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When early Macintosh computers broke down, they puked up a bitmap of gibberish that vaguely resembled static on a broken TV. This is a "snow crash," at least according to Stephenson in his essays. In his cyberpunk novel, he spins an incredible, twisty, epic yarn suggesting that some day, the entire human race could become scrambled by a massive "snow crash."
From page one onwards, this book is crammed with detail. It is an insane future unlike any other--the world Stephenson depicts is fractured into tiny little pieces, each occupied by cultural, corporate, and racial niches that seem to always be at war with each other. The best, craziest, and most entertaining slice of this bizarre life is evident in the first chapter--pizza delivery, run by the Cosa Nostra (that's right, the Italian mafia). This first chapter caught my attention precisely because a simple, innocuous profession is blown out of proportion, and it's a hoot. The pizza guy is now the "Deliverator." He wields samurai swords and delivers pizza within 30 minutes or else he faces the mafia's wrath. Then he's "pooned" by a kourier--a chick on a skateboard. One thing leads to another, and this is how our two protagonists meet (and of all things, the main hero is named Hiro Protagonist--I can't make this stuff up). Something about this opening was charming. It was awesome. It was hilarious and hyperbolic.
Problem is, there's another 450 pages to this book, and somehow it looses all its charm as it drags on and on. I believe most of the issue revolves around the sheer amount of prose the author indulges in--page after page is spent describing how things work in this world. It is interesting in bursts, and it's at its best when it's extreme, strange, and brimming with personality. And it often is. But it is exposition in the end, and it's delivered relentlessly in the author's voice. Reading huge chunks of this became quite a chore. Big pieces of expository dialogue in the middle--where a librarian explains the whole history of Sumerian culture and a neuro-linguistic virus latent in mankind--is especially tedious.
But it's not all a bore, necessarily. The characters are quite well-drawn, especially the two mains. Hiro and Y.T. (short for "Yours Truly") definitely put the "punk" in cyberpunk. Their attitudes and spunk consistently pushes their zany adventures in the real world and the Metaverse. In some parts, the character voice comes through and delivers the book's punchiest scenes.
The story as a whole--I couldn't even tell what was happening. Snow Crash is presented as the thing that kicks off the story--it turns out to be a drug. And it works by interfacing with something latent in human genes--ancient Sumerian language was able to program the human brain like a computer, and language was a virus that could take control or damage it. Thus, a major power wanted to use the Snow Crash drug to seize control of mankind in a way that was both virtual and biological.
Fascinating concepts, but I could only grasp them by reading the synopsis after the fact. Scene-by-scene, the book is laid out in vignettes that's interesting in parts, but hard to connect as a whole. Part of the problem is that the characters acted without much indication of what they wanted or what direction they were heading. I never really understood their motivations. A few personal stakes keep the characters glued to the action, but it's very easy to forget about them.
Biggest issues may be the aforementioned exposition, which comes off as objective most of the time. In a few spots, the book assumes the POV of "rat things," which is awesome. Other times, it's more interested in describing the world rather than immersing the reader in it or the character thoughts. Then there's action--tons of it. When you have bullets and rockets flying and people on skateboards all over the place and sword-swinging and countless crazy inventions and everything else, the book becomes exhausting, especially when it consistently remains detached from the characters.
It all could have been trimmer in the end. Fewer words to describe the world and how it worked. Fewer words to describe the action. A more to-the-point exploration of the Sumerian stuff. Some scenes could have been removed entirely--they seemed to have no bearing on the main plot at all.
It's a shame, because the book has some moments of brilliance, hilarity, insanity, and intelligence. There's a lot of cool stuff in there and chances are sci-fi readers will soak it all in regardless of the issues I've griped about. Much like the Neuromancer, this is one of those books that's worthwhile reading, but I can't say I necessarily liked the experience of it much.
2.5/5
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