirror world" of London where things are similar but a little different and the efficient, individualistic, widely traveled and rootless characters make Pattern Recognition feel dark and surreal and more like SF.
Boone Chu was an interesting characte I loved Pattern Recognition nearly as much as Neuromancer and felt the two novels had a lot of similarities. Boone Chu was an interesting character and I was disappointed he was not developed further; same with Bigend. These are very minor flaws that don't take away from this excellent book. The story is an interesting look at the culture of marketing. For someone supposedly allergic to brands, Cayce was certainly attached to her Rickson's jacket.
Sep 09, Barbara rated it really liked it Shelves: New York resident Cayce Pollard is a marketing consultant who instinctively knows what the public will find 'cool'. Cayce is also a follower of a website called 'Fetish Footage Forum' FFF where mysterious film clips - periodically published online - are discussed and analyzed by large numbers of people around the world.
As the story opens in August, Cayce is in London, having been hired by the 'Blue Ant' company to evaluate a proposed new shoe logo. At a meeting with Hubertus Bigend - Blue New York resident Cayce Pollard is a marketing consultant who instinctively knows what the public will find 'cool'.
At a meeting with Hubertus Bigend - Blue Ant's boss, and Dorotea Benedetti - representative of the logo's designer, Cayce nixes the proposed logo. She also senses huge antagonism from Dorotea, a woman she's just met. Soon afterward someone breaks into the London apartment where Cayce is staying, making her feel nervous and paranoid. These unexplained occurrences remind Cayce of her missing father, Win Pollard, an intelligence agent who disappeared on September 11, , when planes flew into the World Trade Center.
Cayce and her mother have done all they can to find Win, with no success. After Cayce okays a second proposed shoe logo, Hubertus hires her to find the makers of the inscrutable film footage on FFF. He apparently has a scheme to use the film clips to make money. Cayce reluctantly agrees to work with Hubertus, and during her search for the filmmaker Cayce meets an array of interesting people and travels between London, Japan and Russia. Everywhere she goes, however, Cayce senses she's being followed, which seems to be proven when she's attacked in the street.
The book is chock full of engaging characters, starting with Cayce - who's 'allergic' to logos and cuts the labels off all her clothing and possessions. Other interesting characters include several FFF analysts, fetishists of old technology, a computer whiz who's supposed to help Cayce find the filmmaker, and more.
I enjoyed the book which essentially reads like a thriller, as Cayce rushes here and there to discover something that unknown and hostile 'others' also want to know. All this leads to an exciting and believable climax. Very good book, highly recommended. You can follow my reviews at https: Jan 30, John Huizar rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: I love the way that William Gibson writes women.
Gibson usually has both male and female protagonists in his books, who may or may not even see one another during the course of the story the almost-but-never-quite is something he comes back to again and again. Regardless, his female characters are always as strong and capable as the men and often more so.
Cayce Pollard is a wonderful character, and I think that Gibson deftly avoided all the usual pitfalls of men writing female characters. Fo I love the way that William Gibson writes women. For instance, in this book there is no male character of even approximately equal importance to Cayce. And I like that.
She seeks help from time to time, but ultimately, Cayce stands on her own. The book is nota love story. Well, not in anything like the traditional sense. The plot of the book revolves around Cayce's attempts to track down the origin of mysterious video clips that have surfaced on the internet. The disjointed, nonsequential footage is almost always of a couple, walking, talking, kissing.
No one knows who the couple is, where the footage is being shot, when it was shot, what sequence the clips are supposed to be viewed in, etc. The first clip footage was simply discovered uploaded to a video site several years before, and an underground following has tracked down and collected all of the subsequently released clips.
Fans make their own compilations, putting the videos in the order they think they go. Cayce is a member of one of these online fandoms, but her day job is as a consultant to advertising firms: One of these firms becomes interested in tracking down the origin of the footage as a way of discovering just how it is that something can become an underground sensation, and puts Cayce on the job. I can't really say any more without ruining the story. But there are Gibson's usual array of fascinating secondary characters who manage to seem both completely human and completely unique.
And there are strong existential themes throughout: What is the ultimate effect on the photographer, and what is the effect on the audience? This book is an anthem of both unity and alienation. This was my first William Gibson book, and I thought it was beautifully written, quite a literary novel. I liked the characters, and I liked the idea of Cayce being sensitive to trends and brands, and having a logo "allergy". I'm now contemplating scratching the logos off of everything I own. Plot-wise, this isn't the most exciting book I've ever read.
I was never bored, but the pacing was sedate, to say the least. The tone of the book was cool and deliberate - even the single fight scene followe This was my first William Gibson book, and I thought it was beautifully written, quite a literary novel. The tone of the book was cool and deliberate - even the single fight scene followed by a chase seemed to move in slow motion.
Still, it was a very readable, intriguing story, and I'll continue with the trilogy.
Pattern Recognition (Blue Ant, #1) by William Gibson
The weakest point of the novel for me was the mysterious "footage" that drives the plot. I was never drawn into the characters' fascination with it. As goodreads is Amazon, I am taking my reviews off goodreads. Nonetheless, I hope by providing links along with this ongoing message about why Amazon should not be part of our lives, this message is kept alive. I include some text from the beginning of each review because goodreads has been removing my reviews from places they can be seen and apparently this may make it less likely for them to do this.
Read my lips, go on. Whilst a semblance of free speech exists on goodreads. It is As goodreads is Amazon, I am taking my reviews off goodreads. It is so obvious why it is bad. And yet it is hard to wake up in the morning without seeing its encroachment into more of the world. As it happens, this is an apt introduction to this particular book. Mentioned one day by my friend Margaret, I happened to spot a copy in an English bookshop cafe in Grenoble just a couple of days later.
May I describe it as a bookseller must? Hard cover in good nick, dust-jacket, 5Euros. I have to say it rather depressed me, reading this. The obsession with brand which bizarrely meant not that this girl eschewed brand in her own life, but that every bit of her life consists of the high snob factor of brand. I found it completely mysterious that although labelling made her break out in spots and panic and so on — an allergy to the notion — nonetheless she lives in Starbucks.
I thought we were going to have an explanation of that at one point, when a character actually asked her what gives, but no. She just stares at him and they move on. So why was she immune? She has a well paying job as a consequence of her weirdness, telling companies whether or not a proposed logo makes her chunder. Nice work if you can get it. Here for the rest. View all 25 comments. Marketing consultants, viral video makers.
I was hoping to be blown away by the legendary William Gibson none of whose legendary books I have read , but I found that Pattern Recognition reminded me a lot of Reamde by Neal Stephenson: I found Gibson's writing to be stronger than Stephenson's, but his characterization weaker. The main character is Cayce pronounced "Case" Pollard, who has one of those odd freelance consultant jobs that can only ex I was hoping to be blown away by the legendary William Gibson none of whose legendary books I have read , but I found that Pattern Recognition reminded me a lot of Reamde by Neal Stephenson: The main character is Cayce pronounced "Case" Pollard, who has one of those odd freelance consultant jobs that can only exist in the modern world: She can take one look at a logo and know whether it will "click" with the zeitgeist, making her very valuable to image-obsessed corporations.
The downside of her talent is a disability that can also only exist in the modern world: The Michelin Man, for example, sends her into near-panic attacks. Cayce works for a firm called "Blue Ant," run by a genius wunderkind with inscrutable motives of course who goes by "Big End. Big End says he's captivated by its marketing potential, but soon it develops that many different people are interested in this video and its creator, for many different reasons.
Cayce travels from London to Japan to Russia and is ensnared in one conspiracy after another in her quest for the maker. Strictly speaking, this book isn't really science fiction, since it takes place in the present day actually, in , when it was written and there is no technology that doesn't actually exist. It still has a sci-fi feel to it, though not really much of a cyberpunkish one, unless you consider anything that revolves around online subcultures to be "cyberpunk. I found Pattern Recognition to have a strong build-up but a rather weak pay-off.
Nonetheless, the story moved along without ever getting boring and Gibson has a nice way with language and unlike some other authors I could name with high geek cachet, he didn't get a lot of stuff absurdly wrong. I've been told his Neuromancer series pretty much ignores everything that was actually known about computer science when it was written, but the Internet and computer technology in Pattern Recognition , possibly because it does not take place in the future, is pretty realistic.
This book is solidly 3. My fault entirely, as I misread the blurb. But the story was hard to follow at times with the author making points that went way over my head at times. Stream-of-consciousness writing would have to be one of the things that most turns me off a book.
That, and lack of punctuation for dialogue. Happily this one does have adequate punctuation. This was f 2. This was first published in and the references to technology make me think back to what I remember of technology in The last 60 pages were the best part as things started to come together and make a little more sense. So there were aspects of this that were interesting, but overall, the difficult to follow plot made it hard going. View all 5 comments. Jan 17, Adam rated it it was amazing Shelves: We have only risk management.
What follows is my spoiler free review of the novel and an analysis of its themes and plot devices. PR is not long. Shotgun sentences fired in rapid succession, their aim, true, on point and efficient. Word choice is paramount as the small sentences convey images and ideas far beyond their textual representations. The pacing of the novel is as quick as a simple adventure read but PR is so much more than that. Cayce lives label-free, practically allowing things to happen to her instead of taking an active role in her life.
In a world where adventure awaits around every corner — a world of hidden codes, where corporate espionage runs wild — Cayce is forced to make tough choices, both during the course of her investigation as well as her personal life. The novel spans multiple countries as she taps her F: F network - Fetish: Forum — in hopes of tracking down the clips creator. Cayce is teamed up with Boon Chu, a security guru and former failed entrepreneur, to go on a country-hopping quest. In that sense, Cayce — flawlessly designed — grows as the novel progresses. Changes to her personality and ways of thinking are deep and intrinsic and you will be satisfied.
Gibson does an excellent job of exploring this phenomenon and relating it to the story. Cayce is an extremely interesting character with complex thoughts and actions. But unlike novels that portray characters poorly, this contradiction is intended. She has huge contracts with major companies but prefers to live her own life like a shadow, as little intervention as possible.
Living in the now, Cayce is disconnected from both her past and unsure of her future. From early on we learn that Cayce is strongly against conventional corporate environments and labels. Cayce takes this eccentricity further by scratching out the brand and designer names on her own clothing.
Cayce is more of a sociologist or social psychologist than she realizes. Everything Cayce thinks or does is bound to this structure. She is, in essence, a neutral or passive observer in all things. Philosophy and or cinema majors will instantly note that Pattern Recognition has a strong element of self-reflexivity, a commentary on the media as a whole, a story referring to itself.
She battles this during the course of PR, growing as a character. The Cayce character plays into the overall theme and story of Pattern Recognition: The modern world in which we live is completely volatile. Finely crafted sentences convey powerful ideas. Other ideas expressed bring up interesting questions for the reader: Does it stand by itself, devoid of introspective thought? Is video clips part of a greater sequence?
Is it part of a greater historical commentary? What does the text say of our relationship with the media, news, advertising and media? Or maybe this deeper analysis is yet another example of apopthenia? Since Pattern Recognition is so well written - its ideas expressed so clearly - I find all of the answers in the novel to be satisfactory.
The characters of Pattern Recognition are just as complex and interesting as Cayce Pollard. All of them receive considerable depth and seem believable. Pattern Recognition is a terrific standalone novel that takes place in a world that mirrors our own. Not only does it have an excellent and intriguing story, it has speculative themes that serve as critiques to the instant gratification world in which we live.
In a world in which anything can go viral, advertising and media outlets really do control all that we see and hear, but are those their associations real? What gives them power? This novel will get you thinking and entertain you all at the same time.
View all 4 comments. I find reading reviews for books I've read depressing. Understanding the reviewer is the most important aspect to understanding any review. They complain about something central to the genre and you're left wondering if they just aren't familiar with the genre, and would dislike all of it if they were, or if this is a bad example of said genre.
Some reviewers are kind in this I find reading reviews for books I've read depressing. Some reviewers are kind in this regard. They don't force me over to their ratings shelf to see how they rate other books in the genre.
They will straight up tell you that this is their first William Gibson book, or their first cyberpunk book. Perhaps Snow Crash, but Stephenson gets long-winded, so I understand avoiding him.
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So let's start from there. You've read at least Neuromancer and like the whole cyberpunk thing, so you either saw this on a list of cyberpunk novels or you noticed that it's Gibson, so you're thinking about giving it a shot. Yes, it has large corporations running things, and there is espionage, and trade secrets, and electronic surveillance, and a lone freelance operative navigating it all.
But there isn't something I consider central to cyberpunk, which is implants or wearable tech. There is lots of tech, and the internet and how information spreads is central to the novel, but I want people with screens over their face, or phones in their hands, or eyes that are cameras. But that's just me. And now you know. None of that is here, for what it's worth. What is here is mostly a story that could take place in the current day reality, minus a couple of odd abilities, like our MC having an actual allergic reaction to certain brands, and having the ability to know what good branding is and isn't.
It's super weird, and I like it For better or worse. Our MC is hired to track down the creator of a set of anonymously released videos, which is what brings in all of the above espionage and electronic surveillance and such. There's even a spy or two along the way. We're kept tight to our MC, only knowing what she knows, which keeps the twists and turns unexpected, and thankfully Cayce is not an idiot, which keeps me from throwing the book out the nearest window. This isn't an incredibly fast paced story, with all of its traveling from country to country.
And there aren't a ton of action sequences, by which I mean there is one.. But I remained interested the entire time, knocking out the book in a couple of sittings. Others have noted the writing can feel a little disjointed, which I think I agree with, but wouldn't use that word. It has a sort of literary feel to it, but it's still telling a down on the streets tech story, with just enough of a noir feel to not want to add that label, but not be too offended if someone else suggests it.
It's fun and worth a read, but do try Neuromancer first. I mean, they are very different books, but this is just such a weird place to jump into Gibson. Reviews are just opinions. They can't be wrong, per se. I don't know how this book got to be a best-seller. Yet as I was traveling last month, I noticed that, for the first time, I was toting, along with my rolling suitcase, a paperback that was all over the airport booksellers' racks. I thought it was abysmal. A good friend had mentioned it to me, and I thought that he had recommended it, so when I saw a used copy at one of my favorite local bookstores , I grabbed it.
I realized later, when I checked my notes, that he had actually recommended Count Ze I don't know how this book got to be a best-seller. I realized later, when I checked my notes, that he had actually recommended Count Zero. I found Pattern Recognition better-written than Neuromancer , which is saying very little indeed, but far from enjoyable. Although the premise was certainly interesting involving, among other things, a protagonist whose lucrative career is based on her highly sensitive intrinsic ability to sense fashion trends , the characters were vaguely intriguing, and certain phrases such as mirror-world seemed fairly hip, I mostly thought it was boring and, for all its attempted hipness, somewhat overwrought.
Nov 08, Erik added it Shelves: It's entirely possible this is a great book. I wouldn't know, however, because I made it one chapter into Pattern Recognition before I gave up for the 2nd time because it was literally the worst first chapter I've ever read in a published book. At least that I can remember reading. It's possible that some space aliens have been abducting me and forcing me to read alien-written books - which I assume have really bad first chapters - and then erasing my memory, all part of a ploy to guide humanit It's entirely possible this is a great book.
It's possible that some space aliens have been abducting me and forcing me to read alien-written books - which I assume have really bad first chapters - and then erasing my memory, all part of a ploy to guide humanity, via literature. That seems unlikely, but then if you had told me a reality TV star man-baby would have become president of the United States, I would have called that even more unlikely. Either way, here's my Pattern Recognition inspired guide on how to write a terrible first chapter: Make the prose so purple, so overwritten, that the reader's face is at risk of getting a tan, to such a degree that the ACA will classify the chapter as a possible carcinogen.
I wish that my search for examples required me to go beyond the first page, but it doesn't.
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Here's the first sentence: Five hours' New York jet lag and Cayce Pollard wakes in Camden Town to the dire and ever-circling wolves of disrupted circadian rhythm. Ever-circling dire wolves of disrupted circadian rhythm you say?! That's, like, totes a reference to sleep being 'counting sheep! Well if I'm wrong, I don't wanna be right. Here's the next sentence: It is that flat and spectral non-hour, awash in limbic tides, brainstem stirring fitfully, flashing inappropriate reptilian demands for sex, food, sedation, all of the above, and none really an option now.
Neuroscientists of the Caribbean: And 'all of the above'? I'm just gonna start throwing that into my lists. Nothing at all in the German fridge, so new that its interior smells only of cold and long-chain monomers. Even if that made sense, it'd be an entirely pointless sensory detail since no human being associates 'long-chain monomers' with a smell. That'd be like saying, it smells only of 'black holes. But 'long chain monomers' doesn't make sense anyway. If you google "Long chain monomers" half your hits are related to this book, like this mocking short.
She knows, now, absolutely, hearing the white noise that is London, that Damien's theory of jet lag is correct: Make so many name-drops, so many specific allusions that the reader can't decide whether your book is a book or a commercial: It's not enough for something to be a fridge, or a lamp, or money, or tea, in Pattern Recognition 's first chapter. It must be a "bag of some imported Californian tea substitute" and the "covers of paperbacks look like Australian money.
After which she looks at her reflection and "grimaces at it, thinking for some reason of a boyfriend who'd insisted on comparing her to Helmut Newton's nude portrait of Jane Birkin. Combine the art with the crass consumerism. And then the requisite Apple plug: Which is saying something, since I didn't even watch that movie.
Make your first chapter completely devoid of any plot or plot hooks whatsoever! I already gave you the first sentence. Here's the last one: Will she pull a muscle while doing pilates?! Cayce describes her non-lover Damien's empty, boring home.
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Then she makes tea and surfs the internet a bit. Then she takes a shower. Then she does pilates. I'm not even joking! If someone held a contest for the 'Summary of the most boring first chapter ever,' that'd probably win it. I've enjoyed the other Gibson books I've read, and this one might be great, too. But I'm not going to ever know because the first chapter is so horrendously bad that this happened I'd been meaning to read something by Gibson for a long time.
I thought it would be Neuromancer. But this book fell into my hands first. Despite its copyright, which makes it very old by computer-world standards, the high-tech world that Gibson whips up here feels fresh. These are called regulated professions. A person can only work in a regulated profession if they have completed the relevant standardised professional training. A list of regulated professions can be found here. Further information can be found here.
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