[EN World Book Club] Pattern Recognition [January 2004 Selection]

[Sam]

You could take that even further, and discuss how quality isn't determined in a vacuum, but emerges from expectation and context. Pattern Recognition wasn't a mediocre novel, it was quite a good novel, but when judged against Gibson's other novels it pales on comparison.

I'm going to disagree with the thought that Pattern Recognition would have been a "good" novel for another writer. I enjoyed the book until about 80% of the way through, when it seemed to me that Gibson was rushing to finish. There was no real climax. The plot built and built, and then.... nothing.

Maybe that's the statement and I'm just too pedestrian to get it. Either way, I would grade the novel as mediocre at best. Certainly not good, regardless of the author, previous works or expectations.

 

[nHammer]

You could take that even further, and discuss how quality isn't determined in a vacuum, but emerges from expectation and context. Pattern Recognition wasn't a mediocre novel, it was quite a good novel, but when judged against Gibson's other novels it pales on comparison.

I have to respectfully disagree. I did not compare this novel to Gibson's other books.

Pattern Recognition, to me, was a mediocre novel all by itself.

 

[Michael Tree]

I'm going to disagree with the thought that Pattern Recognition would have been a "good" novel for another writer. I enjoyed the book until about 80% of the way through, when it seemed to me that Gibson was rushing to finish. There was no real climax. The plot built and built, and then.... nothing.

I quite agree, the plot was clumsily handled. It certainly wasn't a great novel, but the interesting ideas in it and the quality of the language alone would have made it a decent first novel IMO. Maybe we just have different standards of 'mediocre'. I've certainly read novels that were a lot worse without being actively bad, and more forgettable too.

As for comparing it to other Gibson novels, if you read other novels of his and liked them, then you almost certainly went into reading Pattern Recognition with certain preconceptions and expectations of quality, even if you didn't consciously compare them.

 

[Sam]

As for comparing it to other Gibson novels, if you read other novels of his and liked them, then you almost certainly went into reading Pattern Recognition with certain preconceptions and expectations of quality, even if you didn't consciously compare them.

I'll grant you that. I'm not saying I didn't compare this to other Gibson works, or that I had expectations based upon other novels of his. I am saying that I wouldn't rate this in the "good for a first novel" category.

I really enjoyed the concepts, the characters were intriguing, and as was said on this thread before, the online community angle was very relevant. I just don't think that Gibson actually finished the story. I'll continue to believe (because it makes me think that Gibson hasn't lost the edge and will come out with better works in the future) that for some reason, he was rushed to finish the book. Don't know what it could have been. Deadline? Other projects that he had committed to? Not sure, but it makes me feel better to think that this wasn't the best he could have done given no outside pressures.

I also don't think that enjoying a writers previous works makes you more critical of the current work. If anything, I was predisposed to like this book given positive previous reads of Gibson. I was certainly more willing to cut him some slack than I was when reading Dragondoom (see link in sig for discussion), which was (for me) an unknown author.

Gibson is one of those authors who shows incredible flashes of brilliance at times. And before this book, hadn't written anything I wouldn't consider good. But this one.... Well, it just don't seem done.