Snow Crash in The Alternative Worlds

May 27, 2010 Jackie "the Librarian" rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, sciencefiction, adultfiction

Here's what I think: This is not just a book about computers, although the shiny veneer of the Metaverse, and computer avatars, and Hiro Protagonist's (yes, that’s the name of the protagonist in the story) career as a hacker might make you think it is. But there’s a lot more going on here, beneath that flashy action-adventure SF stuff. This is a complicated, messy book, and not that easy to follow. But, it's fascinating and I WANTED to understand everything, so as soon as I got to the last page, Here's what I think: This is not just a book about computers, although the shiny veneer of the Metaverse, and computer avatars, and Hiro Protagonist's (yes, that’s the name of the protagonist in the story) career as a hacker might make you think it is. But there’s a lot more going on here, beneath that flashy action-adventure SF stuff. This is a complicated, messy book, and not that easy to follow. But, it's fascinating and I WANTED to understand everything, so as soon as I got to the last page, I was tempted to turn back to chapter one and start over.

And wow, is it flashy, with its future world as neon-lit and noisy as a Las Vegas casino. On one level, this is a story about a hacker and a 15-year-old futuristic-skateboard-riding courier girl who team up to save the world from a religious cult on one hand, and a mutant motorcyclist Aleutian who has a nuclear bomb and a grudge on the other. It’s all very hip and edgy, with sword fights, commercialism run amok, and an interesting look at virtual reality as imagined by the author twenty years ago. I was on sensory overload trying to process everything.

But on another level, this is a book about language, and brain structure, and viruses, and religion. AND computers! And what the heck, mix in some Sumerian mythology, too. :)

What if you didn't have to learn language, what if we all were born able to communicate with each other? And what if that kept us from developing and progressing as a species? And what if the development of all the myriad of languages humans now speak happened because of a virus?

What if language ITSELF, and the concepts spread through the use of language, are viruses? And what if there were religious cults, worshippers of an ancient Sumerian deity, whose purpose was to spread those viruses?

Put all those levels together, and you’ve got Snow Crash. No, I didn't give it five stars, because it was all just a little too much. For me, of course. And there's no character development. And it's messy. But still, wow.

For fellow SF literature nerds out there, I suggest a compare and contrast with Samuel Delaney’s Babel-17, another SF classic that explores the impact of language on human behavior. ...more

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Mar 06, 2012 mark monday rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: rain-man-reviews, scifi-modern, i-gave-up

derisively laugh to me for opportunities of full and cringe-worthy and tedious equally be to found i which, Against A Dark Background beloved the disliked who jackass of kind the am i that mind in keep also should you, seriously review this take you before but. FAIL. hipness insouciant of display a with audience its dazzle to designed lie a - lie brazen some of middle the in worship i someone catching like was it, one this with was i disappointed how express can't words. nowhere go but brilliant ...more

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May 05, 2008 Sandi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2008, sci-fi, california-lit

I read “Snow Crash” when it first came out in paperback nearly 15 years ago. Then, I had a really hard time getting through it. But, I kept thinking about different concepts in it over and over again. I never forgot the bimbo boxes—slang for minivans driven by suburban housewives. Talk about a book telling the future!

Upon re-reading the book, I now understand why it was so difficult. First, there’s that tricky slang problem. Stephenson invented a lot of slang for the book and that made reading ...more

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Dec 23, 2010 Kevin Xu rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

This one of the best book I have ever read. This is how Gibson should have wrote Neuromancer. The book grabbed me from the start, until almost at the ending, which I think is a little weak. ...more

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Apr 06, 2009 Kara Babcock rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, 2009-read, from-library

I entered the Metaverse ignorant of the fact that Snow Crash was first published in 1992 (i.e., pre-Internet). Hence, it took some time for the book to endear itself to me, because my reaction to the Metaverse, a virtual reality, was filtered through my experiences with the Internet. As such, I first found Neal Stephenson's depiction of virtual reality as camp, reminding me much of Net Force and its ilk. In other words, Snow Crash presents a dated version of cyberpunk. I had to compensate for my ...more

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Mar 03, 2010 Nicky rated it liked it

Shelves: speculative-fiction, dystopia, cyberpunk

For something written in 1992, this book has proved prophetic in some ways, which was interesting reading it from here in 2010. It reminds me of something Cory Doctorow (I think) said about predicting the present -- taking what's already in the present, extrapolating just a little, and then seeming prophetic when what you picked up on becomes big and relevant to everyone.

I enjoyed Snow Crash partly because I liked seeing how Neal Stephenson thought things were going to go. I did like his main ch ...more

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Jun 27, 2007 Wealhtheow rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: cyberpunk

A fast and furious adventure in a cyberpunk world that ends abruptly and awkwardly. Worth reading just for the first chapter.

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Oct 01, 2010 Hirondelle (not getting notifications) rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf

well, I still have not read this one. After the 4 latest Neal Stephenson´s bricks in a few months, let me go crazy and tackle this one as well. it will be good for my completist instincts ( not counting collaboration books and books the author is ashamed of, for it).

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Feb 28, 2012 Eric rated it liked it · review of another edition

Between 3 and 3 1/2 on this one, but leaning towards 3. Enjoyed the story. Had some great ideas, but the ending felt very abrupt. Good read, but not something I would revisit.

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