"This Snow Crash thing -- is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?"
Juanita shrugs.
"What's the difference."
Despite being written more than 30 years ago, "Snow Crash" has proven to be quite prescient, helping to popularize terms like "metaverse" and "avatar." Neil Stephenson's book explores the use of language and lexicon and how they can influence communication in an anarcho-capitalist world.
"This is America. People do whatever the fuck they feel like doing, you got a problem with that? Because they have a right to. And because they have guns and no one can fucking stop them. As a result this country has one of the worst economies in the world."
At times satiric, dizzying, cynical, and absurdist, the novel struggles to maintain a coherent and understandable plot and too often steps in it on gender and race issues. For instance, the author dedicates entirely too much time to sexualizing a 15-year-old girl, to a disturbing degree.
"'She doesn't want you to understand her. She knows that's impossible. She just wants you to understand yourself. Everything else is negotiable."
On the plus side, "Snow Crash" has an underrated ironic side (the Sushi K lyrics are hysterical), Hiro Protagonist is an unquestionably memorable character, and there were even mentions of Kodiak Island, a former residence.
"'Ninety-nine percent of everything that goes on in most Christian churches has nothing whatsover to do with the actual religion. Intelligent people all notice this sooner or later, and they conclude that the entire one hundred percent is bullshit, which is why atheism is connected with being intelligent in people's minds.'"
"The other girl is a Brandy. Her date is a Clint. Brandy and Clint are both popular, off-the-shelf models. When white-trash high school girls are going on a date in the Metaverse, they invariably run down to the computer-games section of the local Wal-Mart and buy a copy of Brandy. The user can select three breast sizes: improbable, impossible, and ludicrous."
Stephenson's depiction of the hacker lifestyle and frantic pace will appeal to many, and the book inarguably inspired a number of hacker-driven books and movies to follow. The ability of "Snow Crash" to predict and mirror modern-day society make it a worthwhile read for those willing to overlook its flaws.
"See, it's the first function of any organization to control its own sphincters. We're not even doing that."
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