Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Prologue: I am a professional (B. Sc. in Comp. Sci.) computer programmer, loved "The Matrix" (movie) and have read this book THREE times (once in the eighties soon after it came out while I was in university, once in the early 2000's and again this year [with my wife, also a comp. sci.]). I have never liked this book, despite sincere, repeated efforts to enjoy it and despite the enthusiasm of some of my friends for it. The first two times I read the book, suddenly I reached the end and really could not make sense of what happened, thinking to myself: "Is that it? What happened? Where's the plot?". (Now that there's Wikipedia, I read *that* summary so I know what to look for -- if a book requires the equivalent of "Cliff Notes" to be comprehensible, that cannot be a worthwhile book, IMHO.) To me, the book has always read like someone trying too hard to be cool, to impress and to sound scientifically and technologically savvy, but is really just a poser and a neophyte and is essentially ignorant (but can handle a dictionary and an encyclopedia to give appearances of knowledge). The language and sentences seem written to appeal to a teenage males (which I *was*, at the first reading!), but under close scrutiny frequently carry little content (but can *sound cool*) and less meaning. A more ruthless, and critical, editor would have helped. Previously, I would have rated Neuromancer just one star, but reading the Wikipedia summary and trudging through the author's inflated prose, I think a genuinely interesting and innovative plot lies buried. So I'll give it an additional star in recognition of that. Coda: Sorry to blast a book that so many rate highly and that has been showered with rewards and recognition, but there it is. (I also read Burning Chrome, Mona Lisa Overdrive *and* Count Zero, and have roughly the same opinion of them as well.)