Snow Crash
by Neal Stephenson
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Spectra (New York): 1992. Paperback: 470 pages. ISBN-10: 0-553-56261-4 Suggested retail price: $5.99 (US) Tags: computers; drugs; Japan; linguistics; Nipon; religion; Science Fiction Tactical strength: [7/10] |
How seriously should you take a book where the author names the main character Hiro Protagonist? Hiro lives in a near future where the government has almost completely collapsed and people live in atonomous Burbclaves -- an extrapolation of the modern gated community. Hiro is a genius hacker who helped create a global virtual reality called the Metaverse. But hacking doesn't pay the bills, so Hiro delivers pizzas for the mafia-run CosaNostra Pizza company.
Stephenson describes Hiro's world in extravagant detail. For example, Stephenon introduces Hiro attempting to deliver a pizza within a thirty-minute time limit. Because of all the technological explanations and flashbacks for backstory, the pizza finally gets delivered at the end of chapter 4. Hiro loses his delivery job because he wrecked the mafia's delivery vehicle, but this initial episode does introduce the book's other main character Y.T., a 15-year-old skateboard courier. Y.T. delivers Hiro's pizza on time and gains the appreciation of the Mafia's leader, Uncle Enzo.
Hiro earns extra money by selling informaton to the Central Intelligence Corporation (formerly the CIA). Hiro takes on Y.T. as a partner and agrees to split his commissions on any information she acquires. Hiro starts to investigate a new drug, Snow Crash, that has both physical and virtual components. When hackers see the Snow Crash bitmap pattern, their brains literally crash and put them into a coma. The physical Snow Crash provides a euphoric feeling and seems to make the subjects highly likely to speak in tongues. To go into much more detail would spoil the adventure Hiro and Y.T. go through to solve the Snow Crash mystery.
Stephenson smoothly conflates religion, linguistics, and programming into his storyline. Obviously, he did a lot of research for Snow Crash and much of that research appears in large blocks of exposition. I found the information interesting, but readers who like steady action will probably dislike the information dumps. Also, readers who like character-based plots will also be dissapionted. Essentially, Hiro doesn't change, and Y.T. comes to realize that she does love her mother.
Another warning: Stephenson writes in present tense. He executes present tense narrative well -- I didn't really notice until after page 60 -- but reading "says" instead of "said" started to distract me from the storyline.
