Rating: 
Summary: It was very good, and I don't usually read sci-fi.
Review: Neal Stephenson has written five books. The book that made his place in the literary world was Snow Crash. This book is based on Stephenson's idea of our future and how it is linked to our past. The United States' economy has crashed and little city states pop up all over the United States. These city states are formed by ethnic or cultural distinctions. They all meet in a place called the Metaverse. They always believed that the Metaverse is safe if you have enough "medicine" for your computer. Because of this belief they people do not believe that they can be hurt in any way, this is were the Snow Crash virus is most virulent. The virus only effects computer programmers because they naturally understand the binary code, they brain is 'programmed' to understand it. They are then feed directly to the brain an overload of the binary code which shuts down the higher reasoning sections of the brain and allows the ancient memories to surface. This ancient language is based on the Semitic language of ancient Sumeria. He traces the 'linguistic virus' through out history from the fall of the Tower of Babel to his futuristic virus. The only thing about this book that I did not like was the way it would jump around and add people that never really seemed necessary for the story. I do not usually read science fiction books, so I do not know if this is the usual way they are written. I still really enjoyed the book. I found the sections on the religion and mythology very fascinating. It made me question some of the religious beliefs that I took for granted, as well as, questioning our future. I think I am questioning the future in the same manner my parents did when they read George Orwell's 1984. The whole idea of Big Brother and being watched in comparison to being part of Little China or Little Sicily. I think that this could happen, look at all the hate between ethnic backgrounds here in the United States. Someone once said the United States is like a Melting Pot of cultures, others have said that is a Salad Bowl. I have always believed the Salad Bowl theory.
Rating: 
Summary: An all too realistic fantasy. Definately a page-turner.
Review: Pizza delivery. Cyberpunk. Mythology. Sword fighting. If any of these words catch your eye, this could be your new favorite book. Hiro Protagonist is a jack-of-all-trades in an America where the only things we are still better at than any other nation are movies, music, microcode, and pizza delivery. Not only that, he can swash buckle with the best of them. Snow Crash is a combination of two very dangerous ssubstances in the modern world. It is a drug and a computer virus. The effect of which is alienation from society due to an inability to communicate with others. It is up to Hiro and his compadres to prevent this post-modern experience of the Tower of Babel. Working out of a former U-Stor-It compartment, he teams up with several intersting characters. The most notable ones include Vitaly Chernobyl - punk rocker extraordinaire. He also occupies the storage compartement. Hiro is his concert manager. Juanita, ex-girlfriend and co-worker, is an extremely intelligent hacker, and also a very perceptive individual. Y. T., professional Kourier, is an adolescent skate punk who has a knack for getting herself, and others, into and out of sticky situations. Snow Crash is an exciting, fast-paced adventure into the future. The further into the adventure one travels, the nearer this future seems. Stephenson's organization seems to be awkward and confusing at first. At times it seems like the reader is getting random access to Hiro Protagonist's brain. However, nothing could better express the ever-increasing state of chaos that accompanies the rapid progression of information technologies. Stephenson may have chosen more original content for his work, but what makes this book so interesting is the reality of it. Snow Crash is a real eye-opener. Much of what I originally found humorous about Stephenson's presentation of society really hits home after pondering it for a while. His fictional society is materialistic, disconnected, and segregated by many factors. Hopefully, we can learn from this book and encourage society to make a turn for the better.
Rating: 
Summary: Quick-paced and exciting
Review: This cyberpunk journey is quick-paced and exciting. Filled with mafia pizza owners, hackers, and swordfighters, this novel defies science fiction. Hiro Protagonist is the ultimate character in this adventure of the future. Not only is he a hacker, accomplished swordsman, but a delivery man for a pizza company controlled by the mafia. From the very beginning, this book takes off and engulfs the reader. Neal Stephenson made me laugh several times with little side comments-"Bimbo Box" which is a caravan, and that Hiro finds the lens of the camera erotic. The book was very interesting and I definitely recommend it to others.
Rating:
Summary: This story is too unbelievable.
Review: Stephenson's science fiction plot is set in the future. The action takes place in two different worlds. He describes an Internet community called the Metaverse. The alternative is Reality. He combines Summerian legend, the Metaverse, and Reality into one high energy universe. The story is told by Hiro Protagonist and Y.T. In this universe, information is power. Seeking information is dangerous because L. Bob Rife is the traditional villain. The story revolves around his evil plot. He is trying to control the minds of the population by infecting them with Snow Crash. All of the characters are susceptible to Snow Crash. Hackers are infected by a computer virus. Others are infected by a drug. Hiro and Y.T. team up to destroy Rife's plans. During their mission, they meet others who are interested in uncovering the plot. Their search takes them to The Raft, which is a city on water. Many of the people there have been infected by Snow Crash. This is the place to be if one's mind is controlled by Rife. Stephenson also creates a Metaverse librarian. The librarian provides information for Hiro. He (the librarian) has been programmed to communicate with users via speech. He is like a real person, but he exists only in the Metaverse. The librarian is an essential character because he directs Hiro and the others to Rife's city. Near the end, the universe is in a state of chaos. The action is incredible. Stephenson brings in all types of weapons: atomic boms, swords, guns, and glass knives. Anyone who gets in the way of an armed person is killed. This story is too unbelievalbe. It is supposed to be set in the future, but Hiro is carrying swords. Swords are too out-dated for a futuristic setting. Y.T. rides a skateboard on the highway. This is not likely to happen. Death in the Metaverse is just like death in Reality. After death, an avatar cannot appear again in the Metaverse. It just doesn't make any sense. The Metaverse is not a real place. Nothing physically happens to the user. The Metaverse is like a video game, but Stephenson treats it as a real world. Stephenson build up the story to an exciting climax. He gives wonderfully detailed descriptions of what is happening. After all of the anticipation, the ending is a huge let down.
Rating:
Summary: Overrated and stereotypes women.
Review: Snowcrash began exactly like the iconic cyberpunk novel of the nineties it's been hyped up as - funny, sharp, exciting and intelligent. It's a pity that this only lasts for about a third of the way through. The main problems with Snowcrash have been already outlined by many reviewers, such as the thin plot, the one dimensional characters and the 'lecturing' tone that becomes more and more intrusive as the novel progresses. I agree with these criticisms, but there is one more point I think most people have neglected, which is the portrayal of women. (By the way, I'm a teenage post-feminist, so don't think I have some kind of sexual revolution bias here.) The only female character, insofar as there are characters in Snowcrash, is Y.T.; and what kind of character is she? A fifteen year old who's a WASP by day, kick-ass skater chick by night, and one hundred percent hormonal nymphet. (Let's face it, almost every lead female in any cyberpunk novel is Gibson's Molly - with or without the metaphorical claws. In this case, without.) And this is the _only_ female character of any significance. Juanita and Y.T.'s mother remain faceless plot devices. Women are shown only as peripherals to powerful men. The most striking scene, and the one that really annoyed me, was the Metaverse meeting between Hiro, Ng, Enzo and Mr Lee. Four extremely powerful men, three accompanied by attractive female secretaries/masseurs. Oh, I see - the men get to control the future of the world, and the women get to hold their hands and make coffee. Sounds thrilling.
Rating:
Summary: A Trip to the Future.
Review: "The science fiction novel written by Neal Stephenson takes the reader to a place never seen or heard of before. The place is the Metaverse, the time is the future, where technology is the main source of everything, and the human mind is the key to all being. You are thrown into a crazy world where you begin to imagine things you never did before. Once you are able to place yourself into the future society of our world, the story begins to flow".
Rating:
Summary: WOW
Review: From the moment the reader picks up Snow Crash, this cyberpunk thriller shoots them along at a blinding pace through a futuristic America, where the U.S. government has been privatized, businesses are run like small nations, and highly armored suburbs occur for the residents' protection. In addition a parallel world, the Metaverse-a virtual reality universe-is the hang out for teenagers, hackers, 3-D commercials, and a dangerous new drug called Snow Crash. This "new" designer drug is the result of a discovery by L. Bob Rife of an ancient virus that plagued ancient Sumeria causing its people to speak Babel. The re-engineered version of this virus affects both computer and person the same-a system crash, be it the hard drive or brain. It spreads through the Metaverse like a contagious disease affecting any computer it comes in contact with. Hackers are the only people who are affected by this virus through a computer, due to their ingrained understanding of the binary code. The virus flashes a bitmap displaying all of the 1's and 0's involved in the code, which in turn infects the hacker with the virus. Other people may become infected via normal modes of viral transmission, such as bodily fluids. Add into this scenario one Hiro Protagonist, world's greatest swordsman, hacker, information collector for the defunct CIA, and pizza delivery man for the Mafia. When his best friend, Da5id, suffers a near fatal Snow Crash from an accidental, yet arrogant exposure to this drug that sends him into a coma, and his ex-girlfriend runs off in search of answers to the source of its cause, Hiro has no choice but to get involved. In the process, he joins up with Y.T., courier and personal pal to Uncle Alanzo, head of the Mafia, who aids him in his quest to stop the Snow Crash. Before he is through, Hiro must solve the riddle of the Snow Crash and battle a hulking Aleutian Islander named Raven in the Metaverse to prevent the world from ultimate domination by L. Bob Rife saving untold numbers of hackers from the same fate as Da5id. The theory of the development of viruses in general and the Snow Crash virus is just wild. It is so outlandish that it is almost conceivable. Having both a background in biology and one in computers, I found this aspect to the plot to be most fascinating. The idea someone actually writing a virus for the purpose of infecting other humans just by mere vocal incantations as a protection from other viruses really makes one think. When one examines the situation from a biological and computer-oriented perspective, the similarities between the two can be astonishing. Could our bodies just be an organic "computer" running on a quaternary system rather than a binary one? If so, then if you can write a virus for a computer, why not for a living creature? It just kind of makes you think... Snow Crash is a real page-turner, keeping the reader involved and on the edge right up to the end. I couldn't put the book down. It is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting look at the future of technology.
Review: Neal Stephenson's book "Snow Crash" is a look into the future importance of the internet. The world has become a place where there is no laws and no ruling body. Most services have become completely monopolized by a few individuals that own massive corporations. The Metaverse is like a whole city created in the virtual world. You log into it using your computer and a set of goggles as in virtual reality. You have a whole person called an avatar that can look identical to yourself. It is almost like living in two different worlds at the same time. Stephenson tries to make the connection of this Snow Crash virus with the events in Summerian history and the speaking in tongues as a universal language. I think that this idea may be a lttle far fetched. I think these things are two completely different things and he is relating them by very few similarities. The metavers in "Snow Crash" is not completely off the wall. With the unbelievable advances in technology this may be a possibility. Although I do not think people will be walking around with their computers strappped to their sides goggled into the metaverse almost constantly as is portrayed. People are spending more and more time on their computers on the internet, so this could be another aspect of it in the future. It may be an advancement of chat rooms.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting look at the future of technology.
Review: Neal Stephenson's book "Snow Crash" is a look into the future importance of the internet. The world has become a place where there are no laws and no ruling body. Most services have become completely monopolized by a few individuals that own massive corporations. The Metaverse is like a whole city created in the virtual world. You log into it using your computer and a set of goggles as in virtual reality. You have a whole person called an avatar that can look identical to yourself. It is almost like living in two different worlds at the same time. Stephenson tries to make the connection of this Snow Crash virus with the events in Summerian history and the speaking in tongues as a universal language. I think that this idea may be a little far fetched. I think these things are two completely different things and he is relating them by very few similarities. The metaverse in "Snow Crash" is not completely off the wall. With the unvelievable advances in technology this may be a possibility. Although I do not think people will be walking around with their computers strapped to their sides goggled into the metaverse almost constantly as is portrayed. People are spending more and more time on their computers on the internet, so this could be another aspect of it in the future. It may be an advancement of chat rooms. My opinion is that this is overall a very interesting book. The story line is not too hard to follow and it moves along pretty quickly.
Rating:
Summary: Snow Crash is a unique look at virtual reality's future.
Review: Stephenson takes you on a journey with Hiro Protagonist, a pizza delivery man and a self acclaimed swordsman who joins forces with Y. T., a 15 year old female Kourier. They take force together with the Mafia to try to stop a virus called snow crash that could ruin the real and virtual world. L. Bob Rife and Raven are those who threaten to destroy real and virtual life as it is known. Snow crash has been exposed to many people and they take a following to Rife and stay on his Raft. Raven is a raging lunatic with no remorse for murdering an individual with his choice weapon glass and he carries a nuclear bomb at all times, which threatens to destroy the world. Stephenson takes you in and out of reality and virtual reality. In virtual reality avatars are used and they can look like just like you. In this virtual reality you can carry weapon, which can kill an avatar. Hiro has an avatar, which is a librarian. This avatar brings in Sumerian mythology to relate it to the virus, snow crash. Here it is learned that there is a connection of the past, Sumerian mythology and speaking in tongue, to snow crash and all the people who were exposed to it and speaking gibberish. It seems that some possibilities that Stephenson brings out for the future are some what far fetched and unrealistic. Sumerian mythology being connected to a virus seemed very hard to believe. It seemed Stephenson tried to hard to make a connection. These seemed to be the flaws of the book, but there was much more that made the book good. It takes you into a dark and dangerous world of the future that combines the real and virtual world into one world, where both can be destroyed by a virus. Stephenson leaves you wondering at the end of this riveting novel if the world will ever turn out with you being able to live in a virtual world the same way you live in the real world, the dangers of no government, and having a technology that could create a virus that would destroy real and virtual life as it is known.
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