Snow Crash

I reread this book recently, and was surprised that a 25 year old book could hold up so well. Speculative fiction can often be overtaken by reality, but there were few examples of that in Snow Crash.The book offers a lot for a reader who wants some real substance in fiction. The backstory of the "Snow Crash" virus (about 2/3 the way through the book) was perhaps the longest pure exposition section I've ever seen in a work of fiction, yet I was riveted by it. Neal Stephenson is perhaps the smartest person writing fiction today, and it shows in the way he can research a topic, comprehend it deeply, and then render an entertaining explanation in the context of a story.It takes amazing chutzpah to name your main charcter "Hiro Protagonist", but Stephenson pulls off what others probably couldn't, and Hiro is indeed an excellent protagonist. A man of multiple and amazing talents, nevertheless the book opens with him delivering pizzas. Early on, Hiro seems to just blunder into key events, but eventually he rises to be more pro-active and becomes a true hero.The dystopian society is at times all too plausible. It seems Stephenson saw in advance the breakdown of our institutions in the 21st century. (That also helped him generate a completely different dystopia in The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (Bantam Spectra Book) , which you should definitely read if you like Snow Crash.)If Stephenson has one flaw as a writer, it's that most of his books have abrupt endings. This one leaves a few loose ends. Without spoiling things too much, I'll mention one example. A main character possesses a nuclear warhead and rigs it to protect himself from attack, yet we never see that resolved in the ending. It's not clear for a couple of the main characters whether they even survive or not.So I wish his books has at least a minimal denouement. But I'll take that flaw for some of the most entertaining and though-provoking books I've ever read.

Well. Deciding on a final review score for this is... difficult..The story is mostly great. In fact, if I'd rated the book at around 80 or 85% complete, I'd have had no trouble saying 4.5 stars. But the end there... I don't know how to describe what happened that caused the shift in certainty without spoilers...Let's just say there's a story event that is deeply troubling as far as why it was even included, and whether the author considers the, ermm, actions that occurred as morally acceptable behavior; or what exactly the intention was when choosing that specific plot piece... When you get to it, you'll know, as it was incredibly uncomfortable to read...The other issue I kept running into is what seemed to me to be these incredibly lazy (either lazy or otherwise ignorant on the author's part) jumps in logical reasoning when unwinding the what and why part of plotline... I mean, I understand what the end goal was. The "route" to get to that end goal, however, was littered in logical fallacies and historical inaccuracies.I suppose it could have been a situation of newer information being available here in 2023 vs back in 1995 or so.. But not all of it. There's a lot of use of sweeping generalizations, faulty correlation/causation assumptions, and other cognitive value/judgement biases...What's not clear, is because of the way the narration is written, it's not clear if the above biases, assumptions, and questionable moralities are that of the author proper, or if they were supposed to be the corresponding character's..I dunno. I really can't decide right now. I can say the story telling is otherwise great. The world building. The plot concepts. The real-world comparisons and commentaries drawn. It's worth reading, sure. I'm glad I read it... Just.. The sociocultural insensitive bits sometimes felt like they were, well, inappropriate and (at best) unconsciously down-punching tropes and uncomfortable to read.🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️🤷🏽‍♂️ I'd still give it a read if you like sci-fi, tech, and/or cyberpunk novels. Just be prepared for some "what the hell" moments when reading.

TL;DR Read if you program and like Science Fiction. Read if you like Cyber Punk. Read if you want to read a VR classic. Read if you are a Neal Stephenson fan.Yes, the book was written in 1992 and is not well regarded outside of Stephenson Fans but I think it is classic. I’ve read it multiple times. Reading it now in 2023 makes me want to go on several rants. I won’t.It is well-written, fast-paced. Mainstream Cyberpunk, but not Cliché.The world-building is top notch and while Stephenson gets some things he was written wrong about religion I understand how his research led him there. You see some of the beginnings of Stephenson’s blending of Science Fiction and historical fiction that he would do in Cryptonomicon, and what would later become his speculative fiction style.Insert rants about New Perspectives on Paul, Tongues, Catholic Mystics, Facebook now Meta, and National Debt here.

Awesome

LLEGO A TIEMPO Y EN BUENAS CONDICIONES

Espetacular novel!

Die Deluxe Version ist der Hammer, hochqualitativst und sehr schön zum Ansehen. Aber nicht nur zum Ansehen taugt der Schinken, der dieses Buch ist, nein! Auch lesen kann man jenes, und man wird nicht enttäuscht werden. 5/5

C’est à parieur de ce roman d’anticipation que les GAFA et autres acteurs du numérique envisagent l’avenir. Pour autant, cet opus réserve des surprises bien différentes et, avouons-le, plus humaines et prometteuses. À lire en anglais si possible.