Pattern Recognition

by William Gibson

book data

4,766 ratings, 3.85 average rating, 487 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		25%
4		42%
3		25%
2		5%
1		0%

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published

February 1st 2005 (first published 2002) by Berkley

binding

Paperback, 384 pages

literary awards

British Science Fiction Association Best Novel nominee (2003); Arthur C. Clarke Award Best Novel nominee (2004)

isbn

0425198685 (isbn13: 9780425198681)

description

The first of William Gibson's usually futuristic novels to be set in the present, Pattern Recognition is a masterful snapshot of modern consumer cultu...more

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06/22/08

Evil_Dead_Junkie rated it:

bookshelves: sci-fi

It'll happen one day, you'll see. William Gibson WILL right an ending that resembles something other then a last ditch attempt from a man desperate not to default on his contract.

It will not stink of a man who has just watched the sunrise with a headful of Jack Daniels. No it will be thematically fufilling, and tie up and enrich the man threads that have wound through the novel like a tapestry. Giving these rich themes, imagery, and characters the proper glory rather then merely ta...more

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04/24/07

Alexis rated it:

bookshelves: all-time-faves

recommends it for: Contemporary Artists (or fans of)

The novel is set in a number of present day cities, in a way that seems futuristic/sci-fi. I read this book in a class called "The Novel and Globalization"--and I believe having that context was helpful-at first. As the book progressed the suspence was built on the mystery of where the many relavent themes and styles converge in the plot.

My favorite part of reading the book was digesting the refernces to art, architecture, and literature, throughout that acutally added me...more

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05/09/08

Ai Ling Chow rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in April, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

On page 130, Gibson has a hotel clerk "imprinting the Blue Ant card" at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. I don't know about you guys, but the last time I saw someone imprint a credit card I was just old enough to barely understood that the plastic card was some sort of replacement for cash. This book is supposed to be current (turn of the century). It was published in 2003, so I presume 2000 is as good as any for last-edits. Can anyone remember if anyone still imprinted credit cards in 2000, much...more On page 130, Gibson has a hotel clerk "imprinting the Blue Ant card" at the Park Hyatt Tokyo. I don't know about you guys, but the last time I saw someone imprint a credit card I was just old enough to barely understood that the plastic card was some sort of replacement for cash. This book is supposed to be current (turn of the century). It was published in 2003, so I presume 2000 is as good as any for last-edits. Can anyone remember if anyone still imprinted credit cards in 2000, much less a five star hotel like the Park Hyatt Tokyo? Moral of the story: everyone makes mistakes, and so always read as if doing so with a fine-toothed comb? I mean, it was probably meant as a throwaway line (yet I've never thought of Gibson as a writer who did throwaways), and yet it's obviously incongruous enough that I'm obsessing over this.

When I bought the book I had no idea there was going to be an extensive portion set in Tokyo. I keep comparing Gibson's descriptions with those I would use, and at the same time, admiring his facility. His character is so sensitive to brands she constantly uses the words when thinking. Not only that--having the ubiquitous Burberry plaid pointed out just makes one blink and go, "... yes, I noticed that." Yet he noticed, enough to use it in his writing. I need to stop interrupting myself and just read this properly, dammit. Knee-socks are passé now. Wonder if they were passé in 2000.

Dammit, I am stopping constantly to remark at the new-and-not-new world painted in this book. Gibson has only to mention the word Shibuya, and immediately I see the Hachiko exit, the mural and pedestrian scramble, half of the green train carriage, no Hachiko (usually too small to see, considering the HUGE crowd around it all the time), the 109-1 and 109-2 buildings, the Starbucks with the video/bookstore/cinema, the street with all the people walking by the big drugstore, shoestore, up to the McDonalds ... dammit, this is what all those words bring up instantly. Why couldn't I have imagined another exit, on the other side? Like, you know, the one with that huge overhead pedestrian bridge (so big calling it a bridge is akin to calling Central Park a garden), leading to the Malaysian embassy, or to the Shibuya Animate? Why is it ALWAYS there?

I quote, "Every man there has obviously been staring, but immediately looks down or away." *clears throat* No. Tokyoites are actually a lot more practiced about staring at you. Saying _every_ man has been staring had the unfortunate effect of making me immediately dislike Cayce VERY much. And you were doing so well, Gibson, with the talk of soul-delay that every traveller recognizes as a beautiful way to present jetlag. Now you went and ruined everything with one sentence. ARGH.

The constant referencing of brand names gets a little tiring after a while. *sigh* I keep wandering off. I guess this is the mid-book slump people talk about. If nothing else, reading all these books is teaching me a lot about how to structure a book.

I liked the ending; though in some sense it felt a little too hurried, in another sense it was the right pace. Once the mid-book slump was over, the ending rushed up so quickly it's now 5pm and I have no idea where the time went. In the end, Gibson pulled through, and that was the important thing.(less)

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01/14/08

Nancy rated it:

(review of isbn 0399149864)

bookshelves: cyberpunk, sci-fi

Read in June, 2004

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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10/11/07

Monk rated it:

bookshelves: modernlit

Read in February, 2008

This is a little different for Gibson. It's not really a future setting, but it drips with the usual Gibson sentence fragments and whimsy. Overall, the story is there and it has a beginning a middle and an end, but to be honest, the book lacks in a particular quality - there's nothing really at stake.

The story is fairly linear, and focuses on the main character, Casey Pollard. She's what is called a 'cool hunter'. She divines trends and evaluates logo work. She has a literal allergy ...more

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03/12/09

Michael rated it:

Read in March, 2009

A really big letdown after the masterful depiction of cyberpunk in Neuromancer. Perhaps the problem is that the entire story takes place in a modern-day setting instead of in an interesting future. Or perhaps the problem is lack of relatable characters or a plot that maintains the reader's interest for the duration of the story. In any case, steer clear of this one.

Like this review? yes (2 people liked it)

4 comments

10/30/07

Deborah rated it:

bookshelves: desert-island-books

Read in April, 2004

recommends it for: Mark, Robbie

I just re-read this book and liked it even more during the second reading (and have changed my rating from four to five stars). Gibson has pared an already spare writing style down without sacrificing the elegance or evocative nature of his prose. He makes you see things in the plot as though they occur at the very edge of peripheral vision. Were they even there at all? Although it would seem that this would create an emotional distance too profound to be crossed, the opposite is true. As I ...more

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08/05/08

Mike Rossmassler rated it:

(review of isbn 0399149864)

Read in August, 2008

Brilliantly written, but like the rest of Gibson's novels, the ending leaves something to be desired. Not exactly unfulfilling, more like seeing all of the pieces come together into a picture that is just a little underwhelming. Just like the rest of Gibson's other works (Neuromancer and Spook Country being the only two i have read, in all honesty), the story is initially compelling and the mysteries and conspiracies are thought provoking. But the resolution just doesn't have that same "sna...more

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01/30/08

John Huizar rated it:

Read in January, 2006

recommends it for: everyone

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....more 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.

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: she is able to 'know' somehow whether certain advertising approaches will be successful, which happens because the ones that are successful are able to tap into culture in a particular way that Cayce is aware of and sensitive to. 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 it that comes of always experiencing emotion and touch at one remove (through the camera)? 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.(less)

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08/20/07

Chris rated it:

bookshelves: modern_lit

Read in August, 2007

Refreshingly unlike his classic book, Neuromancer, and the others in the Sprawl trilogy, Pattern Recognition cements for me the idea of Gibson as a great writer, showcasing his ability to predict societal trends, blend those into an exciting external plot while maintaining an overall satisfying emotional journey. I'd go into details, but when summed up I don't think they sound anywhere as interesting as the book actually is.

As a side note, the book's maybe a bit more cerebral than...more

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07/22/07

Dave Seah rated it:

bookshelves: to-reread

Read in January, 2003

I has an affinity for cyberpunk stories, which is how I know Gibson's work. I feel a certain distance, though, between his characters and the world they are caught up in; the language is scintillating, but it feels very "surface" to me. Pattern Recognition was the first of his novels that really spoke to me perhaps because the main character reflected a lot of what I was going through, and my own confusion with my emerging values versus the identity I wanted to step into. I enjoyed the...more

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01/21/09

Heather rated it:

Read in January, 2003

One of my favorite books of all time - easily in my top five.

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11/07/08

Jim rated it:

(review of isbn 0141016930)

Read in September, 2008

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 2003 copyright, which makes it very old by computer-world standards, the high-tech world that Gibson whips up here feels fresh. It takes place today--not in the distant future. Email, the web, viral marketing, high fashion, international espionage, contemporary underground art all collide here. I could not put it down. Takes place mostly in Lon...more

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03/04/09

Amy rated it:

bookshelves: cyberpunk, mysteries

Read in February, 2009

riveting. plus I felt hip reading it.

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12/09/08

Kitte rated it:

Read in December, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

When I started Pattern Recognition, I was sucked into it right away. I was caught up in the intrigue and espionage and I genuinely cared for the main character Cayce Pollard and her peculiar affliction. I loved her travels and who hasn't fantasized about traveling the world with an unlimited credit card and helpful staff to arrange everything for you?

Towards the end my empathy for Cayce kept me reading even though as the plot threads started to come together and the mystery was reso...more

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12/13/08

Bob rated it:

I've always been grabbed by the way that Gibson seems to get inside the skin and the mood of his characters. His 'Sprawl' characters had lives that were weird and just barely comprehensible, but that was partly due to them living lives and having bad habits that our world hasn't had a chance to pick up yet. It impresses me even more that he can create someone as outlandish as a 'cool-hunter', set her in a contemporary situation and then give her a life that makes you think, 'Yeah, I know people ...more

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08/17/07

Jessica rated it:

bookshelves: bookclub, sci-fi

Read in September, 2007

One part internet message board culture + one part consumer culture + one part hipsterism = one good read.

Pattern Recognition reminded me of books I've read by Haruki Murakami (one of my favorite authors). The book had a disorienting, surreal and paranoid vibe...as a reader you know that something bigger is going on by can't immediately put your finger on exactly what.

I wasn't a huge fan of the ending though.

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01/12/09

Cormack rated it:

Neuromancer is Gibson's best known book, but I find it drab, poorly written, and uninspiring. However revolutionary it may have been at the time it has not aged gracefully, and if it was your first exposure to Gibson, I implore you to check this out.

Pattern Recognition is a fantastic book about how technology and travel are drawing us together and pulling us apart. It spans the globe physically and culturally, snapping from one cultural moment to the next. It's disconnect and toge...more

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06/17/09

Hank Mishkoff rated it:

bookshelves: currently-reading

William Gibson does things with the English language that nobody else has ever even thought of doing.

And he makes it seem effortless, the words just flow from his fingers like water, and they assemble themselves into perfect, brilliant gems, one after another after another. It's hard to believe that his only tool, the English language, is the same tool used by millions of other writers -- but somehow, he's the only one who seems to have mastered its use. (Is he the only one who's rea...more

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12/28/08

Ardita rated it:

Read in January, 2009

It's the voice and thought of Cayce Pollard (read Casey), a "coolhunter" that analyzes and picks up trends among the public and present them to marketing company. This job actually exists says Wikipedia.

Cayce's soft spot is "footage". She's a member of a mailing list (newsgroup etc.) that discusses footages. One day, a footage of particular style attracted the interest of her group and her employer, which then triggered a task for Cayce to hunt and find the maker....more

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quotes from this book

"We have no idea, now, of who or what the inhabitants of our future might be. In that sense, we have no future. Not in the sense that our grandparents had a future, or thought they did. Fully imagined cultural futures were the luxury of another day, one in which 'now' was of some greater duration. For us, of course, things can change so abruptly, so violently, so profoundly, that futures like our grandparents' have insufficient 'now' to stand on. We have no future because our present is too volatile. ... We have only risk management. The spinning of the given moment's scenarios. Pattern recognition" More quotes...