Spooked

So after two months of trying I have officially given up on William Gibson's Spook Country.

I made it to page 165 or thereabouts but after falling asleep after three-page chapters several nights in a row I decided to end the affair.

I tried... and though I enjoyed the character of Hollis Henry, even a rock star turned journalist couldn't keep me reading.

Tito's espionage missions were boring and Milgrim's amphetamine addiction and obscure references to cryptography were lost on me.

According to the NY Times, Gibson is playing on the word “spook” throughout the novel:

...not just in the slang sense of a spy, but also in the more traditional sense of a ghost — of figures who pass through the world unnoticed and unrecognized, and who are about to find out how empowering anonymity can be.

Well, unnoticed and unrecognized just so happens to describes this book, too, I'm afraid.

Sorry Mr. Gibson, the futurist turned modernist turned newest member of the dusty bottom shelf of my bookshelf: I can't get behind that.

The Flying Troutmans... here I come.