Snow Crash in The Alternative Worlds

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

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

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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Jun 27, 2015 Meg rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: attr-misogynistic, 20th-century, literature-of-us-canada, attr-downhill, themes-broad, i-wish-i-could-delete, genre-sci-fi, i-struggled-to-finish, subgenre-cyberpunk

This book is really racist. I know most people will say that Stephenson was being satirical and what characters say doesn't equal what the author believes. OK, I get your point. But this book is still racist, because of its stereotypical and offensive descriptions of POC characters in the narration, not just because of the over-the-top "satirical" racial slurs in characters' dialogue.

Even without the casual racism in this book, Snow Crash is still not a good book. There are copious amounts of i ...more

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Sep 10, 2013 Simon rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, npr-top-100

I've never been much of a fan of the so called "cyber punk" sub genre of SF and this book, while it certainly had its moments, is not going to change that. This is also my first experience of the work of Neal Stephenson and I can't say that he's particularly impressed me but since he doesn't just write cyber punk novels, I shall certainly try something else.

I just found many of the things that happened pointlessly preposterous. They weren't needed to help advance the narrative or illuminate the ...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Rushi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, 2013

4 Stars

Snow Crash is the book that made Neal Stephenson a sci-fi superstar. I have read and enjoyed most of Neal Stephenson’s work and was looking forward to reading what is widely acknowledged as a Science Fiction classic.

You are transplanted to the not so far future, riding shotgun beside Hiro Protagonist - master hacker, concert promoter, freelance spy, and the greatest sword fighter in the world; currently employed as a pizza delivery driver. He is joined in the first chapter by Ms. YT (You 4 Stars

Snow Crash is the book that made Neal Stephenson a sci-fi superstar. I have read and enjoyed most of Neal Stephenson’s work and was looking forward to reading what is widely acknowledged as a Science Fiction classic.

You are transplanted to the not so far future, riding shotgun beside Hiro Protagonist - master hacker, concert promoter, freelance spy, and the greatest sword fighter in the world; currently employed as a pizza delivery driver. He is joined in the first chapter by Ms. YT (Yours Truly) - the precocious 15 year old skateboarder, escape artist and all around badass. We also find Raven, a giant Aleutian, with a vendetta against the United States, and a tactical nuclear device in the sidecar of his Harley Davidson. When a man has “Poor Impulse Control” tattooed across his forehead, you know that his appearance is not going to be good news.

In Snow Crash, the government has shrunk and the US is split into a number of corporation controlled “burbclaves”. Policing, infrastructure, intelligence gathering, and even religion have been outsourced to competing corporations. The world is lit by the ambient glow of advertising billboards, some of them advertising the Mafia’s guaranteed thirty minute pizza delivery. Yes, the Mafia is in the pizza delivery business (and is Hiro’s employer), and is run just like a corporation, with three ring binders filled with detailed descriptions on how each franchise should be run.

The dystopian near future USA is still a magnet for refugees from the third world. We find a huge flotilla called the Raft moving across the Pacific ocean and ready to disgorge hundreds of thousands of refugees onto the West coast. Against this backdrop, we find dead hackers and a mysterious virus that can jump from computer to human. After losing a friend, Hiro tries to get to the bottom of the mystery and with YT’s help, uncovers a nefarious plot by a powerful billionaire to take control of society. Hiro and YT encounter hackers speaking in tongues, Vietnam veterans with cybernetic enhancements, and adorable cyborg dogs.

Mr. Stephenson, however, also spends an inordinate amount of time talking about Sumerian and Hebrew myths, and trying to convince us that all of this has happened before. We get chapters which read like excerpts from an Encyclopedia or quoted verbatim from an academic paper. We know that Mr. Stephenson can write snappy, kinetic prose. So it is jarring to move from high speed skateboard chase sequences and fantastic sword fights to ten pages of description of the Sumerian political system and language. It is interesting, but feels out of place given the otherwise dynamic nature of the book.

Despite its flaws Snow Crash is a wonderful work of speculative fiction, and fully deserves its “Classic” status. It is engaging and thought provoking. The central premise of the book is that ideas are viruses and can be communicated. This is a clear allusion to advertising and how ubiquitous it is and the power it exerts. In a world that is dominated by corporations and capitalism, the corporation that has the most number of clients (voluntary or otherwise) is the most powerful. This is powerful stuff.

Like the best satire, it is a scathing critique of where our society was headed. I recommend it whole heartedly to any science fiction fan. It has all the meaty science, action and friendly cybernetic canines you could wish for.

April 2013. ...more

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Feb 12, 2014 John Montagne rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Had all the ingredients and triple the hype... yet I found this a serious chore to read for multiple reasons. Written in the present tense? Disconcerting and clumsy. Perhaps he was trying to make it more futuristic or something... but sometimes the core elements of fiction writing should be left alone or they greatly hinder the comprehension in my opinion (irony is that there are elements in the book that suggest communication between people without language - too bad the book couldn't do this). ...more

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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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