Much like Neuromancer, Snow Crash has been praised as one of the greatest works of the cyberpunk genre. Much like Neuromancer, it has made Time's list of the one hundred greatest novels released since 1922. Then again, Neuromancer wasn't very good, but I figured I'd give this a shot anyway. Thankfully, Snow Crash turned out to be much better than Neuromancer.
That doesn't mean Snow Crash doesn't have flaws.
For instance, the characterizations. Hiro Protagonist is seen in this novel as excelling in pretty much everything he does, possibly except for the pizza delivery scene early on. I wouldn't doubt if that's the whole point of his character, considering his name and all, is supposed to be a parody-style character who can overcome anything, but I still felt that was tiring to read about and made the novel predictable. Seems to me, all characters considered, even if they were fleshed out some, they were overshadowed by the stylings and rigamarole about the strange society Stephenson erected. At least Hiro didn't go the Ender Wiggins route, but there was still an overly machismo characteristic going on that made the novel a little less fun to read, maybe unless you turn off your brain.
Unfortunately, considering a big chunk of the novel involved learning about, among other things, Sumerian mythology, turning my brain off wasn't much of an option. I will admit that much: the novel isn't overly action packed. It has a good overall mix of action and intelligence throughout, but I can't help but feel that the interjections between the two were kind of odd at times. Sometimes I'd just want to keep thinking and learn more and an action scene would jump right in and screw with my perception, which would make me want to stop for a short while or skip a bit (if I knew I could) and then come back.
And then there's the other side of the coin to the whole criticism I had with Neuromancer: the fact that a lot of what you need to know, at least in a sort of literary study, is explained. I'm sure some of you don't consider it a big deal, but I sometimes like to see for myself how something in real life or mythology or what have you can relate to the story at hand, at least when applicable. As much as I think detail is needed for proper understanding, I don't necessarily care to have everything spoon-fed to me. Maybe Stephenson did this because he had a particular audience in mind that wasn’t like me, the kind of audience that needs everything explained outright. Anyway, comparing the two major works of cyberpunk, they both seem to be in extremes when it comes to clarity; Neuromancer has far too little, Snow Crash has far too much. I'd still rather have the latter, though, because that at least saves me a time and energy.
There's a part in the book in particular I didn't like, but that would be something I'd rather not spoil. It's not the ending, but I still would rather not state it here. If you absolutely must know for some odd reason, ask me through email, because I will not relay what it is in the comments section, either. Once I explain it to you, if I happen to, you might understand why (and those who have read the book already may know what I'm thinking of).
Other than that, it's a pretty good read. Doesn't even take terribly long to finish despite being over four hundred (fairly close to five hundred) pages. It's quite funny (especially the discussion about Sumerian myth), and the society Neil Stephenson molded is quite interesting to read about, uniquely dystopian in its implications with black humor weaved into descriptions about the surroundings. It also mixes a bit of a fantastical element into the story (Sumerian myth), but it works out alright and is, in some spots, kind of clever, so no qualms about that here. It's not the best book out there, not even as good as plenty of people say it is, but it is worth checking out, especially if you want a good cyberpunk novel, so I do recommend it. At the same time, don’t feel real bad about missing out on it.
Additional super fun fact: Snow Crash was initially supposed to be a graphic novel with computer generated images. Would've been cool to see its fruition, since I can imagine that was the better medium for this story, but this novel works out okay anyway.
Another additional super fun fact: Snow Crash did not win any awards. It was nominated for the British Science Fiction Award and Arthur C. Clarke Award, but won neither. Compare that to Neuromancer, which won a plethora of them.
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