looking back to Neuromancer
in preparation for Shelved By Genre I've reread Neuromancer for the first time in more than a decade. when I read it last my reading comprehension was frankly bad so I had a difficult time understanding it, and had forgotten all but the major beats of the story.
coming back to it now, it's naturally a much easier read and turns out: Neuromancer fucks. it's still extremely good, even after multiple cyberpunk boom & bust cycles and many examinations of the genre. I think this is mostly held up by Gibson's prose, which has self-interrupting dream-like quality, feeling like it's changing points of view despite being held in Case's mind (mirrored in the actual plot, naturally)
what struck me most though is all the little details that over time have been left by the wayside for what's now capital C Cyberpunk. things like sign language communication, or the carousel of average hotel rooms. Case is just kind of a middling loser, and the book spends a lot of time exploring why each character is doing what they’re doing and none of it is for any righteous cause.
anyway, really looking forward to the rest of The Sprawl, of which I remember even less!