|
''Pattern Recognition'' is a novel by science fiction writer William Gibson published in 2003. Set in August and September 2002, the story follows Cayce Pollard, a 32-year-old marketing consultant who has a psychological sensitivity to corporate symbols. The action takes place in London, Tokyo, and Moscow as Cayce judges the effectiveness of a proposed corporate symbol and is hired to seek the creators of film clips anonymously posted to the internet. The novel's central theme involves the examination of the human desire to detect patterns or meaning and the risks of finding patterns in meaningless data. Other themes include methods of interpretation of history, cultural familiarity with brand names, and tensions between art and commercialization. The September 11, 2001 attacks are used as a motif representing the transition to the new century. Critics identify influences in ''Pattern Recognition'' from Thomas Pynchon's postmodern detective story ''The Crying of Lot 49''. ''Pattern Recognition'' is Gibson's eighth novel and his first one to be set in the contemporary world. Like his previous work, it has been classified as a science fiction and postmodern novel, with the action unfolding along a thriller plot line. Critics approved of the writing but found the plot unoriginal and some of the language distracting. The book peaked at number four on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list, was nominated for the 2003 British Science Fiction Association Award, and was shortlisted for the 2004 Arthur C. Clarke Award and Locus Awards. == Background == Before writing ''Pattern Recognition'', the author, William Gibson, published seven novels (one co-written) and numerous short stories beginning in 1977. His previous novel, ''All Tomorrow's Parties'', was published in October 1999 as the conclusion of the Bridge trilogy. ''Pattern Recognition'' was written between 2001 and 2002 while Gibson was living in Vancouver, British Columbia and released in February 2003. ''Pattern Recognition'' was originally intended to be a stand-alone novel,〔 but afterwards Gibson wrote ''Spook Country'' and ''Zero History'' which take place in the same universe and use some of the same characters. Gibson traveled to Tokyo in 2001 to prepare for this new novel, which takes place in London, Moscow, and Tokyo. He did not travel to London or Moscow but used interviews with friends and internet resources for research. In September 2001 Gibson had written about 100 pages but was struggling to finish. He stopped writing after watching the September 11, 2001 attacks on television and "realized (novel ) had become a story that took place in an alternate time track, in which Sept. 11 hadn't happened".〔 He considered abandoning the novel but a few weeks later re-wrote portions to use the attacks as a motivating factor for the distress the main character feels. In a 2003 interview he said, "There I was, in the winter of 2001, with no idea what the summer of 2002 was going to be like. ... In the original post-9/11 draft, London felt more like London is feeling right now. Cayce keeps seeing trucks full of soldiers. But I took that out, because as it got closer to the time, it wasn't actually happening."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pattern Recognition (novel)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|