Spook Country by William Gibson
Spook Country by William Gibson is a satisfying book, but it’s not the best of Gibson’s work and not even close to his science fiction masterpiece - Neuromancer. Spook Country flirts with some of what made Neuromancer such a fantastic read, a complete immersion in a strange, fascinating world that explored technology and how it could alter society.
It actually seemed like it was headed that way as Hollis Henry, minor-celebrity from her days in an alternative band, delved into the the new ‘locative arts’ scene. Essentially, creating art on a GPS enabled virtual dimension. Easiest way to think of it is if you were to walk down Sunset outside of the Viper room and could still see River Phoenix dead on the sidewalk.
The technology was interesting, and bumped up against the avatar like representation that Neal Stephenson presented in Snow Crash. So, I was intrigued and read on quickly. But it turned out that this was simply a plot device for the real story, which is a shadowy race to find and retrieve a shipping container with some unknown mystery inside.
The story is told from numerous points of view and, in a somewhat rote way, they all wind up converging toward the end of the book. Outside of the Hollis Henry thread there’s Tito, a Russo-Cuban trained by his family as a spy and Milgram, a prescription drug addict who is being held by Brown, a Blackwater type mercenary. Each story does have its moments and there’s no question that Gibson is a fine writer.
Be forewarned, there’s also a very strong 9/11, anti-Bush administration overtone to the entire novel. That’s not a problem for me, but it might be for you.
An added boost to my enjoyment of Spook Country is how it wove into my own life. I commute into the city on BART. I often put my book down to stare down at West Oakland and then the shipping yard full of containers with names like Yang Ming and “K” line and Maersk. I marvel at the landscape and think about what it’s like to work there and what kind of lives they all lead. Gibson unknowingly tapped into this curiosity which helps me give Spook Country a moderate recommendation.
