Notes

Book Review: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson * Roytang.net



Book Review: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

I completed Snow Crash in three weeks. This is a bit faster than the Neuromancer work I read this year. The two works are comparable, but only in the sense that they both have some kind of worldwide internet-like network as a central plot element. Otherwise, they are not really that similiar although the comparison is made simpler by having a base for comparison. Snow Crash is less cyberpunk than Neuromancer and could not take itself as seriously. You should know that the name of the main character, "Hiro Protagonist", is "Hiro Punk".



Snow Crash was published in 1992, while Neuromancer came out in 1984, which means the latter book takes some of the ideas from the earlier one in terms of cyberspace. The version here in Snow Crash is called "Metaverse" and is actually more akin to a shared virtual world, similar to how you would be plugged in to a MMORPG like World of Warcraft. Users of the Metaverse even use glasses to play, something that was only made real in the past five years or more. Hiro in this instance is one of the premiere hackers in the metaverse, who has contributed significantly to the functioning of the virtual world.



This is the second Stephenson book I've read. Cryptonomicon was my first in 2004. I was worried that I'd encounter the same problems as Cryptonomicon particularly the slow pace and general jargon. Thankfully, Snow Crash turned out to be more paced and more readable than the other one. The plot is well-paced and focuses on Hiro and his companion and his friend, the Kourier who goes by the name of Y.T. (for "Yours Truly") as they travel through a world where the United States has suffered a devastating economic crisis and had to sell off a few parts of California to what is now a bunch autonomous and sovereign microterritories. A lot of these microterritories are part of private franchises that have names such as "Mr Lee's Greater Hong Kong", or "The Mafia".



The plot's core revolves around the study of linguistics and history, archaeology, computer sciences, and many other subjects (which is not a surprise given Cryptonomicon's subject matter). It is based on the idea that an ancient civilization capable of using language could be used in order to spread a disease throughout society by hacking into human brain, the same way codes can spread a virus through a computer system. The villain of this story is trying to control the population by using the virus concept that comes from an ancient language. He also wants to create an all-powerful religion at his command.



The book's title, "Snow Crash", refers to the digital "drug" the bad guy employs to attack hackers. The drug is actually a digital representation of random black and white bits (a similar to the way a TV or monitor looks when it loses signal, literally a crash that looks like snow) that affects hackers' brains in a specific way. I won't give away the details any more.
it's all about games and game servers here


My only complaint is that the ending felt abrupt even though everything was wrapped up neatly, it all happened mostly outside the purview of our protagonists. I like it better than Cryptonomicon, which was a book later of his (published in 1999). This one was easier to grasp.



Last modified March 2, 2022 at 4:11 p.m. Source file



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Comments
@roytang I am a huge fan of Snow Crash, but I'm not certain how it will hold against a second reading.



@paulcatiang I'd be happy with an adaptation of a film



@roytang This would be an awesome idea!



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