I think the audio quality gives this recording character. What could be more cyberpunk than hearing the quirky artifacts resulting from ripping an obsolete recording medium?
I listened to Neuromancer on a long drive one time, and I will say that it's a wonderful book but not one that's particularly suited to the audiobook medium. It's hard to follow at times because it avoids a lot of big picture narrative and instead focuses on very small scale scenes of events happening within a broader story. It means that it can be confusing at times, as you are often as in the dark as the characters are.
This is an abridged version, so maybe it streamlines some aspects of the narrative, so take that into account.
I also listened to it as an audiobook and while I very much got the vibe, I have no idea what was going on, which is kinda rare (I listen to a lot of audiobooks). It's as if I didn't even read it... buy kinda did. I duno.
I had the same experience reading neuromancer in the last year. I felt like I got the vibe of what was going on, but struggled to understand the details and figure out what was actually happening in the story.
I think ambiguity is somewhat intended. It also is continued in the rest of the trilogy. Some things are clearly left for the reader to guess or to interpret. It does make it a not very easy read.
i've read neuromancer at least five times and i still feel like i never actually read it. it's a weirdly-written book with little environmental exposition - but i still love it.
Same. I've probably read it 7 times now, counting a recent listen to the audiobook version on Youtube mentioned above. And I could still read it again tomorrow and I think I'd feel like it was a brand new story.
And truth be told, I probably will read it again, although it might not be tomorrow. :-)
I’ve tried to listen to a book on tape on a long drive twice. And each time I was lucky to not drive into an abutment. For whatever reason, the droning just knocks me unconscious.
Talk radio is ok, sports radio. I’ve listened to more radio plays with multiple speakers. Those are ok.
So glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about The Difference Engine. (And I don't generally dislike Sterling...this book just didn't work for me.)
Same. I love Gibson's writing, I love Sterling's, but TDE remains on my bottom 5 books I've ever read. To this day if someone mentions steampunk I flee for the exits. I feel bad about this because I bought it in hardback on the book promo tour and Bruce Sterling signed it for me, we even had a chat because the bookstore wasn't busy and I told him how much I was looking forward to reading it. In my guilty subconscious he is still at the same store, waiting for a customer who promised to come back and never did. I'm sorry Bruce.
Agreed, and it’s all the more surprising because one of my favorite short stories is a collaboration between the two of them: “Red Star, Winter Orbit.” The Difference Engine just doesn’t work for me though.
I remember starting that book, but not getting far into it. It didn't click for me, either. That was a number of years ago though. Maybe I owe it a retry.
That reminds me. I probably have a rough video of part of an author talk by Richard Dawkins... speaking from a church pulpit.
It was an old church, with acoustics that worked pre-electronics. At the start of the talk, Dawkins remarked, something like, being up there, he now understands why some preachers speak the way they do.
The book store would borrow the church as a venue for author talks, and it was only a funny coincidence that Dawkins's book that time was, IIRC, "The God Delusion".
(I'll have to see whether I still have it on an old computer, then contact the hosting venue, to see whether this can be preserved in a respectful way, on archive.org. Or they might already/still have a better recording.)
Years ago I was blown away to learn about this "Gibson reads Neuromancer" audio book only when I heard it sampled in a song[0] by Haujobb (the band, not the demoscene group). I recognized the words as being from Neuromancer, one of my top favorite books, but I wasn't aware of where it was from. Had to do some searching online to discover the audio was sampled from Gibson's reading of his own book. Very cool surprise! (as an aside, if you like cyberpunk-esque music, can absolutely recommend this band - check out "Solutions for a Small Planet")
I love how W.G. still reads well to this day. Have so many good memories as an early teen ripping through his work as fast as I could. Enjoyed every single page.
It’s mostly older stuff the Santa Clara county library has acquired over the years, along with books on CD. A lot of stuff is now on Libby/Hoopla and they even have MP3 players with just one book on them you can rent.
I am currently teaching Neuromancer as the primary text for a first-year studies course on cyberspace. It is absolutely incredible re-reading that text and marveling at Gibson's vision of the future (which with science fiction is really a commentary on the now).
There seems to be a playlist on YouTube with slightly better quality: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYn090EvNBcinpVcrKNmY...
*EDIT:* There's also the CD version somewhere out there. Here's a Reddit post where someone ripped it (but didn't make it available): https://www.reddit.com/r/Neuromancer/comments/1gr7k4n/audiob...
thanks, the OP is of lesser quality compared to this one.
Yeah, I took a quick listen to OP -- unfortunately their mp3s are of very poor quality. I heard numerous glitches while listening :(
I think the audio quality gives this recording character. What could be more cyberpunk than hearing the quirky artifacts resulting from ripping an obsolete recording medium?
I was about to say, feels more of its time...
I listened to Neuromancer on a long drive one time, and I will say that it's a wonderful book but not one that's particularly suited to the audiobook medium. It's hard to follow at times because it avoids a lot of big picture narrative and instead focuses on very small scale scenes of events happening within a broader story. It means that it can be confusing at times, as you are often as in the dark as the characters are.
This is an abridged version, so maybe it streamlines some aspects of the narrative, so take that into account.
There is a BBC Audio drama of Neuromancer that is 1:56 long.
It is excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S89BHnaxULo
I haven't listened to the audio book of Neuromancer but I re-read it a few weeks back. The audio play I still go back to once in a while as well.
Two minutes hardly seems enough time to do the story justice.
I thought it was just me. I gave up on reading the book midway,because I was confused most of the time, and found it hard to engage.
I also listened to it as an audiobook and while I very much got the vibe, I have no idea what was going on, which is kinda rare (I listen to a lot of audiobooks). It's as if I didn't even read it... buy kinda did. I duno.
I had the same experience reading neuromancer in the last year. I felt like I got the vibe of what was going on, but struggled to understand the details and figure out what was actually happening in the story.
I think ambiguity is somewhat intended. It also is continued in the rest of the trilogy. Some things are clearly left for the reader to guess or to interpret. It does make it a not very easy read.
i've read neuromancer at least five times and i still feel like i never actually read it. it's a weirdly-written book with little environmental exposition - but i still love it.
Came to say exactly this. It's my favorite, but I still feel like I haven't read it after like 5 reads.
Same. I've probably read it 7 times now, counting a recent listen to the audiobook version on Youtube mentioned above. And I could still read it again tomorrow and I think I'd feel like it was a brand new story.
And truth be told, I probably will read it again, although it might not be tomorrow. :-)
I’ve tried to listen to a book on tape on a long drive twice. And each time I was lucky to not drive into an abutment. For whatever reason, the droning just knocks me unconscious.
Talk radio is ok, sports radio. I’ve listened to more radio plays with multiple speakers. Those are ok.
But books on tape, nope. Too dangerous for me.
Recommend the Peripheral TV series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Peripheral_(TV_series)
Hopefully they renew it eventually
So glad I'm not the only one who feels that way about The Difference Engine. (And I don't generally dislike Sterling...this book just didn't work for me.)
Same. I love Gibson's writing, I love Sterling's, but TDE remains on my bottom 5 books I've ever read. To this day if someone mentions steampunk I flee for the exits. I feel bad about this because I bought it in hardback on the book promo tour and Bruce Sterling signed it for me, we even had a chat because the bookstore wasn't busy and I told him how much I was looking forward to reading it. In my guilty subconscious he is still at the same store, waiting for a customer who promised to come back and never did. I'm sorry Bruce.
Agreed, and it’s all the more surprising because one of my favorite short stories is a collaboration between the two of them: “Red Star, Winter Orbit.” The Difference Engine just doesn’t work for me though.
I remember starting that book, but not getting far into it. It didn't click for me, either. That was a number of years ago though. Maybe I owe it a retry.
I've actually read it twice, didn't actually hate it...but I also don't remember anything about it, which is patently untrue about other Gibson books.
I may owe it a third try as well.
Previously:
William Gibson reads Neuromancer, from tape to mp3 - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14021369 - April 2017 (3 comments)
Re. the date:
- The original book was published in 1984
- This abridged audio reading seems to have been published in 1994
- This article was published in 2004
This is probably something worth submitting to the Internet Archive if you’re worried about it disappearing!
That reminds me. I probably have a rough video of part of an author talk by Richard Dawkins... speaking from a church pulpit.
It was an old church, with acoustics that worked pre-electronics. At the start of the talk, Dawkins remarked, something like, being up there, he now understands why some preachers speak the way they do.
The book store would borrow the church as a venue for author talks, and it was only a funny coincidence that Dawkins's book that time was, IIRC, "The God Delusion".
(I'll have to see whether I still have it on an old computer, then contact the hosting venue, to see whether this can be preserved in a respectful way, on archive.org. Or they might already/still have a better recording.)
Years ago I was blown away to learn about this "Gibson reads Neuromancer" audio book only when I heard it sampled in a song[0] by Haujobb (the band, not the demoscene group). I recognized the words as being from Neuromancer, one of my top favorite books, but I wasn't aware of where it was from. Had to do some searching online to discover the audio was sampled from Gibson's reading of his own book. Very cool surprise! (as an aside, if you like cyberpunk-esque music, can absolutely recommend this band - check out "Solutions for a Small Planet")
[0] https://haujobb.bandcamp.com/track/penetration-fuck-the-floo... at 2m45s
I love how W.G. still reads well to this day. Have so many good memories as an early teen ripping through his work as fast as I could. Enjoyed every single page.
I didn't realize the Mountain View Library still has books on cassette tapes. Neat!
It’s mostly older stuff the Santa Clara county library has acquired over the years, along with books on CD. A lot of stuff is now on Libby/Hoopla and they even have MP3 players with just one book on them you can rent.
Planting Accelerando's.
Ayn Rand Institute will shelf Atlas en-mass to public libaries.
I am currently teaching Neuromancer as the primary text for a first-year studies course on cyberspace. It is absolutely incredible re-reading that text and marveling at Gibson's vision of the future (which with science fiction is really a commentary on the now).