Nick's review
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Nick's review
rating:



recommended for: People who like details and I don't mean the magazine.
status: Read in September, 2008, read count: 1
rating:
recommended for: People who like details and I don't mean the magazine.
status: Read in September, 2008, read count: 1
** spoiler alert **
I've decided to review this book as I read it. Sort of like live-blogging but not as pretentious or douchey sounding.
First and I guess foremost you have to understand that I read slowly. Like if people knew how slowly I read they would be like "that guy's retarded, and I don't mean in the offensive way that my friends are retarded." So I've been reading it for a week now and I'm not quite a hundred pages in and this is what I've learned so far.
The main character's name is Hiro Protagonist, which is either inexcusably lazy or unimaginably genius. He's a shiftless lay-about with no steady work despite being pretty damn smart. The feeling I get is that he doesn't like working for The Man. All of that changes when he enters The Matrix. Except it's called The Metaverse in this book, but it's the same thing. A digital world where people appear as they want rather than as they are. Hiro's avatar wears a black leather kimono and samurai swords.
His friends thus fa...more
First and I guess foremost you have to understand that I read slowly. Like if people knew how slowly I read they would be like "that guy's retarded, and I don't mean in the offensive way that my friends are retarded." So I've been reading it for a week now and I'm not quite a hundred pages in and this is what I've learned so far.
The main character's name is Hiro Protagonist, which is either inexcusably lazy or unimaginably genius. He's a shiftless lay-about with no steady work despite being pretty damn smart. The feeling I get is that he doesn't like working for The Man. All of that changes when he enters The Matrix. Except it's called The Metaverse in this book, but it's the same thing. A digital world where people appear as they want rather than as they are. Hiro's avatar wears a black leather kimono and samurai swords.
His friends thus fa...more
wow, this book sounds like a combination of confederacy of dunces, Venus, Inc and another book I read but for the life of me I can't remember the name of. I'll have to check back for your finished review!
I don't know how you could make it through my insane ramblings, to say nothing of the fact that I used the word 'instead' twice in one parenthetical statement. English teachers everywhere are weeping.
well, since I'm not an English teacher, I'll forgo the gnashing of teeth over any grammatical problems! And one has to always check out the booklist of a person who's avatar is a dog with a watermelon helmet...
It's an historical fact that animals wearing melon helmets are, at minimum, 50% more awesome than people wearing melon helmets.
Don't I know it! There was a point in the 80's where I tried wearing a melon helmet to make me look cooler, but I got tired of washing the juice out of my hair, and there was also the fruit fly problem. I'm not even going to mention the seed issue....
What does 'historical fact' mean? How is one different than a regular fact?Not that I'm contesting your numbers on trans-species melon hat usage.
And better than some. The schlock publishing company I work for once put out a book with 'Smart Facts' in the title. A little part of me died and then rolled in its grave after hearing of that. It's like working for the stupid factory.
It's pretty funny, I ordered a book online at half.com, and instead of the book that I ordered, Snow Crash came in the mail! I was very puzzled for a moment, and then thought it was a funny coincidence that I had been reading your review and deciding that this would be the book I bought next, and it just came to me! It must be fated, I must read this book! haha...
Actually, I work at the Half.com fulfillment center and I just switched out any orders that came in for anyone named Kristin with an I.Seriously though, that's quite the bit of synchronicity you got going on there.
go getcha a copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It'll clear up some of that Sumerian stuff. I think the point is to make you realize that there have always been "hackers", that is, people somewhere between the art and the science. If I had another copy, I'd catch up to where you are and we could have a little online book club. Maybe that's what I'll do tonight.
