SNOW CRASH: roll call and initial impressions (*NO SPOILERS*)

[Candiss]

Please let us know if you're reading, planning to read, or have read Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

No spoilers in this topic please!

Nick will be leading this discussion. Thanks, Nick!

[Shel, Moderator]

I read it a few years ago, and remember that I liked it. Not much of the plot stuck with me, but I do remember the characters. How can you not love a character named Hiro Protagonist? :)

[Kevin]

I read the book back a half a year ago, and feel in love with the book, but the only problem I have with the book is the ending could have been better.

[Amanda]

Read this for the first time when I was in high school. Re-read it a year or so ago. I love this book.

[Helen]

I have the kindle sample and plan to get to it soon (famous last words!).

[Random]

I read this one a couple of years ago and really liked it. I'm going to try to re-listen to the audio book. I should hopefully have the time.

[Noelle]

Never read but picked it up at the library today!

[Oni]

I actually owned several Neal Stephenson books, but never read them until now. So this is my first Neal Stephenson book. Happy reading everyone! (Can I say bon appetit?)

[Linton]

read it about a year ago and loved it.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Like Oni, I own several books by Stephenson but have never read any yet. I hope to read this relatively soon, but will proabably not get to it this month. We'll see.

[Vail]

This is the book that started my love for Neil Stephenson's books, and the one I recomend to those of my friends who are not avid readers as a book worth making the effort to crack.

[Daniel]

@Mell: Exactly what I was going to say! It took me a bit to get over the bizarreness, but now I'm hooked.

[Kevin]

NMC wrote: "I consider this to be the best book of his I've read so far. It was a light, easy read, and fun."

I would have to agree!

[Laura]

I read this somewhere close to when it came out in paperback. Loved it. I'll probably do a re-read or at least a skim to keep up with discussion. And yes I think it's by far the best of his books. Parts of it are embedded in my memory (although I'm not sure any of that is the plot)

[Steve]

Read it once, and plan to read it again this month with the group. A classic and a favorite.

[Clark]

Read it several years ago and loved it. Finally got my wife to read it last month. Great characters, an amazingly full and believable very near future. Several images from this book are stuck in my head. Should be a fun read for the group.

[Filipp]

I'm planning on reading this during the second half of September.

[Stuart]

Read it and liked it a lot.

[Nikita]

I've read this a few years ago and enjoyed it. I think I remember most of it to participate in any discussion.

[Kirsten]

I've read his other books but hadn't made it to this one- looking forward to reading it. Mostly looking forward to just being able to discuss reading the book with others (not many people to discuss with in RL)

[Nick]

Glad to see so many folks with a positive outlook on a classic work of sci fi. Please feel free ot join in on the spoiler thread, even if you read the book many eons ago.

[Helen]

Daniel wrote: "@Mell: Exactly what I was going to say! It took me a bit to get over the bizarreness, but now I'm hooked."

I was coming on to say I started the sample but it was wierd and I didn't think I liked it. However, having read this, I'll read to the end of the sample and then re-valuate.

[Banner]

Just started the audio on my way to work this morning. It seems to have a humorous flavor. I wasn't expecting that.

[Jim]

I hadn't planned on participating in this read. But I found myself with a nice trade copy in my hand at Coalesce bookstore in Morro Bay a couple of days ago. So now I'm going to put aside The Girl Who Played with Fire for a short while. Instead of reading about Lisbeth the hacker, I'll read about Hiro the hacker. But I shan't ignore you for long, Lisbeth.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

I'm about 100 pages in and thoroughtly enjoying it so far.

[Byron 'Giggsy']

got a late start, I'm halfway through. Still trying to figure out who the hero/protaganist of this novel is.

I'm a huge Neuromancer fan, and was very curious how that would compare as a novel, and how it would rate with my own preferences. So far I love Snow Crash, it's a little behind Neuromancer, but I'm enjoying the similarities and differences and know I can love them both (always interesting when someone promotes one of the books and slams the other - its had me curious for a long time what this read would be like)

[Nick]

Byron 'Giggsy' wrote: "got a late start, I'm halfway through. Still trying to figure out who the hero/protaganist of this novel is.

I'm a huge Neuromancer fan, and was very curious how that would compare as a novel, an..."

Stephenson's cyberpunk-ness (which is why you would compare him to Gibson and Neuromancer, isn't it?) doesn't intrigue me as much as other qualities he has in his writing, his "puzzling" for instance. Perhaps The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer would make a better compariosn to Neuromancer as it's more straightforward cyberpunk? Still, Giggsy, you make an interesting point and I'm scratchin' my head.

[Jim]

I see the parallel also. I'm a few pages from the end and will then comment in the spoiler section.