Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)
by Neal Stephenson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Neal StephensonEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-05-02
ISBN: 0553380958
Number of pages: 440
Publisher: Spectra
Book Reviews of Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)
Book Review: Pynchonesque my arse
Summary: 2 Stars
This review probably won't be representative of the average person that reads this book. This I freely admit up front. But as a big fan of Thomas Pynchon and someone who doesn't go out of their way to read sci-fi or any other genre fiction, I merely seek to warn others of similar tastes. So if William Gibson, Robert Sterling and Phillip K Dick are your literary gods, these comments probably won't sway you one way or another... if, on the other hand, like me, your interest in "Snow Crash" was aroused solely through comparisons to Thomas Pynchon and the like, this review is for you.
First of all, it should be stated that Pynchon has become so synonymous with the whole tongue-in-cheek ultra-literary treatment of conspiracy theory (as well he should) that every two bit hack that chooses to incorporate secret societies into his/her work inevitably gets compared to Thomas Pynchon, regardless of their ultimate literary intentions. Neal Stephenson may be more than a two bit hack, but - regretfully - on the basis of "Snow Crash", not a whole lot. The only remotely Pynchonesque aspect of the novel is the existence of a secret language based on old Sumerian lore, which is not only monosyllabic but so simplistic that it's informational content deposits directly into the core of the brain: in other words, you have no choice over whether or not to believe it; just by hearing it the content becomes an inherent part of your belief system. This seems entirely ludicrous but apparently has some basis in certain linguists' theories, and is particularly Pynchonesque in this regard since it involves language itself, and Pynchon's works are as much about the ways that we communicate and experimenting with those methods as they are about plot (the latter almost an afterthought in TP's work).
But here we get into the gist of the review, and why many people will feel I'm being unfair to Neal Stephenson: I believe, with not only his fans, his publishers, and - to some extent - the author himself inviting comparisons to Pynchon, it's not entirely out of line to illustrate why Pynchon soars while Neal Stephenson fails miserably. While I certainly intend to get into detail below, the overall failing of the book I feel is Stephenson's failure to weave this elaborate linguistic theory into a remotely convincing plot. The details on how this Sumerian language is propagated is extremely complex and well considered (whether it happens to have any basis in fact or not), but nothing else about the plot fits this description. Ultimately, then, "Snow Crash" reeks of Stephenson pasting someone else's ideas into his work with little apparent motive except to beef up the perceived intellectual validity of an otherwise vapid plot.
Getting back to the Sumerian subplot, not only does the idea of this secret language echo TP (Thomas Pynchon, natch), but Stephenson (hereby NS) also interrupts the plot for a great deal of exposition, something TP also likes to do but, in my opinion, the latter enfolds it into the plot with a great deal more finesse than this author. Another example of where a different author succeeds at this approach is with "Moby Dick": whereas Melville skillfully creates suspense by interrupting the plot at key points in favor of "how-to" expositions on whaling techniques, NS just switches back and forth every few pages at random, whether a break in the action or (god forbid) a temporary cliff hanger warrants it or not.
But here we are dealing with actual writing technique and, this being a work of fairly typical cyberpunk genre fiction, most people reading this are probably going to be far more concerned with the mechanics of the plot than on how it's actually laid out. Well, have no fear: with sketchy character development, implausible action worthy of a Jet Li movie and deus ex machina out the wazoo, there's plenty to fret over for everyone. First of all, the main character's name is "Hiro Protagonist". Now, this also is the kind of self-aware metafiction moniker TP might use, but at a much lower level of creativity: Pynchon would never go for something so obvious as "Hiro Protagonist", but again: NS seems to be trying to appeal to people who think the "idea" of Thomas Pynchon is a gas while finding the actual work of the man itself a bit obtuse. Yes, if Stephenson or his publishers are going to compare themselves to TP they should call this "Pynchon for Dummies".
So you've got Hiro, who is seemingly the world's greatest swordfighter in both the real world and a simulated virtual reality where most people who can afford to do so spend most of their time. Not only that, but Hiro somehow finds time to simultaneously upkeep his skills as one of the greatest hackers in the world while still keeping his day job delivering pizzas for the Mafia. Yes, in this ill-conceived post-apocalyptic world of Stephenson's the Mafia has gotten into the pizza delivery business, and if that pie isn't on your doorstep within thirty minutes flat there's going to be hell to pay. The delivery boxes are even outfitted with a timer so that both the driver and the deliveree have a cinematic visual of the seconds ticking away (of course, people who want a free pizza would simply claim that the timers were set late to benefit the pizza company, making this expenditure a complete waste, but this kind of rationalizing has no place in Stephenson's universe).
This world of Stephenson's is barely sketched out in any sense, at one point Hiro telling another character that the Mafia would be breaking the law if there were any laws left to uphold, while that same character's mother is later introduced as working for the government in an almost completely undescribed role. What role would a government have in a society that has decided into anarchy? This is a good example of how NS gets bogged down in creating cheeky, "cute" little details while letting the overall picture of his world dissipate into the ether. It all sounds amusing as long as A) you don't think too deeply on it, and (most importantly) B) you've never read anyone who does this kind of punk rock dystopia thing better. The problem is, if the story doesn't hold up to even the most stringent analysis it utterly fails at any kind of social commentary, which is the only thing aside from mindless action that "Snow Crash" would seem to have going for it.
And of course I couldn't fail to mention Hiro's sidekick, a fifteen year old female courier who's the modern mall punk's wet dream: a girl who steadfastly scorns authority while at the same time remaining eminently doable (it should be noted for adults with weaker stomachs that, despite her age, this character has consensual sex with someone of obviously adult age during the plot's... ahem, climax).
The only other thing I'd like to bring up is a common failing of sci-fi dystopias, that being the error of creating a vastly different physical world taking place well within the lifetime of those currently living/reading. No matter how you incorporate some serious economic collapse, boom, whatever... technology may change but it's never going to be feasible to architecturally gut an entire city - let alone a country - and rebuild it's infrastructure from the ground up within a few years' time, which is apparently the case here (the chronology is as sketchy as anything else in NS' world, but one character is mentioned as having served in Vietnam while both his and Hiro's fathers are mentioned as having been fighting near Hiroshima during WWII when the atomic bomb was dropped).
Nothing in the story itself makes any sense, which leaves the enjoyment of "Snow Crash" solely in the hands of those who brazenly advocate this brand of cyberpunk penis extension fantasy. The book is filled with completely outlandish action sequences, nearly all of which involve technology which seems to have been manufactured solely to suit the characters' needs, not to mention the urge to make the average non-critical reader shout "cool!" every fifteen seconds (much like the lack of consideration economics play in urban renovation, there seems to be a similar lack of consideration toward how technology develops and is made available to the public; but then, if you're the type of person to believe that military-grade defense equipment will ever be made available to minimum wage slaves - ie. a pizza delivery boy - particularly when only a small portion of the population are even able to afford a PC [as is the case in "Snow Crash"] than most likely nothing I can say will ever convince you otherwise).
Again, I do realize that most people who read this book will be exactly the type of people who go in for this sort of thing, but the bottom line is that "Snow Crash" is guilty of being touted as some sort of literary achievement when in actuality it's nothing of the kind. That being said, this sort of breezy plot-driven product does have it's fanbase, and if action heavy cyberpunk with minimal intellectual demands is your bag "Snow Crash" might be right up your alley.
PS: lest anyone think I'm not giving Stephenson a fair chance, I'm in the middle of "Cryptonomicon" right now, and it seems to be succeeding in all the ways "Snow Crash" failed, so if he doesn't tank somewhere in the latter portions of the book I'll soon have a supportive review of that novel on the way, and from there I'll move on to the "Baroque Cycle" rather than backtracking. At this point I'm writing "Snow Crash" off to authorial immaturity and assuming his later works are his best. One way or another, I defy anyone to argue that "Snow Crash" is anywhere close to the equal of "Cryptonomicon", and if not why is it still worthy of 4-5 stars???
Summary of Snow Crash (Bantam Spectra Book)
One of Time magazine's 100 all-time best English-language novels.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. 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.
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo?s CosoNostra Pizza Inc., but in the Metaverse he?s a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that?s striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous?you?ll recognize it immediately.
From the opening line of his breakthrough cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, Neal Stephenson plunges the reader into a not-too-distant future. It is a world where the Mafia controls pizza delivery, the United States exists as a patchwork of corporate-franchise city-states, and the Internet--incarnate as the Metaverse--looks something like last year's hype would lead you to believe it should. Enter Hiro Protagonist--hacker, samurai swordsman, and pizza-delivery driver. When his best friend fries his brain on a new designer drug called Snow Crash and his beautiful, brainy ex-girlfriend asks for his help, what's a guy with a name like that to do? He rushes to the rescue. A breakneck-paced 21st-century novel, Snow Crash interweaves everything from Sumerian myth to visions of a postmodern civilization on the brink of collapse. Faster than the speed of television and a whole lot more fun, Snow Crash is the portrayal of a future that is bizarre enough to be plausible.
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