Pattern Recognition
by William Gibson · first published 2002
33% recommend64% neutral3% critical
Why HN recommends it
Gibson's present-day thriller, praised for brilliant prose and its sharp take on brands, advertising and fashion; suits readers who want his style outside far-future sci-fi, or a way into his Blue Ant trilogy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
One of the most influential and imaginative writers of the past twenty years turns his attention to London - with dazzling results.Cayce Pollard owes her living to her pathological sensitivity to logos. In London to consult for the world's coolest ad agency, she finds herself catapulted, via her addiction to a mysterious body of fragmentary film footage, uploaded to the Web by a shadowy auteur, into a global quest for this unknown 'garage Kubrick'. Cayce becomes involved with an eccentric hacker, a vengeful ad executive, a defrocked mathematician, a Tokyo Otaku-coven known as Eye of the Dragon
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Neuromancer - William Gibson REAMDE- Neal Stephenson Pattern Recognition / Zero History / Spook Country - William Gibson The Peripheral - William Gibson Not exactly the same thing, but I'll also throw in Glasshouse by Charles Stross. And since we're talking Charles Stross,…
on “Ask HN: Books that altered your view of reality” ↗I wouldn't class Ready Player One as the best book of 2012, but it was certainly enjoyable (when I read it in 2011). I prefer This Is Not A Game and Pattern Recognition in this genre; also worth checking out is Tad Williams' Otherland series.
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2012” ↗Pattern Recognition by William Gibson. Really, anything by Gibson is worth reading multiple times, simply for the great writing style. Pattern Recognition also does something special: have you really ever /thought/ about…
on “Ask HN: Which book have you re-read recently?” ↗Interestingly, Gibson's latest book - Pattern Recognition - is set in the present. It's very good. http://www.amazon.com/Pattern-Recognition-William-Gibson/dp/... It's not the same dystopian future he envisioned in the 1990s. But his keen eye draws out the…
on “Cyberpunk is dead?” ↗He's written two books since then, Spook Country and Zero History which are also set in the present. I haven't read them but supposedly they constitute a sort of informal trilogy. I agree that Pattern Recognition is very good. Although I will always have a soft spot for Neuromancer and his related books and stories.
on “Cyberpunk is dead?” ↗…programmers, systems thinkers, etc. with varying degrees of success. The current list can be described as "books for programming that are not about programming" containing such gems as How Buildings Learn, Pattern Recognition, Living System, Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers, and others. I suspect Dr. kay would have a lot to say about (and perhaps add to) such a list.
on “Alan Kay's reading list” ↗…Pinball - Haruki Murakami The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammet (Surprising just how much San Francisco is in it) The Postman Always Rings Twice - James Cain Seveneves - Neal Stephenson (recommended) Pattern Recognition - William Gibson The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway (recommended, refreshing language) Non-fiction: Running Lean - Ash Muraya Lean Customer Development - Alvarez Talking to Humans - Giff Constable Hooked…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…Ctrl-Alt-Revolt by Nick Cole Glasshouse by Charles Stross Second the Vernor Vinge recommendations, and the Neal Stephenson and William Gibson Sprawl Trilogy recommendations. Gibson's The Peripheral, as well as Pattern Recognition, Zero History, and Spook Country all apply, as well. Same for his Idoru, Virtual Light, and All Tomorrow's Parties. Finally, Gibson and Sterling's The Difference Engine - the first and, so far, best…
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗Ever read Pattern Recognition by William Gibson? The main character has an allergy to logos, removes them from everything they can. Thanks for the toothpaste tip.
on “Fixing annoying blue standby lights” ↗Nice to see love for the Blue Ant books. I enjoy everything Gibson has written, but Pattern Recognition is by far my favorite.
on “Neal Stephenson was prescient about our AI age” ↗…know it. It'd be a really, really fun project. I'm sure it'd be very tough to get profitable, but it's almost too fun to care. This could be another reason it doesn't exist. 9. Gibson's 2003(?) novel Pattern Recognition is insanely underrated - probably not by people here - but I think the prose is better, and in a decade or two it will feel just as (if not more) prescient. It's a really, really good example of a literary…
on “William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)” ↗I love reading Gibson. His prose is brilliant. In his book "Pattern Recognition" he spends the first page and half describing jet-lag in such brilliant manner that you feel like you just experienced art. Unfortunately I feel his plot/stories never seem to hold up. I will always…
on “William Gibson is a literary genius” ↗…Adams (all of its sequels are also good) * "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and "Lila", Pirsig * Either "Watchmen", Moore and Gibbons; or "1984" or "Animal Farm", Orwell * "Neuromancer" or "Pattern Recognition", Gibson Be wary of anybody who recommends self-help, attitude improvement, psychology, business/management, or similar genres. Also, I notice that some folks have recommended the official Steve Jobs…
on “Ask HN: Which non-programming books are a beneficial read for programmers?” ↗I highly recommend William Gibson's "Blue Ant" trilogy (Pattern Recognition, Spook Country, Zero History) if you're into this sort of topic.
on “Decades” ↗Thing is, while Spook Country and Pattern Recognition are not groundbreaking the way Sprawl Trilogy was, Gibson still remains a truly gifted writer who has a way with words. Too much of sci-fiction has been written by people with great ideas, but inferior…
on “William Gibson on writing, science fiction and the Future” ↗