I wish I could've read this thirty years ago, because this is a perfect example of When A Book Means More Than One Thing. Neuromancer-the-casual-reading-experience was pretty good. It definitely captures the whizzing illusory life of drugs, hacking, and crime that has the characters bouncing from one cyberpunk metropolis to another. It's a mind trip, for sure. I don't love such abstract storytelling, but I can appreciate it, as I did here. 
 However, Neuromancer-the-influential-archetypal-cyberpunk-progenitor was amazing. As I read, I could see its influence in so many of the books and movies that I've loved throughout my life. I saw Snow Crash, I saw The Matrix (obviously), I saw Blade Runner, I saw Brazil ... hell, I even saw Sander Cohen from Bioshock. 
 Basically, this is a book that is impossible to separate from its context and legacy. Even if I disliked it, I'd still be glad I read it.