As I continue reading through Neuromancer, there are no new difficulties I am having, but the biggest issues from the first section are still present; however, now they seem amplified. For instance, the first section was difficult because the language was strange, and I wasn’t sure what was everything the narrator and characters referred to. Instead of clearing things up for the reader, Gibson then introduces even more new technology and terms but now they are introduced through the broken English of an Armenian, Terzibashjin (“Worst is how you say in Ingiliz, the subliminals” – page 86) or through the strange language of the Zionists, Aerol and company. As the chapters progress I am starting to figure out a little more about various technologies, but a few of the technologies that were mentioned early on (like implants) are suddenly made much more complex (for instance: i thought implants were things that mostly helped increase a body part’s efficiency, but now I see that their target in Istanbul is able to cause people to see things). Perhaps Gibson is using this language to alienate the reader? The characters are going into “uncharted territory” so-to-speak, and the lost feeling that the reader has throughout the book has a correlation to the alienation and confusion Case must be feel as he tries to find out more about what exactly he is doing.
Another thing that just keeps getting more and more complex are the locations: from Istanbul, to Freeside, to Zion, etc. While this is confusing, I think there is an interesting juxtaposition between the quick traveling from place to place in the physical realm to the complexity and quick shifts made in the virtual realm. I feel that Gibson helps the reader feel the complexity by using quick shifts in real space; it ties in the speed and chaos of the virtual realm with something that the reader can understand.
Basically, I get the feeling that Gibson is intentionally chaotic, complex, and ambiguous. He creates a detailed world where nothing is what it seems, action happen at incredible rates, and the characters’ intentions are never made clear; this creates multiple layers of tension for the reader. On one hand you are concerned with the mystery of the plot, while at the same time you wind up being curious about the details of the world around the characters; it draws you in, showing you glimpses of things you want to understand, but can’t (at least, not yet). You feel like you are being pulled in multiple directions at once, and it’s incredibly addictive.
