Neuromancer

This one was recommended to me by a friend as "just another book". I read it all the way through as "just another book," got to the last page, thought "what the hell just happened?" and had to immediately start reading it again with a much more critical eye.

This book, according to Wikipedia, belongs to the cyberpunk genre. In my own words, it is half science fiction, half post-apocalyptic. If you read it as "just another book," and don't enjoy this style, you will find absolutely nothing to enjoy about the book.

However, this is not just another book. Neuromancer is a presentation of a philosophy. The author uses strong symbolism throughout, strong themes, weak but extremely focused characterization to present his ideas that caught me completely by surprise the first time I read it.

If you read it as just another book, it ends well enough. But as I managed to grasp the theme, it turned out to be a very sad book. Completely not what I expected.