Pattern Recognition

Pattern Recognition, by geek favorite William Gibson, is an airplane read, the type of book you can finish on a weekend.  It’s light stuff, the literary equivalent of a pop song, but like pop songs, the book has an infuriating tendency to get stuck in the brain.  Like Stephen King, a fellow author famed for working in the sci-fi/fantasy genre, Gibson litters his writing with brand names and other cultural specifics in order to create a more convincing universe.  Although Pattern Recognition takes place in modern times, albeit in a variety of world cities due to the jet-setting adventures of our heroine, Cayce Pollard, the story is a far cry from the fantastical adventures portrayed in much of Gibson’s previous work.  Here the mystery comes from real people and places, although much of it takes place in cyberspace, which some would argue is the newest and most exotic frontier. 

 The story revolves around mysterious video segments which, in the world of the book, have become an underground cultural phenomenon due to the anonymity of their source.  The cryptic clips seem to be part of something larger, and Cayce Pollard seeks to discover the truth to the videos as part of an internet forum dedicated to this cause.  Cayce is plagued by an unusual sensitivity to brand logos and other strong symbols with cultural or corporate connotations.  This affliction comes in handy, as she’s paid handsomely by marketing companies as a consultant for her truly unique ability to spot effective advertising. 

When she receives an assignment to track down the makers of the mysterious video footage, Cayce becomes half detective, half James Bond as she adventures around the world, solving the mystery.  It’s a fun ride, although not terribly deep, although the metaphor of film director as God is milked pretty heavily.  What really sticks with me, though, is Gibson’s details, especially the ones he lays on thick in the beginning for character development.  The descriptions of Cayce’s systematic de-branding of her plain clothing, for example, lend a Fight Club-type humor that is unfortunately lacking in some of the later chapters.  There is quite a bit of discussion about clothing, in fact, and interestingly enough, the jacket which Cayce wears throughout the novel and which becomes something of  a plot point, a black Rickson’s bomber, didn’t exist before the publication of the novel, but the clothiers were so flattered by Mr. Gibson’s reference that they created a limited edition line just for him.  I hardly think this is fair.  I write about stuff I want all the time, and I haven’t gotten jack.

All in all, I would recommend this novel, not for a life-changing experience, but for a pleasant read that’ll make you feel somehow cooler and more modern, and which will mysteriously compel you to purchase more and more plain black clothing…