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William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

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Re: William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

#11

Post by amatecha »

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

Re: William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

#12

Post by amatecha »

ElijahLynn wrote: post #10
mbirth wrote: post #4

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 :(

Re: William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

#13

Post by stevenwoo »

babblingfish wrote: post #2

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.

Re: William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

#14

Post by guerrilla »

viccis wrote: post #5

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…

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.

Re: William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

#15

Post by themadturk »

khedoros1 wrote: post #7
themadturk wrote: post #3

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.)

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.

Re: William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

#16

Post by GuinansEyebrows »

guerrilla wrote: post #14
viccis wrote: post #5

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…

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'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.

Re: William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

#18

Post by sien »

viccis wrote: post #5

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…

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.

Re: William Gibson Reads Neuromancer (2004)

#20

Post by reportingsjr »

guerrilla wrote: post #14
viccis wrote: post #5

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…

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.
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