Like many of stephensons other novels, it covers history, linguistics. 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. Dystopic in nature, the novel features many areas of study including language, history, religion, computer science, and. Aug 26, 2003 plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus thats striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neonlit streets on a searchanddestroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Jul 17, 2014 that depends on what you think snow crash is like.
It reached the point where snow crash had to be one of the very best books i had ever read, if not the very best, if it had any chance of meeting those lofty expectations. Snow crash mp3 by stephenson, neal and a great selection of related books, art and. This onepage guide includes a plot summary and brief analysis of snow crash by neal stephenson. 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. Whereas gibson writes for a general public fascinated by technology, stephenson is a secondgeneration cyberpunk writer insofar as his effort on snow crash goes. If we imagine sf as a college course series, id put snow crash closer to the graduate level, say 401 or 501. Oh, and theres a badass biker with glass knives and a nuclear bomb strapped to his motorbike, too apart from its frenetic action sequences. 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. Don t know about you guys, but when there are burritos on the table, well, we talk about burritos. Which is really bad news for hiro freelance hacker and the metaverses best swordfighter he wrote the code and y.
I was sure i was going to hate snow crash bantam spectra, cloth. Neal stephenson is such a writer and snow crash is such a. Beaus im a researcher in virtual reality who develops tools for scientists to study viruses, they assured. Jy ai retrouve lenthousiasme dun cory doctorow ou limagination dun thomas day. Snow crash is a 1992 science fiction novel by neal stephenson. While the number of copies sold still isn t as large as people tend to assume, it made far more of an impact than my earlier works, and launched my career in a number of ways. Understandably, although it is an ambitious, intelligent, and entertaining novel, snow crash couldn t possibly live up to my expectations. 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. 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. At one point, early in the story, we find out the fate of the library of.
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 gigantic thriller of the information age. Clarke award and was later included on times 100 best novels list. In a major city, the size of a dozen manhattans, is a domain of pleasures limited only by the imagination. Trouble is snow crash is also a computer virus and something more. Snow crash by neal stephenson goodreads share book. Screen prints, tshirts, mass transit made art, brooklyn, ny. What i liked specifically about snow crash as in, its unlikely other books will have these exact elements, spoilered for mild length and minor spoilers. The only relief from the sea of logos is within the wellguarded borders of the burbclaves.
The mafia delivers pizza, the cia is a forprofit organization, hong kong is a global franchise of capitalist chinatowns, and. Praise for snow crash snow crash is a cross between neuromancer and thomas pynchons vineland. While most of the technology predictions didnt play out the way it does in the book, theres much to think. Snow crash was written in the years 1988 through 1991 as the author listened to a great deal of loud, relentless, depressing music. Snow crash isn t the only project in the works thats based on stephensons. Funny then to later discover that the novel was written after a comic book attempt at the same story fell apart. Jun 02, 2011 it reached the point where snow crash had to be one of the very best books i had ever read, if not the very best, if it had any chance of meeting those lofty expectations. The earlier novels dealt with the neardestruction of our species in a. 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. Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. Is it any wonder that most sane folks have forsaken the real world and chosen to live in the computergenerated universe of virtual reality. Take a look at even more movies and tv shows that were so nice they made em twice at least. Because once taken it infects the person behind the avatar. I loved hitchhikers guide too, but that doesn t have the same feel snow crash does, obviously.
Find books like snow crash from the worlds largest community of readers. Snow crash was the breakthrough book for neal stephenson. Snow crash is not a book i would recommend to someone who doesn t already read science fiction, voraciously. I was recently asked, what, you haven t read snow crashby a colleague who had an appropriatelyastonished look on his face. 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. 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. Still one of my favorite speculative fiction books of all time. Neal stephenson is such a writer and snow crash is such a novel, weaving. Amazon studios list for mustsee scifi tv features snow crash, ringworld, lazarus. The san francisco bay guardian fastforward freestyle mall mythology for the twentyfirst century. Snow crash by neal stephenson overdrive rakuten overdrive. Amazon studios list for mustsee scifi tv features snow.
Were clever, but not nearly clever enough to condense his style into. Snow crash has one of the most effective opening hooks in science fiction, a loving description of a hightech armored driver and car. Because in snow crash, the bodies of humans are affected by information they cant read. 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, first edition abebooks. One of times 100 best englishlanguage novels a mindaltering romp through a future america so bizarre, so outrageous, youll recognize it. 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. 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. Hiro protagonist, freelance hacker and the greatest sword fighter in the metaverse, teams up with y. Fifteen years since its initial release, snow crash remains one of the most popular and important novels in recent memory. It was so small and laughable but definitely a step towards the future. Like many of stephensons other novels it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, memetics and philosophy. In neal stephensons snow crash 1992, a future globalized society has abandoned conventional landbased government and reformed itself along the lines of electronic cults and mobile interest groups. Of all the long stephenson books this is probably the fastest read.
Snow crash is a mindaltering romp through a future america so bizarre, so outrageous. 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. Like many of stephensons other novels, it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, memetics and philosophy. May 02, 2000 it reached the point where snow crash had to be one of the very best books i had ever read, if not the very best, if it had any chance of meeting those lofty expectations. The deliverator belongs to an elite order, a hallowed subcategory. 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. Snow crash is a science fiction novel by american writer neal stephenson, published in 1992. It was his 3rd novel and is generally regarded as his first mature novel, where he found and settled on his current style of writing. Who else thought of hiro and his bad ass delivery car when dominos busted out their own.
The picture on this listing page is of the actual book for sale. He lives in seattle, where he is at work on other novels. Praise for snow crashsnow crash is a cross between neuromancer and thomas pynchons vineland. Science fiction 101 it is not as a regular reader of sf, i enjoyed the book a great deal. Neal stephenson 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. At one point, early in the story, we find out the fate of the library of congress, which merged with the. Written in an attempt to salvage a few elements from an earlier graphic novel project, this book became important, and changed my life. The result is a book that is actually fairly readable. Grabs you quickly, thrusts you head long into world thats so preposterous that he can t possibly. Brilliantly realizedstephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow. I scammed a book club for a handful of books and graphic novels. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. If you create a free account and sign in, you will be able to customize what is displayed. Jener hiroaki protagonist wird alsbald in eine ganz gro.
I have had to flip back and reread whole bits just to figure out howwhy weve gotten to where we are, and even that doesn t help. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read snow crash. Neal stephenson is such a writer and snow crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality. Stephenson explained the title of the novel in his 1999 essay in the. Snow crash is a fairly impressive display of the possibilities of science fiction as fiction. Snow crash is neal stephensons third novel, published in 1992. Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow. Snow crash was recommended to me because i absolutely loved ready player one, and im slowly realizing that i hate this book.
It was nominated for the british science fiction award and the arthur c. Variety reports that amazon has started development on a snow crash tv series, with ant man writer joe. Neal stephensons 1992 novel snow crash conjured a dystopian future in which people regularly disappeared into the metaverse a 3d virtual high street where. What are the things about snow crash that interest you. The first half of the book is an introduction of the characters and the discovery of a technological and biological virus named snow crash, which a person can get through blood, exposure, or by looking at diseased data in the metaverse, a kind of populated, malllike cyberspace. Snow crash project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks.
But theres a generation gap between the two, and thats why i love snow crash and am lukewarm to anything gibson wrote beyond neuromancer. Stephensons literary ambitions or abilities are not exactly overwhelming, but there is a considerable amount of attention to literary craft. With those two books as my previous experience i was a little hesitant to dive into one of neals massive tomes with endless paragraphs of info dump and esoteric scientific explanations. Snow crash book the seattle public library bibliocommons. Before the chapter actually starts, we get dictionarystyle definitions of the words snow, crash, and virus. Snow crash neal stephenson one of the books most frequently compared to ready player. Couldn t have asked for a better way to discover a love i never knew. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading snow crash. Snow crash is a mindaltering romp through a future america so bizarre, so outrageousyoull recognize it immediately. The last half is a mad, actionfilled rush to the conclusion. Understandably, although it is an ambitious, intelligent, and entertaining novel, snow crash couldn t.