- Nov 26, 2011
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I know you don't like science fiction. Neither do I, for the most part. But bear with me.
I am not a fan of Star Wars or Red Dwarf or any of the pop culture hits. I do like Doctor Who, though, and even had a Weeping Angel as my avatar for while. That first Weeping Angel episode ("Don't Blink") is probably the greatest hour of television ever. So I'll go back to that avatar when I've had my fun with making Putin a gay clown.
Russia bans images of Putin linked to 'gay clown' meme - CNN
Anywayyyyy...
I also loved Blade Runner. I've watched every version they made. The one with voiceovers, the one with the unicorn, the one without the unicorn, the one without the voiceovers, both director's cuts, blah blah blah.
The funny thing about that is that I have never been able to get into any of Philip K. Dick's novels. For those who don't know, PDK is the author of the short story upon which Blade Runner was based.
I guess I just like the near future dystopian stuff. Not the intergalactic millennium-spanning operatic shit.
I've read a great many of the iconic science fiction novels in my time. If you read as many thousands of books as I have, you're going to read some science fiction. That's just the way it is. Lucifer's Hammer, Ringworld, Dune, blah blah blah.
But I'm not a big fan of the genre. I can't recount how many science fiction novels I've tossed in the trash ten pages in. On the whole, I could live without science fiction.
So why is a science fiction book my favorite fiction book of all time?
Because this one shows real imagination. And because this one is fucking weird! But the right kind of weird. The cool kind of weird. The kind of weird which tickles the intellect in funny ways.
And I mean funny in both meanings of the word. Funny-peculiar and funny-ha ha.
Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson is the book.
Snow Crash was written in 1992, before the internet. But even if you read it today, it still works. You can imagine Stephenson's world is just a few years down the road from right now. In fact, it seems even more plausible today than it did in 1992.
I just read it for the umpteenth time this week. And the only anachronistic thing in it is that he calls cell phones "personal telephones". That's not fucking bad.
I say I just read it. Actually, I just listened to the audiobook. I have read it in paperback form umpteen times, but I decided to check out the audiobook, and I am really glad I did. The audiobook is read by Jonathan Davis and he does an outstanding job.
So what the hell is the book about, G5000? Christ, we've been reading for ten minute and you haven't gotten around to the fricking plot!
Okay, okay...
America is fragmented. The United States government is a powerless entity, and has been replaced by a libertarian paradise of competing franchises. Our hero, Hiro Protagonist (yes, that's actually his name, but it works!) is a Deliverator for Uncle Enzo's mafia pizza chain.
You've just read one paragraph about the book and you're already tantalized, aren't you. And that's just the first page of the book. And believe me, the interesting shit never ends. You do not get bored for one second.
And this shit is funny as hell, too. It's serious brain twisting compliticated storyline, mixed with dark humor that all blends together in the best freaking novel ever.
Hiro's night job is as a Deliverator. But in the Metaverse, he's the world's greatest sword fighter and one of the hackers who built the Metaverse.
Hiro lives in a U-Stor-It unit with a Russian musician by the name of Vitaly Chernobyl.
Hiro is the guy whose mission will be to save the world from the weirdest virus you will ever hear of.
Some fascinating characters and entities in Snow Crash:
"Rat things": Cybernetic, semi-autonomous guard units
Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong: One of many semi-governmental franchises operating inside the United States.
Uncle Enzo: The CEO of the mafia. They deliver pizza and also control large swaths of the greater Los Angeles area. The last thing a Deliverator ever wants to do is deliver a pizza beyond the 30-minute limit. There are consequences.
Y.T.: A precocious female 15 year old skateboard Kourier. Even the skateboards of the near future have really cool features. As does Y.T., including something called a dentata which you do NOT want to mess with.
Metaverse: Like the internet, only a million times better.
Reason: You better listen to Reason.
Raven: You better run from Raven.
And so much more.
I've never been able to hold onto a copy of Snow Crash. I'm always giving them away. Kind of like my own nam-shub.
And now I hope I have infected you, too.
Trust me. You're going to love this book.
I am not a fan of Star Wars or Red Dwarf or any of the pop culture hits. I do like Doctor Who, though, and even had a Weeping Angel as my avatar for while. That first Weeping Angel episode ("Don't Blink") is probably the greatest hour of television ever. So I'll go back to that avatar when I've had my fun with making Putin a gay clown.
Russia bans images of Putin linked to 'gay clown' meme - CNN
Anywayyyyy...
I also loved Blade Runner. I've watched every version they made. The one with voiceovers, the one with the unicorn, the one without the unicorn, the one without the voiceovers, both director's cuts, blah blah blah.
The funny thing about that is that I have never been able to get into any of Philip K. Dick's novels. For those who don't know, PDK is the author of the short story upon which Blade Runner was based.
I guess I just like the near future dystopian stuff. Not the intergalactic millennium-spanning operatic shit.
I've read a great many of the iconic science fiction novels in my time. If you read as many thousands of books as I have, you're going to read some science fiction. That's just the way it is. Lucifer's Hammer, Ringworld, Dune, blah blah blah.
But I'm not a big fan of the genre. I can't recount how many science fiction novels I've tossed in the trash ten pages in. On the whole, I could live without science fiction.
So why is a science fiction book my favorite fiction book of all time?
Because this one shows real imagination. And because this one is fucking weird! But the right kind of weird. The cool kind of weird. The kind of weird which tickles the intellect in funny ways.
And I mean funny in both meanings of the word. Funny-peculiar and funny-ha ha.
Snow Crash, by Neal Stephenson is the book.
Snow Crash was written in 1992, before the internet. But even if you read it today, it still works. You can imagine Stephenson's world is just a few years down the road from right now. In fact, it seems even more plausible today than it did in 1992.
I just read it for the umpteenth time this week. And the only anachronistic thing in it is that he calls cell phones "personal telephones". That's not fucking bad.
I say I just read it. Actually, I just listened to the audiobook. I have read it in paperback form umpteen times, but I decided to check out the audiobook, and I am really glad I did. The audiobook is read by Jonathan Davis and he does an outstanding job.
So what the hell is the book about, G5000? Christ, we've been reading for ten minute and you haven't gotten around to the fricking plot!
Okay, okay...
America is fragmented. The United States government is a powerless entity, and has been replaced by a libertarian paradise of competing franchises. Our hero, Hiro Protagonist (yes, that's actually his name, but it works!) is a Deliverator for Uncle Enzo's mafia pizza chain.
You've just read one paragraph about the book and you're already tantalized, aren't you. And that's just the first page of the book. And believe me, the interesting shit never ends. You do not get bored for one second.
And this shit is funny as hell, too. It's serious brain twisting compliticated storyline, mixed with dark humor that all blends together in the best freaking novel ever.
Hiro's night job is as a Deliverator. But in the Metaverse, he's the world's greatest sword fighter and one of the hackers who built the Metaverse.
Hiro lives in a U-Stor-It unit with a Russian musician by the name of Vitaly Chernobyl.
Hiro is the guy whose mission will be to save the world from the weirdest virus you will ever hear of.
Some fascinating characters and entities in Snow Crash:
"Rat things": Cybernetic, semi-autonomous guard units
Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong: One of many semi-governmental franchises operating inside the United States.
Uncle Enzo: The CEO of the mafia. They deliver pizza and also control large swaths of the greater Los Angeles area. The last thing a Deliverator ever wants to do is deliver a pizza beyond the 30-minute limit. There are consequences.
Y.T.: A precocious female 15 year old skateboard Kourier. Even the skateboards of the near future have really cool features. As does Y.T., including something called a dentata which you do NOT want to mess with.
Metaverse: Like the internet, only a million times better.
Reason: You better listen to Reason.
Raven: You better run from Raven.
And so much more.
I've never been able to hold onto a copy of Snow Crash. I'm always giving them away. Kind of like my own nam-shub.
And now I hope I have infected you, too.
Trust me. You're going to love this book.
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