August 26, 2007
Spook Country
Spook Country arrived in the mail a couple of days ago and I'm forcing myself to read it slowly - I don't want to blow straight through it and miss the details.
So far the mood feels a lot like Pattern Recognition - relatively slow pacing but a lot of attention to fine detail. In typical Gibson style, the people and objects are described at the surface level, so the reader can get a fix on their appearance or behavior, but each point of description also carries its own semiotic markers that place that person or object within a broader cultural context.
And as always, Gibson displays a laser-keen ability to sense and describe the finer points of culture - both its outward, visible manifestations and also its deeper (and almost always darker) signs and signifiers.
I'm torn because on the one hand I really want to finish the book by next Thursday when I'll be at that book club in Vancouver with him and Deborah, but it would be a pity to tear through this thing too quickly.
Hey by the way Deborah, if you're reading this, did you see the dedication he wrote before the introduction? Anything you want to share with us?
Posted by case at August 26, 2007 06:02 PM