A Few Thoughts on Pattern Recognition (potentially scattered, I apologize.)
One of the things that interested me most in Pattern Recognition was Gibson’s recycling of his protagonist’s name. I know that we talked about this a little bit in class, but it was definitely one of the things that stuck out to me most about the novel (shoot me, I’m not a Gibson fan!). Also, I know that Gibson claims that he didn’t do it on purpose. But, I mean, come on! There are millions of names in the world and he has enough imagination to come up with whole new science-fiction realms. I would think that he could at least think of a new name.
So I decided to look up who exactly the Cayce who the Cayce of Pattern Recognition was named for. Apparently, Edgar Cayce was a psychic from the early 20th century. In that way, Cayce seems like a perfectly appropriate name for the protagonist of Pattern Recognition. Obviously, her abilities are paranormal, although apparently coolhunter is not an expression invented by Gibson, but is actually a fairly common term for someone who is hired to predict trends (who knew?).
I find myself wondering whether or not the use of the name Cayce was actually a pattern intended by Gibson. Or is it simply a flash of apophenia? By using the name again, Gibson seems to be inviting his readers to draw a connection between the two protagonists. And their lives are, at times, disturbingly similar: two seemingly free-spirited professionals (one hacker, one coolhunter) are offered contracts. Action ensues.
However, the novels’ endings are different enough that I didn’t find myself immediately wanting to write Cayce’s story off as the feminine version of Neuromancer. (Obviously, there are tons of other differences—over-simplification for the point of a reading response.) The end of Neuromancer intentionally veers away from a fairy-tale ending: Molly leaves Case, eliminating any possibility of a future between the two of them. In contrast, the ending of Pattern Recognition seems to veer in the opposite direction: everything is worked out rather neatly, and Cayce finds romantic happiness and comes to terms with the disappearance of her father. The ending might be why I found myself not liking Pattern Recognition as much as Neuromancer.