Pengo answers “Hiro Protagonist, really? Should I be...”

Sam asked this question about Snow Crash:

Hiro Protagonist, really? Should I be worried about the startling lack of imagination this displays?

Pengo It's more a sign that the author is really bad at naming things.

There are also creatures imaginatively named "rat things" (which I found grating from…moreIt's more a sign that the author is really bad at naming things.

There are also creatures imaginatively named "rat things" (which I found grating from the first time it was used). Not to mention "Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong". Yes, I get it. It's a joke. It's satire. Whatever. But no one would name a country that even if they owned it. Absurd humor can work, but it forces the reader out the story every mention. (Oddly I notice another reply gives this as a positive because they were so into the story that they need something to take them out of it). But personally I did not find the silly names particularly clever or charming.(less)

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Shannon I can't even begin to agree with you that people in a modern-day-like society wouldn't call ratlike things "rat things" and wouldn't name a country a ...more
Nov 26, 2019 12:44PM · flag

Blackbloc >> Not to mention "Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong". Yes, I get it. It's a joke. It's satire. Whatever. But no one would name a country that even if they ...more
Dec 20, 2019 12:02PM · flag

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