Snow Crash / Unabridged

Rating:
Summary: First book I've finished in 4 years...
Review: I do a fair amount of reading, usually 2 or 3 books at a time. I have a problem though in that I _RARELY_ finish books that I start becuase I find most modern fiction thin and the characters too underdeveloped. Snow Crash was just great, however, and the comic-book style Hiro Protagonist was surprisingly well developed. Hiro carried the storyline, but all the supporting characters were so vividly "drawn together" that the whole story was just a hilarious ride.

Rating:
Summary: Good But Not Great
Review: This is not a funny book despite what some reviewers claim. It is amusing in places but I didn't find it actually funny. It is a good story, but not a great one. It _is_ let down by all the Sumerian myth stuff - pages and pages of boring infodumps on the subject. I don't care if they're accurate retellings or not, they slow down an otherwise well-paced story. They don't fit in very well with the rest of the plot and the rather tortured attempts the author makes to base the Snow Crash mind-and-computer virus on the ancient Sumerians and subsequent "mind hackers" is like President Bush's "ill fitting suit" in the debates - ugly and weak.

The two main characters, Hiro Protagonist and Y.T. are well done and engaging and Stephenson's description of the metaverse is very good also. Raven is initially a suitably evil villan but then later when Hiro starts communicating with him and suddenly pulls out the connection between their fathers (apparently from thin air) it all gets a bit ridiculous. And what did happen to Raven's H-bomb? We never find out, which I found rather slapdash. Maybe he just left it ashore for his mother to look after while messing about on the Raft?

However, despite the criticisms above there is still a lot of good writing in this novel and the story is engaging overall if a little longer than it should be (God knows Stephenson seems to have gotten worse in that department since!) It was the first Stephenson novel I'd read and I liked it enough that I'll probably read The Diamond Age, and depending on how that goes perhaps Cryptonomicon as well. I don't think I could face the absurdly overweight Baroque Cycle books though - I like SF not historical novels and I really don't expect to live long enough to finish them...

Rating:
Summary: Awkwardly Written
Review: The first 200 pp. are fascinating as they track the 2 main characters thru both Reality and the Metaverse, but once the topic of religion and Sumerian mythology are introduced, the book becomes tedious. Why? Because NS was unable to smoothly weave that part of the plot in with the rest of the text. One minute you have YT going on these crazy video-game-inspired missions then you have 20 pp. of HP talking to a virtual librarian about ancient Babylon, etc. (and he DOES get the whole mythology wrong-if you are interested read book One of Sitchin's Earth Chronicles.)
In other words, the book suffers from lack of flow. NS should have figured out an easier way to bring the religios themes into this cyber-virus storyline, it just doesn't work, and is written in a highly uninteresting style (the myth parts). I betcha if he were writing this story today he would have gone about it a whole lot differently. But, since it was his first book, he did a pretty good job - he could have used a better editor though to work out the problems.
The first 200 pp make the book worth it, just remember that after that, you have terrible prose alternating with sci/fi action story-telling - a weird, awkward mix.
The book is awkwardly written. Not the cyberpunk parts, that is surprisingly well-done, but the book as a whole, is a bit of a mess.

Rating:
Summary: Fast Very Very Fast!
Review:
This book is the best of the Stephenson novels. But be prepared, it introduces concepts characters and events at an incredible rate. This book is not for the faint of heart but what a ride it is. Pick it up and Hang on because if you can keep up you are in for the ride of your life.


Rating:
Summary: The first is the best
Review: This is Stephenson's first work, and it shows in all the right ways. There's a sense of exhilaration and freshness that doesn't come through in his other books. Moreover, he obviously had been thinking about some of his most memorable lines and thoughts for years and they all come out here. From a fragmente on comparative advantage on pages 5 and 6 so good that it's quoted approvingly in "The Economist" to a description of federal workers required to read a three-page memorandum on toilet paper, this book covers the gamut of the zany, the bizarre and the hilarious.

And when he gets down to the plot, he has a pretty solid foundation. So much writing in SF's "cyberpunk" phase was just existential angst and leftover hippie-ism. Writers dispensed with plots and concentrated on attitude, which will only get a reader so far. Snow Crash, on the other hand, had an important point to make about the origins, costs and benefits of human interconnectivity, and was able to present the point intelligently and interestingly, even making the pedantic parts (i.e., the Librarian) fun to read. I don't exactly agree with Stephenson's characterization of the origins of Judaic thought, which seems to be based on an ad hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy, but at least he's talking about interesting and thought-provoking things. I never learned more from any other source about Sumerian history.

My only reservation about the book is its glaring inaccuracy about "speaking in tongues" both in the biblical context and as a linguistic phenomenon. First, a careful review of the biblical verses relating to the Day of Pentecost reveals that the languages spoken were known languages understandable to those gathered: "And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" Acts 2:8. On the linguistic side, glossalia has been examined and it has been determined to be an artifact of a mind already developed by language. Examination of the choice of syllables and formation sounds and words of "speaking in tongues" used by the Pentecostals will reveal the native tongue of the speaker and even which part of the country he or she is from. See "Word Play" by Peter Farb. These facts vitiate Stephenson's principal argument.


Rating:
Summary: Snow Crash
Review: An interesting and possible future. The characters were interesting and I would like to meet many of them. It has been a long time since I read this book so my memories are not that clear. I remembered the author and try, when there are available, used paperbacks available, to read everything by Stephenson. Loved Cryptomonicon and look forward to reading the Baroque Trilogy.

Rating:
Summary: Freelance Pizza Delivering Samurai For Hire
Review: From one of the most bizarre concepts devised by humanity the pulse pounding opening to Snow Crash emerges. Meet Hiro Protagonist, the hero/protagonist. He has been trusted with a package of infinite importance. If it is not delivered within an ever shrinking frame of time Hiro's job, if not his life, will be at an end.

Is it a bomb? A peace treaty with a warring nation? What about some sort of magical ring? All good choices, but by an amazing turn of events, our mystery object is...

A pizza!

But not just a pizza, it's a cooling pizza (A dangerous thing indeed in the future). 30 minutes, that's their promise. You don't reach your destination in 30 minutes it's over for you. Why can they do that? It's because they're the mob of course!

From what you've gathered so far I'm sure you're scratching your head in confusion. Let me assure you that after the opener, pizza plays a very small part in this book (the mob however will play a bigger role). The story of Hiro is more of one of a slightly depressing life. He lives in a storage crate, and he's only paying for half of it. Having a job that puts his life at risk at a near constant rate doesn't help much either.

To escape his suicidal living conditions, Hiro spends a lot of his time in the Metaverse. This is a sort of virtual reality / internet game (this is the future after all). On said alternate universe Hiro is a rather skilled new age samurai. Sword fights and programming jargon are his tools, and he's never lost at the former (he shouldn't, he wrote the software).

Anyways the actual plot of the book depends on a certain aspect of the Metaverse, called a snow crash. Think of it as like a blue screen on a Windows OS, it's usually game over. Anyways a special kind of crash is going around, one that alarmingly hits the users in the real world as well. Coma and useless babbling are the only symptoms, and when it hits a close personal friend of Hiro it's vengeance time for the Samurai.

The rest of the book goes deeper into programming style plot, and takes a surprising turn into ancient culture and religion. I won't ruin it for you but lets just say the ending leaves you wanting more (not necessarily in a good way).

You will enjoy "Snow Crash" if:
- You enjoy a Science Fiction now and then
- You don't mind the occasion long winded explanation

You may want to pass on "Snow Crash" if:
- Computers never interested you
- You don't have the maturity to take a bit of swearing and adult situations.

Rating:
Summary: What so many people seem to think The Da Vinci Code is
Review: So I went from reading _The Da Vinci Code_ on the (regrettable) advice of a friend to reading _Snow Crash_ based on a throwaway line in a newspaper editorial. Despite all the obvious differences in the books, I was struck by one huge underlying similarity: the use of ancient legend to try to make sense of the modern world generally, and religion specifically. The difference is that where TDVC comes off as a screed against religion duct-taped on top of a bunch of chase scenes, _Snow Crash_ actually works as a novel all by itself, with a semi-coherent philosophy giving it enough impact to be memorable.

Of course, it's not a perfect book. I almost gave it 4 stars rather than 5, since there are a few plot holes here and there and a bit too much exposition, but when looking at the book as a whole, those are actually minor issues. Despite its futuristic feel, Stephenson understands the great rule of old-school performers--throw enough good stuff at the audience quickly enough, and it won't matter if some of it doesn't work perfectly.

And, finally, a hint for reading the book, since there's so much detail in it: Don't get hung up on all the Sumerian stuff--you can always page back to it if you need details.

Rating:
Summary: nice start, pity about the missing chapters
Review: First, on the rating, I think the book deserves a 3, but its ratings are inflated, and it's close to a 2 for me.

There are some things here that might be considered minor spoilers, but they are necessary to include to discuss the (severe) flaws in the book.

What is good:
The idea of a neurolinguistic virus (not just the old idea of a virulent meme, but something that can destroy or hijack a mind), connected to a physical virus and religion is unique, and handled pretty well, given it would sound like the conspiracy theories of a paranoid schitzophrenic normally.
The author has clearly done a /lot/ of research into a lot of different areas, and manages to weave them into a surprisingly coherant whole.

What might not be so good:
This is

Rating:
Summary: Not just another chase scene
Review: I read this book a number of years ago, and I've been a Stephenson fan ever since. It's got the best opening chapter in the history of the English language novel, and the rest of the book isn't bad either.