For a book that was written in 1992 it had a remarkably correct prediction on what lines technology would develop. Neal stephenson is such a writer and snow crash is such a novel, weaving virtual. Neal stephenson is a concept writer, and this is clear throughout the book. If we imagine sf as a college course series, id put snow crash closer to the graduate level, say 401 or 501. About the only common ground that his work shares with others is that ink is applied to paper using the same letters, and then pages are bound to create a book.
From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel snow crash, neal stephenson plunges the reader into a nottoodistant future. The deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory. Snow crash by neal stephenson, 9780241953181, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Snow crash project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks. A futuristic society encounters a computer virus that has the ability to scramble peoples brains. Snow crash established stephenson as a major science fiction writer of the 1990s. Basically, it all came apart in the second part of the book which also sports a rushed i can only see this book as a score of missed opportunities. If we say that this book is one of its kind then it will not be wrong. Stephensons literary ambitions or abilities are not exactly overwhelming, but there is a considerable amount of attention to literary craft. Snow crash is funny, witty and highly intelligent reading. Snow crash is a fairly impressive display of the possibilities of science fiction as fiction. Like many of stephensons other novels it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, memetics and philosophy. Despite being written in 1992, there is still a lot in that book that resonates with today and makes it feel like the society stephenson imagined could still be.
The use of the word avatar to describe someones presence in the digital world comes from snow crash. The result is a book that is actually fairly readable. Just finished snow crash and holy balls thats some solid. On nonfirst snow days, which account for 97% of total snow days, nonfatalinjury crashes increased substantially incidence rate ratio irr 1. According to wikipedia, snow crash is a science fiction novel written by neal stephenson and published in 1992. Snow crash was written in the years 1988 through 1991 as the author listened to a great deal of loud, relentless, depressing music. Just the sheer number of ideas that the book inspires puts it head and shoulders above rp1, as fun as it is. Apr 15, 2014 snow crash by neal stephenson, 9781491515051, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. The multiple meanings of the phrase, and their interconnections, are, like, the entire point of the book. Also, just to note, stephenson is an immensely entertaining author, prone to polysyllabic fits of metaphorical fancy that make his prose as amusing as watching a drunk penguin try to tapdance. Simply brit shipped with premium postal service within 24 hours from the uk with impressive delivery time. Table 1 presents crash rates, as proportions of rates on dry days.
Stephenson has also mentioned that julian jaynes book the origin of consciousness in the. Snow crash is a 1992 science fiction novel by neal stephenson. You just have to find a sufficiently virulent business plan, condense it into a threering binder. Snow crash by neal stephenson, first edition abebooks. Before the chapter actually starts, we get dictionarystyle definitions of the words snow, crash, and virus. Snow crash isnt a book to read if you care about plot.
Not just due to the writing style and the content of the book, but this book takes the cyberpunk to a whole new height. Heidi draffin i am listening to snow crash now as an audiobook and absolutely love it. Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparisona writer so original, he redefines the way we look at the world. Snow crash is not a book i would recommend to someone who doesnt already read science fiction, voraciously. Like many of stephensons other novels it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, memetics and philosophy stephenson explained the title of the novel in his 1999 essay in the beginning. Religion is a virus, both drugs and computer viruses can affect your brain and dna, and holy crap were all screwed when these tools get into the wrong hands. The franchise and the virus work on the same principle, what thrives in one place will thrive in another. This study guide consists of approximately 81 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of snow crash. The book appeared on time magazines list of 100 alltime best englishlanguage novels written since 1923. Buy snow crash by neal stephenson from amazons fiction books store. Science fiction 101 it is not as a regular reader of sf, i enjoyed the book a great deal. Stephenson now resides in a comfortable home in the western hemisphere and spends all of his time trying to retrofit an office into its generally dark, unlevel, and asbestosladen basement so that he can. Stephenson predicted a lot of what we now take for granted in day to day life and it is really kind of awesome.
The theme for march was cyberpunk and we all chose snow crash to read and. Effects of snowfalls on motor vehicle collisions, injuries. To the extent that a book can be described as original, snow crash, by neal stephenson is deserving of the moniker. Snow crash by neal stephenson, 9780553380958, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. The gun is tiny, acm 2 snow crash styled, lightweight, the kind of gun a. Snow crash is a mindaltering romp through a future america so bizarre, so outrageous. We are committed to providing you with reliable and efficient service at all times. Published in 1992, snow crash was written by neal stephenson and is a science fiction novel that involves a lot of history, archaeology, religion, and cryptography. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of snow crash by neal stephenson. Stephenson also mentioned a book by julian jaynes, the origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind, as one of the main influences for snow crash.
Snow crash topics for discussion neal stephenson this study guide consists of approximately 81 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of snow crash. Jun 02, 2011 snow crash is a smart, cool, funny, witty, and actionpacked adventure featuring a pair of unlikely heroes who must save the world from infocalypse. Hiro heads north to where the raft, a huge collection of boats containing eurasian refugees, is approaching the american coast. This is not the sort of book i would normally read. Apr 15, 2014 snow crash is a smart, cool, funny, witty, and actionpacked adventure featuring a pair of unlikely heroes who must save the world from infocalypse. The book is let down by its poor plot on a par with a bad james bond movie two questionable scenes in my mind, and a particularly unbelievable resolution of the snow crash mystery. Stephenson titled this book snow crash because the earliest apple macs had software that would occasionally fail.
Neal stephensons snow crash is one of the great unadapted novels of modern science fiction, right up there with its granddaddy in the cyberpunk genre, william gibsons neuromancer. The snow crash community note includes chapterbychapter summary and analysis, character list, theme list, historical context, author biography and quizzes written by community members like you. One of times 100 best englishlanguage novels a mindaltering romp through a future america so bizarre, so outrageous, youll recognize. While the number of copies sold still isnt as large as people tend to assume, it made far more of an impact than my. It is a world where the mafia controls pizza delivery, the united states exists as a patchwork of corporatefranchise city states, and the internetincarnate as the metaverselooks something like last years hype would lead you to believe it should. Hiro has the graveyard daemon deposit the rolledup scroll in his workshop.
It accurately describes many of the technologies we now not only have, but have access to every day. In 1972, richard forthrast, the black sheep of an iowa. I tend to be older and more conservative than what i suspect the target audience is, but i feel the richer for having read snow crash. One of times 100 best englishlanguage novels a mindaltering romp through a future america so bizarre, so outrageous, youll recognize it immediately only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparisona writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Snow crash is a smart, cool, funny, witty, and actionpacked adventure featuring a pair of unlikely heroes who must save the world from infocalypse. For questions about snow crash, neal stephensons third novel, published in 1992. You will never again look at toilet paper quite the same way afterwards. Roc publishedby the penguin group penguin books ltd, 27 wrights lane. By stephen northcutt this is not the sort of book i would normally read.
By using our website you agree to our use of cookies. Hiro protagonist, freelance hacker and the greatest sword fighter in the metaverse, teams up with y. Snow crash questions and answers discover the community of teachers, mentors and students just like you that can answer any question you might have on snow crash. A serious thought in a world where people blow each other up because of words.
Science fiction, cyberpunk, dystopian my book club has started a new initiative to read a book each month from a different subgenre of science fiction or fantasy. In a major city, the size of a dozen manhattans, is a domain of pleasures limited only by the imagination. Fifteen years since its initial release, snow crash remains one of the most popular and important novels in recent memory. Never getting into the cyberpunk thing and hating the muchhyped use of the word cyber, ive stayed away from everything that fell within the cyberpunk category, with william gibson as the centre of my selfinflicted ignorance. Cryptonomicon is possibly my favorite novel ever, but its very different from snow crash. Snow crash has one of the most effective opening hooks in science fiction, a loving description of a hightech armored driver and car. It jumps back and forth between wwii and the 90s, but it is still very much about science, technology, warfare, computing, cryptography, and other themes that are present in all of his books. Stephenson predicted a lot of what we now take for granted in.
A man with wonderful hightech toys and samurai swords, who works for the mafia doing one of the few things that the united states still does better than any other country in the world. Were clever, but not nearly clever enough to condense his style into brief chapter. The only relief from the sea of logos is within the wellguarded borders of the burbclaves. And then theres the enforcersbut they cost a lot and dont take well to supervision. Snow crash by neal stephenson, 9781491515051, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Snow crash is a science fiction novel by american writer neal stephenson, published in 1992. If you enjoy rollercoaster rides, snow crash is definitely for you. It is a bit dated already its from 1992, but that is the prize you pay when you try to be hip and try to describe the near future. Is it any wonder that most sane folks have forsaken the real world and chosen to live in the computergenerated universe of virtual reality. Snow crash npr coverage of snow crash by neal stephenson. In twentyfirstcentury america, a teenaged computer hacker finds himself fighting a computer virus that battles virtual reality technology and a deadly drug that turns humans into zombies. But now a strange new computer virus called snow crash.
Snow crash book the seattle public library bibliocommons. Snow crash is neal stephensons third novel, published in 1992. Xerox it, and embed it in the fertile line of a welltraveled highway, preferably one with a left turn lane. Neal stephenson is such a writer and snow crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality. Apr 19, 2011 all the best deals at the deals store. Snow crash is an acclaimed speculative fiction novel by the award winning author neal stephenson. In reality, hiro protagonist delivers pizza for uncle enzos cosonost. Much of the first half of the book is a bunch of concepts and scenarios segmented between portions of info dumping and character profiling. Most popular, price, low to high, price, high to low, publication date, old to new, publication date, new to old. It means a system crasha bugat such a fundamental level that it frags the part of the computer that controls the electron beam in the monitor, making it spray wildly across the screen, turning the perfect gridwork of pixels into a gyrating blizzard.
And in this case it actually added something interesting to the story, namely a backward view into the possible future as stephenson envisioned it a. When i read snow crash, i was amazed that the book was written in the early 90s. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. Aug 26, 2003 snow crash was written in the years 1988 through 1991 as the author listened to a great deal of loud, relentless, depressing music. Right now, he is preparing to carry out his third mission of the. 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. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Buy snow crash by neal stephenson online at alibris. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction.