March Book of the Month: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

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Himeo

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One of Time magazine's 100 all-time best English-language novels.

In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo?s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he?s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that?s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous?you?ll recognize it immediately.

Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison?a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age.

From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, Snow Crash interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, Snow Crash is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible.

Posting schedule:

Book thread posted 1st of the month.
Reading begins 8th of the month.
Spoilers lifted 22nd of the month and next month's poll opens.

No posts from 1st-7th about the book or plot, can only post that you're participating.


 

chaos

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I have, but I am a really slow reader so I am sure you guys will pass me up. I'm about 16% in so far.

I really like this book. It is a fun book to read, so far.
 

Void

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Have not started yet, trying valiantly to finish The Daylight War so I never have to touch it again.
 

Grimmlokk

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Finished Daylight War and am about 90 pages in to Snow Crash. Have to say it's not doing much for me so far. Way too much time explaining the setting and world details and no actual story. I like the setting, but shit needs to start happening. Maybe I'm just impatient.
 

Grimmlokk

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Yeah shit started happening almost immediately after that=)

The way it jumps around is pretty jarring, really doesn't flow at all. Still not clear on the timeframe of some stuff.

So YT and Hiro meet, then she gets put in the Clink and he comes to bust her out. End of that day she mentions Vitaly Chernobyl to him, when a chapter earlier we see Hiro is living with Vitaly.

You manage to put it together, but as you're reading it's just weird. Especially with how he ends and picks up chapters seemingly at random most of the time. But whatever, Raven is in the story now and shit is getting cool.
 

chaos

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Yeah the timeline is all messed up. At first I thought it might be the copy I downloaded, but I have a physical copy of the book as well and confirmed that it is just like that. I'm about as far in as you, Grimm.
 

Touraxus_sl

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There is also an audio book copy floating around on torrents.
It's labeled by which tape is playing to show how old the audio copy is.

Got through it at work this week, anyone who feels a part might be slow, just keep going.
 

Grimmlokk

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How many more fucking chapters am I going to have to read of Hiro and the Librarian talking about fucking Sumerian religion and gods and language God fucking damn it.

Jesus Tittyfucking Christ I want to like this book but these huge intervals of technospiritual babble(LOL!!!) are a fucking slog.

He's on his motorcycle heading up to find Juanita so it FEELS like that should be done. I fuckin' hope so...
 

Jorren

Maximum Derek
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How many more fucking chapters am I going to have to read of Hiro and the Librarian talking about fucking Sumerian religion and gods and language God fucking damn it.

Jesus Tittyfucking Christ I want to like this book but these huge intervals of technospiritual babble(LOL!!!) are a fucking slog.

He's on his motorcycle heading up to find Juanita so it FEELS like that should be done. I fuckin' hope so...
Heh, yeah he tends to go way overboard explaining shit. He knows this too, but cannot help himself. Still he is one of my favorites, and this book is just great.
 

Grimmlokk

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I didn't mind the minutiae at all in Cryptonomicon. I'm sure it's a combination of my just enjoying that subject matter more than this plus him improving over time.

There's definitely people out there flipflopped on this, who hated the details in Crypto. I've seen people online fly in to fits of rage at the Captain Crunch part...