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Pattern Recognition
William Gibson Book Review

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Plot Summary of Pattern Recognition
"

Putnam, Feb 2003, 25.95, 368 pp.
ISBN: 0399149864

Market researcher Cayce Pollard is considered a guru when it comes to selecting potential products and advertising campaigns that will make it. Recently hired by advertising giant Hubertus Bigend to evaluate a new logo, Cayce travels to London to meet with her client. She pulls no punches when she informs him that she thinks it will fail.

Impressed by her fortitude and insight, Hubertus hires Cayce to look into a series of Internet film clips attracting a large world-wide cult following. Hubertus believes the pixel filmmaker is an advertising genius. Cayce's preliminary work leads to someone breaking into the London flat she is temporarily staying at and hacking into her computer. Soon the investigation sends Cayce global as she quickly links her inquiries to that of her spook father presumed dead in the World Trade Center disaster

Unlike his usual futuristic global paranoia caused by Big Brother surveillance, PATTERN RECOGNITION is a present day thriller focusing on the same themes but through real world elements and patterns. The story line is more cerebral than action loaded as William Gibson paints a “cyber” tale that allegorically tears into the soulless patterns of modern society including email. Cayce is a heroine representing the hope that the dismal patterns of the present will not lead to an even bleaker future as the trends seem to imply. Mr. Gibson provides a taut thought provoking tale, but not for action fans.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Pattern Recognition
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 20%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 40%




Tone of story - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
Spying/Terrorism Thriller Yes
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Search for technology? - computers

Main Character
Gender - Female
Profession/status: - business executive
Age: - 20's-30's
How much violence does he/she use? - a little
Ethnicity/Race - White/American
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - mastermind
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
Europe Yes
European country: - England/UK

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 0 (not a murder mystery)
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
Most similar books to Pattern Recognition
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
The Doomsday Virus by Barry Silverstein
Cyberterror by R.J. Pineiro
You've Got Murder by Donna Andrews
Hidden Agendas - Net Force by Tom Clancy


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