Books I Loathed discussion
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Snow Crash
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Bronwyn
(last edited Aug 25, 2016 12:51PM)
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Sep 30, 2007 06:57PM
I hated this book. I thought it was impressive that Stephenson predicted what the internet would become. Otherwise, it was poorly written and I could have cared less about what happened to the characters. I wanted to stop reading as soon I was done the first chapter. Absolutely atrocious.
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really? i adored about the first half of it. being that i was a saucy young lass who skateboarded when i read it, i LOVED the main character who couriered on a hoverboard. at least, i did at first. a few chapters in, however, i began to get bored, and started skipping around to more hoverboarding parts. That being said, i know i finished it but i can't remember how it ended. i think that speaks to how convoluted and boring it ended up being.
Don't worry you didn't miss anything!
I read this when I was about fifteen and found it impossible to follow.
I read Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, and it's one of my all-time favorite books. However, I've tried to read other books by him -- I own the three-part Baroque Cycle in hardcover, and I bought them expecting I would plow through 'em the same way I did Crypto. Not so. I tried the Diamond Age a few years ago, no dice.
I loved Snow Crash for its semiserious tone and its plausible depiction of an American society fragmented into tiny communities surrounded by very high walls. I loved that the main character was a pizza delivery guy. I loved the dentata. The ending was downright silly, but it's a silly book. I'm surprised that there's a segment of people who don't like it.Steve-O, I'm right with you on the baroque trilogy, though. It's the only series of books I've ever read where I've gotten halfway through the last book in the series and then decided I didn't care enough to finish it. I have a couple friends who adore it and apparently managed to keep track of all the characters and their soap opera of shifting alliances and mutual finance, but I thought it was bloated, unfunny, and contained exactly one character compelling enough to warrant an entire book. And L'Emmerdeur is relegated to inconsequence for hundreds of pages at a time while the author's attention returns to the excruciatingly boring scenes of 17th century W. European political infighting. Maybe I'm not smart enough, but Stephenson completely forgot to make some of the connections and implications of all the economics and science clear for his readers, let alone weave it into his story enough to make this reader care. What a flop.
Glad to know I'm not the only one who didn't enjoy the Baroque trilogy. Cryptonomicon is probably my favorite novel, so I expected to devour the Baroque series. I think I made it about 100 or so pages into Quicksilver and I gave up. I tried diving into The Confusion and again, no dice. Maybe I'll try again in a few years.Anyone read his essay, "In the Beginning Was the Command Line"? It's excellent.
Byan, I could not agree with you more. I loved Cryptonomicon like my own child, and I actually loved Snow Crash, too. But I got about 100 pages into Quicksilver and couldn't force my way any further. Ugh.
how about booby trapped vaginas and radioactive kayaks? those aren't superfluous or useless. oh...right...seriously, though, I thought Snow Crash was great. Perhaps not his best, but quite imaginative and I would argue well written for what it was (i'm sorry Bronwyn, but looking at your rating for Harry Potter in comparison, i just can't take you seriously. SC trumps HP in writing and imagination).
good suggestion regarding Zodiac, Natalie.
Stephenson is a strange writer. There's Cryptonomicon (a masterpiece) and then there's his other shorter novels which are sorta cyberpunk/sci-fi, but they've got this grandiose almost Hollywood adventure feel to their plots and climaxes. I find that extremely fun (and I'm surprised they haven't made any into movies yet). Then I guess he thought people would like more heavy reading and did the Baroque cycle. highly disappointing. he should stick with the computers or the outrageous cyber-future adventures.
A number of his early books all had a weird climax-that-wasn't: an event that almost happened but didn't, or was stymied, or lacked much emotional or plot significance. It never felt like disaster diverted, but like running out of steam. Cryptonomicon tried something different, but ellided over some troubling questions about the effects of liquid metal, the presumed destruction of priceless art, etc. Then he switched to interminable with no plots. I'm willing to suspend a lot of disbelief, but the completely unsupported "oh, Jack somehow beat syphillis" (or whatever; I'm not going to look it up) annoyed me; it was about as skillful as Homer Simpson's fix for the scene where Greystash the Wizard died (Lisa character: "I somehow escaped from the hourglass!").
