Customer Reviews

Idoru

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(47)
3 star:		(31)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

As I scanned the other reviews of this book, I found that I couldn't agree less with many of them... but did agree with parts. Don't know what that says about different peoples' perceptions of this book.
I'll start by saying I liked all of Gibson's previous work and I liked Idoru, too. I was a little stunned to read some people who seemed to find it went on too long, as the hardback edition I read is under 300 pages (large print, breaks between chapters.) The plot is admittedly simple: rock star plans to marry a virtual reality character. When do computers become alive? --- recurring theme for Gibson.
Rather than tell it from the POV of these two lovebirds, he alternates chapters between the book's two main characters. One, Chia, is a teen fan. One, Laney, has the the strange talent of... to put it in contemporary terms, he can separate the signal from the noise when websurfing. (That >would< be a useful skill!)
Things I liked? While the plot is straightforward, I preferred it to more overarching books that start out well and have things crumble by the end. There have been plenty of those. Second, I found the charactrers all well defined and appealing, especially Laney, a sort of everyman who ends up in the middle of a lot of weird stuff.
And of course, there's Gibson's writing, powerful and at times even hypnotic. Each chapter reads like a story unto itself, but they do all move towards a clear resolution. Even the title seemed like a subtle commentary on the story. ("Idoru" = "I adore you", perhaps?)
I give it a big thumbs-up.

There's no doubt that Gibson can flat-out write. His line-by-line writing is powerful, clear, and compelling. He knows when to start a scene, and when to drop it to move to another. His characters are interesting. And he draws powerful pictures of a dystopian future of corporate control of the world, people more interested in virtual reality than the increasingly-devastated world that surrounds them, and a deep alienation and sorrow. BUT, and this is a huge but, his plots always seem flat to me. This has been true of the other books of his I've read, and it's certainly true of this one. There never seems enough at stake for the main characters, emotionally, philosophically, or physically. His words suck me in, and his plots spit me back out. This one was okay, but nothing to write home about.

When an author writes a first novel as inventive and as startling as Neuromancer, everything that follows cannot possibly compete, no matter how good it is. So it is with Idoru. Gibson's speculative thriller follows two main characters: Colin Laney, a man whose brain has been altered by experimental drugs and who searches the internet for "nodal points" that explain reality at a level most people can't understand; and Chia Pet McKenzie, a Seattle teenager who belongs to a fan club chapter devoted to the rock group Lo/Rez. Laney is hired by Rez's security detail in Japan when the rock star announces that he will marry Rei Toei, a virtual reality pop idol. Rez's people are worried because they believe Rez must be under the influence of someone they haven't yet identified, and they need Laney to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, Chia also races to Japan, to see if the rumors of Rez's marriage to the non-woman are true. Subplots involving a vindictive former boss, nanotechnology, and Russian gangsters increase the stakes as both Laney and Chia find themselves skirting danger in both the real and the virtual worlds. The plot, while thin, is well-paced, and it has the trademark Gibson edginess.

Gibson writes well and convincingly, even with lyricism. He incorporates the specifics of his futuristic world with such confidence that the reader can suspend disbelief for the duration of the novel. The problem is, he has done it better before, and with greater detail, so fans are not likely to forgive him for a simpler world and story. Still, reading any Gibson book is a treat, especially compared with much of what's out there. His ability to incorporate near-future technology with an exciting story that fits perfectly inside this fabricated world is astounding even on this smaller scale.

I recommend this highly-readable novel for cyperpunk/sci-fi fans, as long as they don't expect this to be another Neuromancer. The lackluster ending is a disappointment, but the rest is vibrant enough to capture the imaginations of most readers.

I am a big fan of Gibson's Sprawl stuff, and have shyed away from Virtual Light and Idoru for a while. I finally have read Idoru, and after finishing it, I am amazed.

It would be easy to dimiss it as a book about a hologram and an aging rock star, but what Gibson is really talking about is what exactly it means to live in the information age. And think about it -- do you know what it means? Think about the parts of us that already exist, independent of us, from our physical selves -- your Equifax credit report, tax records ... and what is the next logical creature to take hold? A creature of pure information. Who is Rez? An aging rock star with good spin control. Who is the Idoru? A creature of pure information. Who is Laney? A medium between the physical and the digital. Who is Chia? A collector of information about Lo Rez. What binds them together? Information, and the convergence between the hard and real (the physical) and the symbolic and abstract (information). Gibson is addressing where the information age is taking us, the metamorphasis we are all going through. That is his genius.

Reading this story reminded me of the Japenese Anime film "Ghost in the Shell," where the vast information on the internet not only became cognitive but also desired to merge with the world of the real to create a new being. In Gibson's "Idoru" we meet Roe Toei, the idoru, an accumulation of information pertaining to what is desirable and attractive who marries Rez, a long-running Japanese pop icon. However, the idoru can only access the real world as a hologram; what could be produced from this strange union?

Briefly Gibson toys with the interesting subjects of artificial intelligence and biotechnology, but never really expands on it or comes to a conclusion. Maybe we just don't know enough about these or how they really work to even entertain fantastical ideas about what they would be like. Maybe it's something beyond human comprehension.

As for the writing style, Gibson again interchanges character perspectives each chapter, in this case we go through one chapter of Laney, the man with the gift of picking out important data from large amounts of information, and then switch over to Chia, a young teen who visits Japan to investigate Rez's marriage.

There are some moments where Gibson paints some wonderful imagery to open up a scene or discribe a person, which brought back memories of "Neuromancer," which is not so much great for its vivid creation of a future technological world, but also for its beatiful prose. These moments seemed few and far between in "Idoru."

"Idoru" explores the realm of information and false constructs and how they clash with the real world and its sombering realities. If there is some judgment, an opinion to be made about reality and virtual reality, Gibson is quiet about it. The old cliche is that technology steals our souls and makes us less "human", but in Gibson's tales we learn that technology, like a role-playing game, offers us a respite from the limitations of our bodies to play out our fantasies and indulge in our ideas of who we would want to be. The book is a great read and a must for any Gibson-phile, but it will leave you longing to learn more about where this love of information and constructs will lead us, what the next phase in evolution will be.

What happens when information accumulates and begins to think for itself? Can the real world and the worlds we have created in our computers coexist? What would happen if that line between real and ureal were broken?

Now, when I have finally finished the future I will certainly live in, it seems to me as one of the best book I've ever read. (The last of the best books being `Burning Chrome', which, in it's short-story-esque way, seems to tell the truth better and with stonger emotions than any novel could.) `Idoru' is deep, virtual/real, and it's firmly intertwined with my own ideas of our near-future.

I remember taking it up about six hours ago and reading the first page, and realizing that I'm back in the Realm of Gibson, in the realm of highly crafted sentences, in the realm of subtle references, in the realm of true feelings hidden between the black&white lines on the paper... I recognized almost instantly the branches that the sprouts of our modern technology had become. Recognized the things I will be able to do in the Net in the future that are currently merely suggested by the last reformations. Recognized the origins of idoru as a healthy motley of holograms, AI, and Ananova.com.

Gibson seems to dissect all aspects of our present-day pop culture in this book. He probes the artificial minds of tomorrow's computers to find evidences of humanity. He burrows deeply into various layers of stardom in search for the hustling power behind it, never underestimating the force of contemporary fan-base. He understands completely the multicultural society we're becoming. And he seems to place all the right details to where they belong, no matter how remote.

After reading `Idoru' it hit me that I had actually seen and felt it all in the Sony ad-mag I flipped through the other day, in the first big-credit anime `Ghost in the Shell', in the last Wired issue in my inbox... And I knew that reading the lines on the paper was more visual than `Matrix' ever would.

P.S. It still amazes me, though, how Gibson managed to overlook the doubel n in Tallinn in his constant drive towards accuracy.

It has been a long time since I have read any Science Fiction, much less any William Gibson. It was a genre that I had gradually dropped out of, due to a general shift in interest. So, it was with some trepidation that I approached "Idoru." I was happily surprised.

"Idoru" is not a great book, not a classic along the lines of "Neuromancer" or "Count Zero." But not every book needs to be a classic to be good, and "Idoru" kept my flipping pages long past my bedtime, a good sign for any novel. The characters are interesting, and the investigative nature of the story keeps the blood flowing. Mixing psychic powers and cyberspace was as imaginative blend of fantasy and future.

Gibson is a renowned futurist, and even though this book was written 10 years ago the world still seems to be marching in this direction. We have yet to achieve any significant form of nanotechnology, and the forecasted computer-generated celebrities haven't appeared, but nothing in "Idoru" is completely out of bounds. The use of the Kowloon Walled City as the inspiration for a cyberspace community was inspired.

I was very impressed with his portrayal of Japan and the Japanese characters. Having lived in Japan for several years, I must say he got it exactly right. I was prepared to flinch when they moved onto Tokyo, but it never happened.

The person who gave us the term "cyberspace" and a pioneer of cyberpunk fiction. William Gibson gives us :"Idoru"

Idoru is a Tale Of two People who don't know each other who end up entangled in the same plot.

Chia Pet Mackinze (Greatest name since Hiro Protaginist(Snow Crash)) is a 14 year old Fan club member for a Band called Lo/Rez "Volunteered" to investigate a rumor involving one of the bands's founders Rez she ends up over her head. Rez it turns out is supossed to marry Rei Toei Japan's biggest pop Idol(thing is Rei is a virtual Being and doesn't exist physically)

Colin Laney is an out of work Info Fisher (he can see Patterns in data and deduce a person's life merely from the info they interact with). When a job at a tabloid network gets him in hot water he somehow ends up working to protect REZ.

Chia and Colin find themselves in a complex plot to cover up something that ends up endangering them both.

The story is fairly simple to follow but still a satisfying read. With interesting characters and switching from Chia and Laney's point of view until they meet (sort of)
Since this is my first Gibson read I still look forward to his classics "Neuromancer and Virtual light and count zero and the rest" if you want to get started in cyber punk fiction it is a good begining and you haven't read "Snow Crash go for it.

I think that of the reviews I scanned I'm fairly odd in that this is my first Gibson. I've read all about Gibson's books, criticism, reviews, fanatic praise-- and I find it interesting that Idoru really stands up against the pressure of the expectations.

A rock star (Rez) who has been just slightly out of step with the modern culture falls in love with an avatar of the modern culture-- the virtual reality idoru star Rei Toei. In the persons of Chia and Colin Laney we see Rez's fans, handlers, and enemies descend on Tokyo-- determined to find out what's going on.

The book is all about virtual realities-- cities in the cracks of the computer systems, virtual stars who are becoming real, Kafka theme bars, and fans who meet in virtual clubhouses with constructed images. I said it was about the realities themselves, but really it seems to be about how the characters struggle and cope with the layers around them.

Very well-written. In places, I found some plot points to be a little distracting. I wished other areas were more fully developed. But Gibson works with a clear, straight-forward elegance and ultimately a kind of wonderful sweetness. Good read.

Having read three Gibson books before - Neuromancer and its two follow-ups - and having loved the first of these, quite liked the second and found myself bored and disappointed by the third, I borrowed this book from a friend with some apprehension. While it suffers from some of Gibson's problems - the predictable, almost mechanic structure of the plot into n subplots that have to be brought together somewhere in the last third - it is a fascinating thought experiment on our emotional connection to artificial constructs. The superstars in 'Idoru' exist mainly as pop video visuals, and their 'reality' is just as ephemeral as that of computer-created Idoru <can't remember her name, sorry...>. Perhaps even more, as the digi-girl might exist forever, while LoRez as physical human beings will die. The audience's hunger for constructed people they can project their emotions onto - it's already reality, in my opinion. People watch their idols on television, on movie screens; they don't care about the real person behind, because they are in love with their own made-up constructs, aided by the media. Why else did so many people mourn when Lady Di died? She was a media construct, and practically none of the mourners will have known her real persona - but that's beside the point. Perhaps we want to create our ideals, we want to believe in them, whether they're flesh and blood, computer-generated, or characters in a book. Their reality exists mainly in our minds.