Even though I have other updates to be done, here's a small one.

Just finished reading Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I was definately entertained. After the first night of reading it, when I started it last week or so, I was sitting here the next afternoon and got this mental image of a really interesting television program I had watched but couldn't recall the name of. After a minute of thought I realized I was actually seeing my own visualizations of what I had read the night before in the book. It was fairly strange but interesting how detailed my own mental images of the words were. I loved the detail and history thrown in even if a lot of it was religious in nature. I also liked how it all tied into the future hi-tech plot. My favorite quote from the book... page 187...

"Wait a minute, Juanita. Make up your mind. This Snow Crash thing--is it a virus, a drug, or a religion?"
Juanita shrugs. "What's the difference?"

<SPOILER>

Other than that, the ending seemed somewhat disjointed. I'm not sure where the climax was... I'm leaning towards Hiro's battle with Raven with subsequent light-show hacker-saving. But there's also his and Juanita's triumph on The Raft, and a third strung out with Y.T. and Uncle Enzo. Where Mr. Lee and Ng ended up I'm not sure. The Rat Thing throwing itself into the jet engine seemed a waste and pointless. If Uncle Enzo was so sure of the pilot and co-pilot, what was the point in the Rat Thing's sacrifice? Not that it knew what was going on. It was cool imagining it tearing up the highway at super high speeds though. Raven v. Uncle Enzo... neat. Uncle Enzo going all commando and using the skateboard was cool. Raven dies from the glass shards... Uncle Enzo...? Assume he's dead? Assume the medical people he mentions streaming in save him? Y.T.'s attitude of totally ignoring everything and going home? Where did Hiro end up? Da5id is as good as dead I suppose? Do they pull the plug? Rife's Metaverse property and what's stored there...? Raven took a "bomb" from it, what happened to the rest of the place and who knows what else is in there? Too many damn questions, maybe I'm just overly inquisitive or something, I want to know what damn well happens in every detail! :P

I think the only part I didn't much care for was Y.T.'s sex scene with Raven. What the hell was that and did it really need to be in there? It's like there was a quota for one gratuitous sex scene featuring a minor and that's how he filled it. Yes, I realize there's no longer any laws in the world in the story so she wouldn't be a minor really. That still bothers me though.

</SPOILER>

I'm glad I own the book though and I hope Diamond Age and Cryptonomicon are as entertaining. I'm noticing I'm missing a lot of letters as I type and fixing the ones I see, but oh well. It's late and I have to be up for work in 4 hours or so. Oof!

I have to agree - Stephenson is a great writer, but his climaxes (climaces? climaxen?) always end up confusing me (especially The Diamond Age... JZig managed to make sense of it, somehow)

On the other hand, TDA and Cryptonomicon are excellent books. Zodiac is good, too.

If you want a text file copy of The Big U (his first book, very funny), catch me on IRC.

I must say that Snow Crash was my fave Stephenson novel, although I haven't read The Big U. I can't find it anywhere in town. (Note to self: Credit cards girl.) It's true that most Stephenson ending come quick, and out of no where, which i think worked for Snow Crash. Cryptomonicon was excellent minus a few major flaws. The Diamond Age was nifty too, although I think the ending was much too abrupt as well.
And if you ever get a text copy of the Big U, could ya share? :)

While Stephenson's middles and beginnings are usually very nice and well paced, he is known for his inability to properly end a book.

I don't know why, but all his books end and leave me... unsatisfied.

This wouldn't be that bad if there were sequels to his books, but... what I've read has been... iffy... Cryptonomicon wasn't much better than the others...

I think the problem is Stephenson's flow in writing is... odd to say the least. They are not EASY reads. You have to put your mind to it and break into his writing style.

There are certainly better authors out there, but none that I would recommend reading INSTEAD of stepheson. Maybe before. But never instead.