Kate & Amy - thanks so much for the loan of the book. I finished it the other night. Ok, I stayed up until after 1:30 reading (in bed, Keith’s arm getting pleasantly heavier and heavier on my back as he drifted off) because I just had to know how it ended, sleep be damned.

The book in question is Pattern Recognition, by William Gibson, of Neuromancer fame. I really enjoyed it, perhaps because it wove through many aspects of my life - marketing & graphic design, film, internet message boards, the oddness of Britain - it was all there. I thought some of the 9/11 references were a bit maudlin, but that’s a minor criticism. The rest of it was compelling enough to make me resent the boys intruding on my reading time.

Good romping story, with characters who are neither bad guys or good guys. Some philosophical issues raised about travel and perception and various other things - interesting, if vaguely sophomoric.

One of the things I’ve discovered while parenting is that so much of human existence is based on recognizing patterns and that childhood is a big exercise in learning and applying the patterns. Gibson’s riff on the subject - it appears in so many places in the story, from big plot arcs to tiny details - confirms my suspicion. Navigating through life is all about recognizing patterns and then using them to advantage. Using them to avoid a bad situation, to repeat a good one, and when used to the absolute best advantage, to prognosticate.

But the book itself is mostly just a pleasing mystery story, which I enjoyed very much. And thanks again for lending it to me - I’ve passed it over to Keith’s side of the bed, as long as you don’t mind.