Pattern Recognition

Pattern Recognition is a techno-espionage novel written by the father of cyberpunk, William Gibson. The book was well-written, amazingly hip, and a really fun read- except for the ending, which completely failed to meet my expectations.

There were a lot of reasons for me not to like Pattern Recognition. The narrative was in the present tense (I have an allergy to present tense narrative similar to, but less severe than, the allergy protagonist, Cayce, has to trademarks). The book wasn't science fiction, but a present-day international espionage novel. Not my favorite genre. Yet days after returning Pattern Recognition to the library, it's still on my mind.

One reason I liked the novel was that Gibson made the present tense work, even for me. His goal in using the present was to create a sense of urgency and forward motion. Unlike most authors, who think they can achieve this goal simply by switching "was" to "is," Gibson backed up his choice with other narrative tricks, such as frequent use of sentence fragments instead of complete, grammatically whole sentences. To balance this style, he then layered his narrative with precise word choice and detailed description, all appropriate to the tone of the book and the personality of his character. To top it all off, he found several key metaphors such as the "mirror world" (used to describe the subtle differences between the UK and the US) and jet lag (as a condition in which the soul has not caught up with the body), that provided an instant window into his protagonist's state of mind, then continued to feed the tenor of the book throughout the narrative. Just as I was breaking out in a cold, prickly rash from the present tense, Gibson sold me on his writing style with: "awash in limbic tides, brain stem stirring fitfully, flashing inappropriate demands for sex, food, sedation." And I still frequently think of his succinct description of a platonic friendship: "their boy-girl Lego doesn't click."

Gibson also made the espionage story work for me, because it was centered around viral videos, Internet message boards, and social networking. Pattern Recognition made excellent use of the technology available in 2003 when it was published- so much so, that the gadgets and online culture Gibson described still hold up today. But no doubt the best part of the novel was the quirk Gibson gave his protagonist. Her greatest strength, and her greatest weakness: an affinity for cool, an instinct for style, and a visceral revulsion to the lame, the over-marketed, the passé. This offbeat personality trait made for a character unlike any other I've ever read, and it made for an incredibly hip novel.

Unfortunately all the great things Gibson built up in Pattern Recognition came crashing down at the end. Although protagonist, Cayce, was steadily delving closer to solving mysteries with intensely personal meaning to her- at the climax of the novel the rug was pulled from beneath her feet (and the reader's). At the climax Cayce lost consciousness, only to wake to a denouement in which other characters had unraveled her personal enigmas and solved her remaining mysteries. While Cayce was getting filled in on all the pieces of the puzzle she hadn't yet solved, the expository passage read very much like a plot outline, an info dump explaining what had really been going on since the beginning of Cayce's story. I finished the book in a state of shock that an author so skilled would his resolve his intrigues by making the protagonist black out, then regain consciousness and listen politely as the end of her quest ws conveniently explained to her.

On Amazon Pattern Recognition is #27,507 in Books and is #7,746 in the Kindle Store.

The Maltese Falcon

Dashiell Hammett made a founding contribution to the hard-boiled detective genre with his 1930 novel, the Maltese Falcon. I've carried around the title of the book in my head, along with the image of a femme fatale sashaying into a run-down detective's office, but had never read the book until this week.

A close look at the genre conventions shows that protagonist, Sam Spade, has all the ingredients of a hard-boiled detective. What I found more interesting than the particulars of the detective conventions, was Hammett's narrative voice.

Hammett's narrator was like a movie camera. The narrator never penetrated Sam Spade's tough armor to pierce through to his inner thoughts and feelings. Everything was reported as though a court stenographer was witnessing it and writing it down- except that every single surface detail Hammett chose to report was carefully selected, meant to color our view of the events and characters.

At first I was put off by this style. Why the heck should I care about the angle of Sam Spade's head as he rolled his cigarette? Descriptions of femme fatale, Brigid O'Shaughnessy, bordered on the teenage obsessive, reporting each twitch of her lips, lean of her head, and minute gesture.

But when the author refuses to let the reader into a single thought or feeling of any character, and the narrative voice is as neutral as a black and white photo, the only means of expressing character is through dialog and action. All the minute details of how cigarettes were smoked, coffee drunk, and eggs eaten, add up to build a character.

This approach to characterization makes the reader experience the same sense of ambiguity as the characters in the story- the reader feels at once as though they know Sam Spade and Brigid O'Shaughnessy very well, and at the same time, wouldn't want to bet their lives on what either character will do next.

However, Sam and Brigid are betting their lives on how well they understand each other's character and motivation. It is this suspense, not the particulars of the mystery, that powers the captivating tale of the Maltese Falcon.