The worst book that I’ve read during this trip around Japan is William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition. I finished it only because it is difficult to find English-language books in rural Japan. I’m confused because I think that I bought it because of some positive reviews in newspapers or magazines and I’m wondering if I missed something. Here’s the review that I posted to amazon.com:
This is like one of those trashy “sex and shopping” novels but without the sex. And the shopping isn’t very interesting either, being mostly for stuff that was worth buying in the early 1990s such as a Machintosh laptop computer. The main premise of the book seems pointless. Some people make videos that they want to release anonymously on the Internet. Instead of doing the obvious thing of transferring from camcorder to PC and offering on some peer-to-peer network they hire the one company in the world that can add some coded info down in the noise and then stick the filmmaker’s email address into the footage. Ignoring the fact that this idea goes back about 50 years, why would someone who wanted to remain anonymous do this? Gibson never explains that.
The book also talks about traveling to London, Tokyo, and Moscow. None of this seems relevant to the story, all of which could just as easily been set in Indiana. Maybe putting it in enabled the author to deduct some airfares and hotel stays. There is a lot of stuff about brand names in the book, some of which might impress a peasant who had recently moved to Shanghai to work at Pizza Hut.
Any fans of the book want to educate me as to what I missed?
I think the video was distributed over various P2P networks, and they wanted to embed the watermark in order to to track its spread.
Also, as far as I remember, the email address was recovered through Echelon and not directly from the watermark.
I gave up on all these mind in the computer net sort of stories. It was great when it first came up. Gibson being the first to really hit it big.
Most of us who were “there” have moved way on, but it’s new to a lot of people.
Nano tech is only a little way behind.
Now it is pop.
Mr. Yang is right on both of his points. The clips did not have an email address embedded in them, rather Echelon was used to track down the originator; what was embedded was an otherwise untracable watermark.
_Pattern Recognition_ is my favorite of Gibson’s novels since _Neuromancer_. The point of having a book about a coolhunter wasn’t throw around brand names and worldly locations in a vainglorious attempt to impress, rather it was a meditation on branding and the interconnectedness of global culture in terms of the ebb and flow of “cool” and the ways in which standards of cool are informed by diverse cultures.
As for the plot device of the video clips and the online world-wide community which grew up around analyzing them, I find the idea interesting and the descriptions of the clips haunting. Shades of _The Ring_ crossed with Microsoft’s immersive ARG promoting Spielberg’s “A.I.” (in which groups of people from all over the world banded together online to decipher clues found on the backs of movie posters, in teaser credits, seeded in Google, and soon being delivered by email, fax, mail, and phone). It’s been a while since I read it, but as I recall the one sister worked on the video for personal reasons while the other sister decided it would be interesting to release the clips into the wild and track them. I don’t think she was motivated by anything more than doing her part to pay homage to her dead parents, depicted in the videa, and to her damaged sister’s skills.
Jeff :: You should give this one a shot, as it’s not a “mind in the computer net” — unlike Gibson’s previous works. I think Gibson, like you, has moved on. He always said that he wasn’t so much writing about the future as he was writing about a present that wasn’t available to the masses yet. In this case he is doing that plainly without dressing things up as science fiction, setting it in the present.
I listened to it on Audible, and thought it was mildly entertaining. I agree with Phil a little sex would have been a plus, and the lead character’s sleep depravity reminded me a bit of Bill Murray in “Lost in Translation”.
The idea of having brand phobia/cool hunting, seemed a bit of a contradiction.
Yeah, the plot was pretty laughable, but Gibson’s prose just scratches my brain in a way that feels good. I find that I care about the people and savor the flavors. Also Gibson’s pretty hip to the zeitgeist: pilates, macintoshes, steganography, and so on. Clearly Philip’s brain has a different shape, no biggie.
I think you might enjoy one of Dave Barry’s novels instead. Dealing with stupid people as characters (which I’m sure you’d enjoy) they are hysterically funny. And there’s sex! And no focus on brand names!
I’m with Dan on this, I thought it was a great book, though I know a few people who hated it and, funnily enough, they’re the same people who didn’t like ‘Lost in Translation’
I think Gibsons books have become more ‘ambient’ as he’s progressed. The whole tone of the book is about the environment and the issues he’s talking about than the plot. He’s commenting about digital production and it’s democratisation of the media (Desktop Kubricks), social networks, product design worthy of Borges (the fictional Buzz Rickson), Alternate Reality Games (see http://www.ilovebees.com/ and it’s wiki http://qube.netninja.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page for Microsofts current Halo 2 ARG), net driven changes in consumerism and marketing, advertising allergies, Echelon, virtual vs. actual travel, post-cold-war Eastern Europe, etc. etc.
All interesting stuff and I was intrigued by a lot of the ideas that he brings up – maybe you’re just looking for a more linear narrative at the moment?
I don’t get the watermarks either. Each segment seems to have only a single watermark, so how does that help track anything? Seems you would need to put in a different watermark for each distribution source for it to be useful. And even in that case, it would be no more helpful than an MD5/SHA signature (which most P2P networks will show you before you download the file). They could have made distinct versions by just changing a single pixel instead of hiring some advanced watermarking company.
And if the watermark is just a random number, how would anyone ever have detected it? Surely there needs to be some “pattern” to “recognize” in steganographically-hidden information, otherwise you are just staring at noise like the EVP people.
Then again I’m still about 75 pages from the end, so maybe it’s all explained.
The stuff about rendering bugged me, too. The characters think it’s feasible, in the present day, to generate many minutes of photorealistic, theater-quality video completely by rendering? A “rendering farm” is not a network of machines grinding away, but a room full of low-paid workers massaging the video pixel by pixel?
Even so, I was willing to overlook all that, and really enjoyed the book. I guess it just works for me on an overall style level–making the present seem like science fiction.
I know nothing about this specific book, but any time it seems a book is overpraised in the reviews, I remind myself that reviews in newspapers and magazines are written for the most part by other novelists, who either want to curry favor or settle scores.
BR Myers, author of A Reader’s Manifesto, told the Atlantic:
“… imagine what would happen if the Big Three were allowed to review each other’s cars in Consumer Reports. You might think they’d just try to run each other down. But they wouldn’t; they’d realize that it’s in the industry’s interests to screw the consumers, to lower their expectations. They’d say, ‘The brakes don’t work, but that’s what real driving is all about,’ and so on. They’d save the bad reviews for outsiders like the Japanese. The same principle is behind the insincerity with which novelist-critics review each other’s books. And even the full-time reviewers like Michiko Kakutani don’t seem to represent the consumer’s interests to the extent that a movie critic like Roger Ebert does. “
I know nothing about this specific book, but any time it seems a book is overpraised in the reviews, I remind myself that reviews in newspapers and magazines are written for the most part by other novelists, who either want to curry favor or settle scores.
BR Myers, author of A Reader’s Manifesto, told the Atlantic:
“… imagine what would happen if the Big Three were allowed to review each other’s cars in Consumer Reports. You might think they’d just try to run each other down. But they wouldn’t; they’d realize that it’s in the industry’s interests to screw the consumers, to lower their expectations. They’d say, ‘The brakes don’t work, but that’s what real driving is all about,’ and so on. They’d save the bad reviews for outsiders like the Japanese. The same principle is behind the insincerity with which novelist-critics review each other’s books. And even the full-time reviewers like Michiko Kakutani don’t seem to represent the consumer’s interests to the extent that a movie critic like Roger Ebert does. “
My brother and I both thought it was the best thing we’ve read in years.
The concept of being allergic to brands, to the point of cutting labels out of her clothes, is, as Dan suggest, “writing about a present that wasn’t available to the masses yet.”
And it’s nice to have a wildly intuitive female protagonist.
It felt really new, and realigned some brain cells along the lines of Gibson’s thoughtpaths. That’s what all good art does — reproduces the creator’s state of consciousness in the experiencer.
It’s a right-brain re-aligner.
You could maybe pose the question on williamgibsonboard.com. 😉
Quite the thriving little online community full of fun people. Personally, I read Gibson books largely for his prose and his characterizations. If you strip everything off of it, the underlying plot is always simplicity itself. It is the method of getting there that is fun. The little I have read of Don Delillo (sp?) is also the same–simple plot, fabulously textured writing.
Sorry it didn’t hit your right; Gibson isn’t for everyone obviously. (Another example: my dad has a masters in creative writing and hates Gibson’s writing.)
Guys, guys, I wasn’t saying that I wanted Gibson to put in some more sex. I was just pointing out the similarities between this book and Danielle Steele and other “sex and shopping” authors. I’m personally not partial to that genre. My favorite novels read so far on this trip were a 100-year-old Japanese classic (in translation) and Douglas Coupland’s Hey, Nostradamus.
I could never understand the idolisation of Gibson. I enjoyed Neuromancer and the other novels of his I’ve read, but they’re hardly earth-shaking material and I haven’t felt the need to read the last few. But then I’ve been on an Eastern European literature reading binge…
I loved the book for its ambiance more than its plot. I agree that the core plot resolution made no sense and was a bit of a letdown, but there were some ideas along the way that really resonated with me. What sucked me in initially was the idea of a character with such severe brand allergy. (I have a mider form of the same affliction. I remember in the late 80s painstakingly unstitching the polo or alligator logos from shirts I wanted to wear, and being astounded that some people thought such a logo ADDED value to a product.) Several times I had moments of recognition like that, where I said “I know this person” or “that person could have been me.” And as a free bonus we got the soul-catching-up way to view jet lag, the bloggers-investigating-a-common-mystery meme (I second the recommendation of ilovebees.com ) and several other cases of fun ideas and ways of viewing the world.
Mr. Yee :: I agree that they’re “hardly earth-shaking”. I liked _Neuromancer_, as I said, but everything after that felt like a minor variation until _Pattern Recognition_. Gibson’s style of prose sparks my imagination and makes reading a very sensory experience for me, which I value, but it’s a very different thing from Eastern European “literature”.
Mr. Greenspun :: I adore _Hey, Nostradamus_. While in Japan, perhaps you can track down Coupland’s _God Hates Japan_, available only there (and only in Japanese, but I hear the illustrations are engaging).
I have to agree with Philip. And may I point out, I loved Lost in Translation.
Gibson can turn a wonderful phrase every now and then. I liked bits of Neuromancer for that reason, but otherwise I thought it was highly overrated. Pattern Recognition seemed like the same old cyber quest novel, except that real technology has mostly caught up with his techno-fetishes. The variation was that the theme was cultural, but I found no particular insights there. It was just a MacGuffin (or is that iGuffin) to motivate motorcycle chase scenes and fling the protagonist around the world.
Very flat characterizations, especially her internet correspondents, who just exist to inject information into the plot. The brand allergy was a quirk that didn’t ultimately matter. After I finished it I wondered what the point of all this was.
I liked Lost in Translation as well! And shortly after I read Gibson’s book I went to see SpiderMan 2, subtitled in Japanese (one of only two English-language movies that I could find in Sapporo). I thought SpiderMan 2 was a much more intellectually challenging and thought-provoking work than Pattern Recognition.
Lost in Translation? That was the worst freaking movie I have ever seen. Luckily I stopped watching before I slit my wrists.
[And I think if I had starred in the movie I probably would have felt the way Bill Murray looked at the Academy Awards: visibly embarrassed.]
Sam: I liked the parts of the movie that related to business trips I have taken to Japan. Being met by large groups of friendly Japanese, some of whom don’t speak any English or perform any obvious function. Having a translator try to bridge the gaps in understanding. Getting up at weird hours and wandering around a big chain hotel (the movie is set in the Park Hyatt; my first trip to Tokyo I was at the big Hilton in Shinjuku).
Not having been to hip clubs with cool young people I didn’t relate to some parts of the movie and if I’d never been to Japan on a business trip I’m not sure that I would have liked it that much.
Even so the movie deals with some elements that are familiar to business travelers. You’re in a foreign country with a lot of time on your hands. A woman to whom you’re committed is back home and you are supposed to check in with her periodically. Meanwhile there are people, some of them young attractive women, with whom you’re able to share the moment-to-moment events and rich texture of the foreign country.
I wouldn’t say that it was one of my favorite movies ever but I don’t have trouble understanding how it rated 8.1 on IMDB.com (one of the highest ratings of any movie, #137 out of the 300,000 in their database).
As a book recommendation relevant to Japan and tailored to Philip and the readers of his blog I would give The Master of Go by Kawabata Yasunari.
gibson’s writing mainly appeals to 15 year olds or people who have the emotional and intellectual maturity of 15 year olds, which is most heavy internet users. neuromancer was the only one of his books that was tolerable, which I read… when I was 15.
I’m suprised you were even able to read pattern recognition. I tried, and failed after about 10 pages. It was unreadable.
lost in translation. is reasonably accurate representation of what it is like for a white person with no japanese skills to be in tokyo, alone. I am young and hip and stuck myself in tokyo for 6 months, and pretty much everything in the movie happened to me. aside from living in the park hyatt and being propositioned by a 50 year old hooker. (i was propositioned by a number of 50 year old hookers in uigusudani, though)
the cinematography in the movie is amazing.
the thing i didn’t really get was scarlett johannson’s character. i mean, she is hot…which makes up for a lot. but. she’s in japan for like. a week? and she is having a life crisis as though she is trapped there for the next year, or so. why is she spending so much time in her hotel room?
I think focusing on the plot of this book is missing the point. It’s more about the infectious memes. His books are like pop songs with great hooks that stick in your head for far longer than you initially expect. “He took a duck in the face at 250 knots”, “Asian sluts”, “Tommy Hilfiger event horizon”, the calculators, the russian dig. These are off the top of my head and I read it 5 or 6 months ago. I just *liked* Cayce and the other characters in this book. I really didn’t care what they actually did with themselves.
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