Ting Ting Djahe and Neuromancer

Today I finished reading Neuromancer by William Gibson. It was recommended by @namiks who told me to read that book. Later I learned that book is part of Sprawl Trilogy , the first set of novel written by Gibson. I would say classic science-fiction was least read in my life. I even got C in that class for ignoring some details and never read the books assigned. Some of the choices were difficult to read and digest. I feel like whenever I read a science-fiction, I have to force myself liking the story.But there are some genres like cyberpunk and AI that often interest me more than ET, parallel universe, or space exploration.

_{Illustration via Unsplash}

The first few pages from reading Neureomancer was a breeze. I like how sophisticated the story was despite it was written in the 1984. So many cyberpunks that I see today might as well inspired from that novel especially the Cyborg. But what captures my attention the most is when Case, the main character was offered Ting Ting Djahe, a chewy ginger candy made in Indonesia.

Deane asked, offering Case a narrow bonbon wrapped in blue-and-white checked paper. 'Try one. Ting Ting Djahe, the very best.' Case refused the ginger, took . Neuromancer.

The candy itself originates from Pasuruan East-Java, Indonesia. It was a popular candy during that year and to 2000's. Though as of now, it is difficult to find that candy.

So, from Author-Works relation analysis, I was wondering how William Gibson came to know about that candy. In that story, that candy was offered by Julius Deane, who is a smuggler based in Chiba City. I still find no record showing that since among so many candies in this world, why is that specific candy? I suppose even my generation doesn't know that candy unless their parents telling them their favorite childhood candies.

To me, reading that story was quite a trip. The character like Wintermute and Neuromancer reminds me of a character named AIDA, a pyschopathic AI from the Shield series. Interestingly these AI posses complex quality that a normal reader would raise their eyebrow and say " what?". When I read the story, I try to imagine the physical form of Wintermute and Neuromancer. I think of them like a ghost robot or maybe some kind of computer that's able to govern themselves. These things are still beyond me and Gibson had written about these topic since the 1980's.

Neuromancer makes me want to read the rest of the trilogy to really understand the Sprawl city and the way that kind of city operates.Also after reading that book, I sort of wish there's a movie adaption based on Cyberpunk game.

Ting Ting Djahe and Neuromancer | Ecency