One of my favorites growing up, this novel predicted so much about the evolution of the internet.

Not my typical read, but had some good bones in story/idea, however syntax and writing just rubbed me the wrong way and could never really get into the story or the characters. Futuristic dystopian America with technology conundrums that face reality and the Metaverse to save itself.

This book was formative in the computing world. Before virtual worlds, before social networking, before web browsers, there was Snowcrash. Not only a fun ride/red, some concepts from the book later became cliches... others actually came to be.

Very clever! Although very witty and tongue-in-cheek throughout, I found the virus metaphor woven into the narrative to be fascinating, but also a little dry at time. Maybe I was looking for a fluffier book, which says something about me? Still highly recommended.

Hard to get into. Not as fun to read as his other books. Still very interesting ideas of language and me and enki, and their analogy in computer languages.

You can't blame a book for stereotyping--without the stereotyping, the book would not get the message across half as effectively. I was not offended by the (at times) obnoxious remarks--I actually found the sarcastic narration hilarious. This book is about so many things and has so many themes, some of which are involving the marketplace and post-capitalism and post-nationalism. The theme that most appealed to me was Hiro's identity confusion and the search for his identity, the need for something specific, certain, and tangible. I think this book is talking about the bidirectional dependency of the virtual (the Metaverse) and the real.

I really enjoyed this book at the beginning and carried through on that momentum to the end. In particular the beginning couple of dozen pages were fantastic. You are literally dumped into Hiro’s world and you have to catch up with the goal of his current mission. Is he a ninja? Other sort of assassin? or… pizza guy? On the other hand, if you read the central device as described in the wikipedia article, it sounds ludicrous. I didn’t want to pay too much attention to the gizmos, and instead just read along enjoyed the voice.

I really liked Snow Crash. It was weird and strange and good. The story takes place in two worlds: the real world and the virtual Metaverse. Stephenson does a good job in keeping these places distinct and the reader oriented. The characters are a strange amalgam of hipness. Hiro Protagonist - the protagonist-is a hacker and ninja. Y.T is an uber skater. The science fiction is of the technological kind: lots of it is becoming less fictional and more factual as time passes. The glue that supposedly holds the plot together - viruses, neurolinguistics, sumerian archaeology, alternative theology - is way out there. It's weird. It's strange. Then, there is the dystopian satire that creates a future America where gated communities have turned into micro-states and everything is privatized. This is where Snow Crash goes beyond good. Snow Crash often threatens to become unhinged. The story is mental. Lots of stuff is border-line nonsensical. Some is just non-sense. But who cares, 'cause it is fun the whole way.

People love this book. People I respect love this book. I did NOT love this book. Snow Crash fills me with rage. I love sci-fi, and Snow Crash seems entirely composted of cliches, and stereotypes. The most imaginative things have been done better in other novels - he's like the GirlTalk of science fiction. Stephenson lacks subtlety and the narration felt extremely condescending. I had to put the book down when I was half way through, and I rarely give up on novels.

This is a very fun book and prophetic of social networking.