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Johnny Mnemonic
by
Johnny is a courier. He carries other people's memories, millions of them, downloaded into his brain... Working out of Beijing, he is hired to carry a package to the States. The hundreds of gigabytes stashed in his head are far beyond his capacity, but as long as he gets downloaded quickly they won't do him any permanent harm...
But headaches are the least of Johnny's probl ...more
But headaches are the least of Johnny's probl ...more
Hardcover, Movie Tie-in, 160 pages
Published
February 5th 1996
by HarperCollins
(first published May 1981)
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Somewhere between 3 1/2 & 4 stars.
First off, as I'm sure most know, this book (& movie) are based on the short story, Johnny Mnemonic , by cyberpunk author, William Gibson .
I have never read the short story, though I plan to, of course.
If you haven't seen the movie, I'm not sure if you should. The acting is horrendous, the costumes are laughable, the dialogue, horrible. I guess if you like 80's films enough you might get a little heart flutter kick out of it but otherwise it is pretty ...more
Sep 04, 2011
Erich Franz Linner-Guzmann
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
computer,
kultur,
firearm,
illustriert,
technik,
conspiracy,
violentia,
psychologisch,
cyberpunk,
esoteric
"I put the shotgun in an Adidas bag and padded it out with four pairs of tennis socks, not my style at all, but that was what I was aiming for: If they think you're crude, go technical; if they think you're technical, go crude. I'm a very technical boy. So I decided to get as crude as possible. These days, though, you have to be pretty technical before you can even aspire to crudeness. I'd had to turn both those twelve-gauge shells from brass stock, on the lathe, and then load then myself; I'd h...more
Human SD card
badass body mod weapons
drug addict dolphin.
badass body mod weapons
drug addict dolphin.
I believe this title is available in Burning Chrome as a short story... This edition shown here contains the short story, some pictures from the movie, and the original movie script.
Though I love the short story with a passion the movie was sadly lacking... Though when I met Gibson at a signing he was excited to see this edition!
Though I love the short story with a passion the movie was sadly lacking... Though when I met Gibson at a signing he was excited to see this edition!
Waste
An very interesting adaptation from a very confusing film.
There is a freely available online edition of the short story, as ot should be. However that edition had spelling mistakes, I should write inconsistent, that bugged me.
The story is thrilling, perhaps well described as 'John Wick, Data Courier'. It's all a little too lucky, and the fascinating world is exposed in an impromptu manner, making the murder an iceberg (short story sized) of exposition. ...more
The story is thrilling, perhaps well described as 'John Wick, Data Courier'. It's all a little too lucky, and the fascinating world is exposed in an impromptu manner, making the murder an iceberg (short story sized) of exposition. ...more
This book is a much better read than Over The Top... And obviously a different genre (this being sci-fi, adventure, mystery). But I wouldn't give it '4 stars', '3.5' maybe...
I think the book reads much better than the movie shows. The book creates more intrigue, and even though it wasn't a 'great' read for me, it was a page turner.
Johnny Mnemonic is a data smuggler (he actually has a jack socket in the back of his neck... And, no, I'm not joking LMAO) in a futuristic Japan. But there are a num ...more
I think the book reads much better than the movie shows. The book creates more intrigue, and even though it wasn't a 'great' read for me, it was a page turner.
Johnny Mnemonic is a data smuggler (he actually has a jack socket in the back of his neck... And, no, I'm not joking LMAO) in a futuristic Japan. But there are a num ...more
The book is really cyber punk, but since it's clear I'm not going to read cyber punk again, I don't want to add a shelf for it. Science fiction is sort of a category for this book, but it's far more general than cyber punk. The premise was interesting. information has to travel securely, so it's implanted into Johnny's prosthetic memory. Way too much data is downloaded...the techies who do this are crooks, and he is going to die if he doesn't get it out. I began to lose track of who Johnny could
...more
What an engaging whirlwind of action and excitement! Great story, although I'm not sure why these cyberpunks would use human bodies to store information - too much of a liability, methinks. It's much clearer than the film, which isn't really as bad as everyone says (heck, it was pretty entertaining, even if it doesn't make much sense), although I can't help feeling that Gibson could unpack his ideas a bit more - there's definitely an in media res feeling here, but I wanted to know more about thi
...more
Sep 18, 2013
Alfaniel Aldavan
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
cyberpunk,
science-fiction
The beginnings of cyberpunk.
I must have read more times this story. Its plot doesn't matter, it's all about the specifics of the characters and the world: the (post)apocalyptic embedding of technological or biological artifacts into the human or animal bodies.
Recommended for cyberpunk fans or anyone interested in another kind of apocalypse than mainstream. ...more
I must have read more times this story. Its plot doesn't matter, it's all about the specifics of the characters and the world: the (post)apocalyptic embedding of technological or biological artifacts into the human or animal bodies.
Recommended for cyberpunk fans or anyone interested in another kind of apocalypse than mainstream. ...more
Sooo, I arranged my thoughts into a haiku:
"Glitz and glamour names,
Chaos padding the plot,
While stifling gems." ...more
"Glitz and glamour names,
Chaos padding the plot,
While stifling gems." ...more
I have to say that this is a strange little book - the story Johnny Mnemonic is actaully a short story only a few dozen pages long - this is more of a film tie in book.
The book itself contains the screen play to the film and is set out as such we a few colour photos strategically taken from the film (really to spotlight the characters and certainly does not give anything away from the film). So as you can imagine is very much a book with a specific purpose to promote and support the film.
It doe ...more
The book itself contains the screen play to the film and is set out as such we a few colour photos strategically taken from the film (really to spotlight the characters and certainly does not give anything away from the film). So as you can imagine is very much a book with a specific purpose to promote and support the film.
It doe ...more
The story was heavy with tech terms and strange descriptions. At times I felt utterly lost but still went with the flow because I liked the atmosphere, chilling and dreadful but exactly the techno-future of Blade Runner and likes that fascinate me. It didn't appear to me an easy prospect for a movie though. Speculation seemed too wild and creatures undecipherable, but feasible to Lynch and Cronenberg types.
The script, on the other hand, was so easy to understand and perfect for any director with ...more
The script, on the other hand, was so easy to understand and perfect for any director with ...more
I could've been reading through it a bit fast (and my copy was riddled with typos), but I didn't like how Gibson's sci-fi world felt very disjointed and lacked cohesion between some parts (namely, how modern/less futuristic some of his names sounded; I understand that a sci-fi author needs to draw from present people/places/concepts to help the reader comprehend the developed/resulting futuristic aspects of his story, but Gibson's names and exposition for his world didn't sound particularly conv
...more
I read only the original short story. This book was based on the movie, and had more explanation, i think.
The movie was so bad, it was good. I liked watching horrible acting and the dialogues made me laugh, because they were so ridiculous :)
The short story is a standalone, good think to read. I admire Gibson's thinking. In 1981, before Facebook, Google, online banking and location tracking apps, he wrote:
We're an information economy. They teach you that in school. What they don't tell you is tha ...more
The movie was so bad, it was good. I liked watching horrible acting and the dialogues made me laugh, because they were so ridiculous :)
The short story is a standalone, good think to read. I admire Gibson's thinking. In 1981, before Facebook, Google, online banking and location tracking apps, he wrote:
We're an information economy. They teach you that in school. What they don't tell you is tha ...more
Starts slow but finishes fast. There were good cyberpunk elements and dystopian elements in the story. The "beetle-bomber" was a great detail in the militarized, cyberpunk, dystopian bridge home of the Loteks. I enjoyed the Lotek home of Heaven and the imagery laid out in the book for how their world was constructed.
This was a great story. Better than a lot of newer, dystopian, sci-fi, fast reads.
I enjoyed the idea of the courier and the seepage of data from his implant. Johnny was a good reader ...more
This was a great story. Better than a lot of newer, dystopian, sci-fi, fast reads.
I enjoyed the idea of the courier and the seepage of data from his implant. Johnny was a good reader ...more
I wasn't sure if this was a comedy or a serious film. It is set in 2021, written in 1995. So sillly it was unbelievable. As I watched the film i realized that Keanu is an excellent actor. If you are looking for sci-fi, this is not it.
Johnny carries secrets in his head and his chased by several groups who want the info. ...more
Johnny carries secrets in his head and his chased by several groups who want the info. ...more
Cyberpunk.
This story is ALL atmosphere. It was so short that I didn't even have time to feel that Johnny was really in peril.
Also, despite the title, Johnny Mnemonic is the least interesting thing in this story. ...more
This story is ALL atmosphere. It was so short that I didn't even have time to feel that Johnny was really in peril.
Also, despite the title, Johnny Mnemonic is the least interesting thing in this story. ...more
Interesting for a short story although equally a bit too short, and certainly an abrupt ending. Lots of slang and jargon that wasn't immediately obvious, which is frustrating but common in sci-fi / cyberpunk.
...more
I watched the film years ago and couldn’t remember much of it (ironically). I found the book a little tricky to read though, didn’t help much with it, and found the peppering of futuristic made up words a little annoying
descriptive, in that Gibson way
Maybe a 3,5, but it seemed to me a bit unfullfilling in general so concluded to a 3/5 instead
Man, that was awesome! Writing was a bit patchy at times, but boy did it deliver the message!
A short, dark look into a cyberpunk future with a lot of excitement and action. I was hoping for a longer more developed novel from this story, but enjoyed it nonetheless.
Very odd short story. It definitely had the "cyberpunk" atmosphere, but idk what just happened.
...more
A fantastic start to what was to become my favourite trilogy.
It's a good book, the movie is not very impressive because I read the book and then I see the movie.
I don't remember exactly when I read it. ...more
I don't remember exactly when I read it. ...more
Too much jargon, and I don’t like the writing. Molly Millions was cool....
I need to re read this book.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Books2Movies Club: Johnny Mnemonic | 3 | 15 | Sep 08, 2018 10:35AM |
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, having coined the term cyberspace in 1982 and popularized it in his first novel, Neuromancer(1984), which has sold more than 6.5 million copies wor ...more
William Ford Gibson is an American-Canadian writer who has been called the father of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction, having coined the term cyberspace in 1982 and popularized it in his first novel, Neuromancer(1984), which has sold more than 6.5 million copies wor ...more
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