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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
At this point my grand unifying literature theory is that if you're a mediocre author, you should keep your books to up to 250-300 pages long. In fact, some of the best authors managed to write masterpieces in this limit, so what's making that word count of yours bulge so excitedly?
Anyway, this book is an artifact of the early 90s imagining the "world of tomorrow", and as such can appear dumb and childish at times, but this is not its main issue. In fact, it is written just how Johnny Mnemonic (the movie) looks, and I say that as a compliment. It opens with one of the best, most memorable action scenes in this sub-genre.
The problem is that it has this "high concept" idea woven throughout what is basically an action movie plot, and this high concept is extremely dumb. To make matters worse, the protagonist (whose last name is Protagonist) spends a LOT of time goggled into the Multiverse, speaking to a Librarian (Siri), who is reading to him back from a sort of Wikipedia, so that the protagonist can eventually get what is going on and do surprisingly very little about it.
Snow Crash reminds me a lot of Ready Player One in that it has a lot of references (done in a much more "civilized" fashion), but while the latter is the future looking back the past, here we have a past that is looking to the future - and there is some entertainment in watching what the author got right or not. Funny enough, even though he comes across as someone with very little technical knowledge, he was very much on point on how professional software development would come to look like in our times.
I had some pages marked for quotes, but I'll spare you. If you skip all the Librarian/overarching plot parts, you will cut out 100-150 pages and you will have read a tighter book.
Anyway, this book is an artifact of the early 90s imagining the "world of tomorrow", and as such can appear dumb and childish at times, but this is not its main issue. In fact, it is written just how Johnny Mnemonic (the movie) looks, and I say that as a compliment. It opens with one of the best, most memorable action scenes in this sub-genre.
The problem is that it has this "high concept" idea woven throughout what is basically an action movie plot, and this high concept is extremely dumb. To make matters worse, the protagonist (whose last name is Protagonist) spends a LOT of time goggled into the Multiverse, speaking to a Librarian (Siri), who is reading to him back from a sort of Wikipedia, so that the protagonist can eventually get what is going on and do surprisingly very little about it.
Snow Crash reminds me a lot of Ready Player One in that it has a lot of references (done in a much more "civilized" fashion), but while the latter is the future looking back the past, here we have a past that is looking to the future - and there is some entertainment in watching what the author got right or not. Funny enough, even though he comes across as someone with very little technical knowledge, he was very much on point on how professional software development would come to look like in our times.
I had some pages marked for quotes, but I'll spare you. If you skip all the Librarian/overarching plot parts, you will cut out 100-150 pages and you will have read a tighter book.
adventurous
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
A review written years later, at roughly the same time as when I read Neuromancer.
Believe somebody else said it well with the quote "A fun trip at certain points but this was a struggle to finish."
For a book from 1992, large parts of this book have held up excellently and others really have not and the parts inspired heavily by "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" really lost me at first. Even after a bit more a break to understand, still not a fan of that side of things.
Believe somebody else said it well with the quote "A fun trip at certain points but this was a struggle to finish."
For a book from 1992, large parts of this book have held up excellently and others really have not and the parts inspired heavily by "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" really lost me at first. Even after a bit more a break to understand, still not a fan of that side of things.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Oli mõistetav, miks seda loetakse paljude poolt parimaks küberpunkiks, erinvalt Neuromancerist oli see rohkem down-to-earth, ning nüüd it isikuna tundus mõistetavam maailm, kuigi oli veider lugeda, et igaüks, kes progeda oskas, oli kohe häkkeri nime all. Aga peale selle, et seal oli kirjeldatud seda maailma sellisena, mille lähedale võib vabalt meie maailm minna, oli seal teine äärmiselt huvitav idee: inimeseaju tarkvara ümber kirjutamine ning kõik see teooria oli seotud teoloogiaga. kogu inimkonna usud ja just uskude algusajad sumerini välja oli sellega seotud, kuidas keeleliselt inimeseaju progeda. Ning võrdlus just inimaju tavalise arvutiga ja kuidas õige programmiga on võimalik aju tarkvara muuta. Väga soovitan lugeda, eriti it inimestele võib põnev lugemine olla ja pole nii kauge tulevik ulme kui enamik küberpunki. Viimaseks asjaks: peategelase nimi on Hiro Protagonist, nagu kas ägedamat nime on võimalik välja mõelda.
Would have rated two stars, but the book lost an extra star for the 25+ times it mentioned Y.T.’s dentata. Cringe.
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Any attempt to describe this book falls short of how unique and prescient it is.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An imaginative, prescient and funny dystopian vision of a corporatised future. First prediction of the metaverse, which apparently inspired many of the current tech bros, despite it being part of a dystopia…