Talk:Stephenson:Neal:Snow Crash:Review (206.116.174.7)
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Snow Crash review
Pros:
A katana wielding hacker takes on religious fundamentalism and delivers pizza.
Cons:
The book ended and I had to return to reality.
The Bottom Line
Best cyberpunk novel published. Snow Crash is a head on collision into a wall of science and mythology. Subtle and overt simultaneously. A worthy read.
Full Review
After reading this book, I couldnt think of anything cooler than a katana-wielding computer cowboy who spends equal time delivering pizza, hacking computers, and saving the world. And as such, I was drawn into this novel, and loved it. Really, the only problem I had was that it ended: abruptly and with little warning.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson is a frenetic read, a marvelous book written for the computer-savvy post-X generation: a book written for the myriads of Ritalin-dependent college age computer geeks, and then some, who find ultimate delight in the alternate realities of computer generated War Zoneswho spend endless hours blasting each other into infinitely recurring oblivion, only to respawn and reload, fight and die once again.
Snow Crash is such a novel. Snow Crash is a novel strung out on copious amounts of PCP and reading it hits you just as hard.
In a world run by multinational corporations, where citizenship is dependent not on nationality but rather which suburb you live in, a world enshrouded by a constant stream of digital information in the form of a complex three-dimensional multiverse, a lone computer hacker and an ultra-hip teenage skateboarder stand against the evils of an ancient religious virus capable of destroying the flow of digital information, mind controlling helpless third-world converts, and sending hackers and computer programmers into an eternal coma.
The main character, a sword swinging motorcycle loving hacker named Hiro Protagonist faces off against a vile media mogul bent on controlling the world via an ancient Sumerian computer virus. And yes, I do mean ancient computer virus, its not an anathema, believe me. Personally, I found Hiro Protagonist to be a long over-due realization of everything Ive ever wanted out of a single human-being. Hes an ultra-cool, radically careless, computer hacker with swords and a motorcycle. I mean, you cant really beat a sword wielding computer geek with a penchant for fast motorcycles and reckless driving. To hell with Vin Diesel or The Rock, who needs them when youve got Hiro Protagonist?
Snow Crash is essential reading for cyberpunk enthusiasts. Even so, I would say its essential reading regardless, though I would have some reservations calling it literature. Neal Stephenson is a very strong and creative mind, able to fuse esoteric thoughts and ideas into a cogent and respectable plot. A simple computer virus unfolds into a complex nuanced analysis of the human religious sentiment. Where did religion come from? Why do we have viruses be they organic or digital? How can ancient Sumerian mythology solve all the worlds problems, or worse, cause them? Stephenson brings together heaping portions of speculative physical science, cutting edge computer science, and Gnostic mythology, and does so with the force of a ragging bull upon an unsuspecting shelf of ancient Babylonian artifacts. The beauty lies within the subtle alchemy, Stephensons ability to turn a pure academic, yet fantastical, religious conspiracy into an readily accessible and plausible frenzy of sword fights, virtual reality motorcycle drive-bys, drug use and Mafioso style intrigue sets Snow Crash apart from majority of the stale and uninspiring genre contemporaries.
In Snow Crash Stephenson has penned an addictive science-fiction world, startlingly distinct and radically new, yet oddly familiar, he blends contemporary popular trends, mixing equal portions of our society with his own hyper-realized insanity. The end product is an overly addicting read, a clever breeding of intelligence and glamour, method and madness, science fact and mythical fiction.
I highly recommend this book. It is one of the greatest science-fiction novels I have ever read. Unfortunately, I did not know anything about this book until a few months ago when a professor of mine recommend it to me. I shouldve read this book a long time ago. Thankfully I got to it before the overt pessimism of old age set in. I still have time to work on my sword fighting skills, maybe, just maybe, I can be Hiro Protagonist when I grow up