A few days ago, I was looking at the book I was reading, and though I was almost 80 pages in, I realized I only had the vaguest idea of what was going on. I had to start the whole thing over. And when I got to page 80 again, I wasn't much better off.

I'm reading Neuromancer, by Billy Gibson, and though I know that sci-fi/cyberpunk gets off on its ability to imagine and think outside the box of the modern world, it seems like this book is off the charts with that.

I know Case is a former cyberspace cowboy, down on his luck, given a second chance. The second chance will come at a price, though, if he's not fleet enough to stay a few steps ahead of his "helpers".

But there seems to be so much other stuff going on that it's so easy to get lost. Especially in the descriptions of cyberspace. Will anyone venture forth and just tell me what to pay attention to, or tell me that I'm doing fine, and it will all work out before the end of the book? Please? Preferably, by someone who's read the book...

The thing I find weirdest is: I have the 20th anniversary edition (and yeah, Gibson does do a good job of predicting the future...) and in a new forward by the author, he discusses how his description of a "television sky" confused people. No, man, I get that static can look like clouds. What I don't get is how computer networks look like ice, and how a creepy addict in Turkey transforms himself into a gremlin, and why practical jokers in Atlanta are so nice to people they've never met, though they cause a panic in which hundreds might die..... The list goes on.

To me, even if the book is visionary, so far, it seems too vague and incohesive to enjoy... And I say this having read most of it twice!

Help... or...
All assail?