Neal Stephenson | Fiction
1992, 569 pages
I must have been in some interesting space during the building of my 20-book “the library is closed for the pandemic and I can’t get any books until it reopens” time. I have three “alternative universe” books currently in my pile.
I gave this one a really good try, 143 pages. The two major characters, Hiro and Y.T., are quite interesting. In Reality, Hiro delivers pizza and Y.T. skateboards by "pooning" on cars. Once I realized this book is about a possible time in the future, and I didn’t need to map it against current reality, I relaxed into the story. It genre is referred to as "cyberpunk."
Still, I reached a point where I asked, “Why am I reading this? I am not really enjoying it. The plot is very thin. If there is a message, it is probably hundreds of pages away. And what am I learning as I watch avatars interact with each other?”
And so, sadly, I hung it up.
.
Neil Stephenson is difficult to read unless you have read his earlier books or are deeply into contemporary sci fi or computer science. Same with William Gibson. I would have warned you against this book without that background. Check out everything written about him and Snow Crash on Goodreads and also Wikipedia. If it sounds like goobledegook to you, well, that’s probably why you had to put down the book. Unlike you are deeply into cyberpunk (which I don’t believe you are), I’d stick with other sci fi writers. There are some wonderful women sci fi writers that you can find with a Google search. I’d like them to be read more than the same ol’ same ol’ male sci fi writers who get all the press coverage.