Response to Snow Crash

Snow Crash is by far the most interesting and captivating example of Cyberpunk I have read both in and outside of class. It was very different from most of the other stories we've read, perhaps because it is relatively new CP. The elements that I most enjoyed in it were the characterization, the plot development, the humor, and the involved history.

The characterization was the first thing that captured my attention. The main characters- Hiro, Y.T., Raven, and Uncle Enzo-are very well developed with acute personalities and well written dialogue. For example, Y.T. is a sagacious, fly little chick who doesn't take crap from anyone. This is shown through her saucy dialogue like when she is making a delivery to the Feds and they are antagonizing her she remarks "What, you got lots of EBGOC agents in here being mugged and raped by female Kouriers?[p 209]. Another clue is simply her occupation. A Kourier must be bold and brave to make deliveries to and for all classes of people in all types of environments. The attention to detail Stephenson gives to his characters is a good start in making a novel enjoyable. Even the lesser characters, such as the librarian, Squeaky and Fisheye, are fairly well developed before they expire fade out.

The plot development is especially good, because it is interesting and exiting as well as being complex and thought provoking. Chapters step from one main character to the next while still involving another character. Though the narration is in third person, it seems very personal. This adds something to the plot that most stories can't produce. The active and passive parts of the story are in an effective ratio. There are strategically placed "rests" that evoke even greater interest because the reader is so anxious to read what lies in the following pages. The story line is not simple to follow, but it is so intriguing that the complexity and movement in the story adds to the to tone and mood of the story, rather than detracting from it, as is evident in poorly written stories.

Another element that is especially remarkable in the story is the humor. Almost all CP fiction that I have read has little or no humor in it. This is understandable because most CP works are concerned with other things, but Stephenson made Snow Crash that mush better by instilling comic relief. While reading it, I had to laugh out loud several times in addition to the many times that I would smile and laugh on the inside. The title of the Reverend Wayne's best selling book- "How America Was Saved from Communism: ELVIS SHOT JFK" was particularly entertaining, as was Raven's tattooed forehead, declaring "poor impulse control." Also, much of the humor involved is very subtle, and is found funny only when the reader can understand the more subtle symbolism and allusions.

The last element that made this book so interesting was the elements of history involved and how they were manipulated to work with the setting's "present." The biblical reference to the Tower of Babel was the primary allusion from which mythology of different cultures were compared. The majority of the world is unaware if minor mythology from obscure cultures and it is very interesting to compare such mysteries to information and stories the reader is familiar with. Whether or not all the information presented as fact is true is indiscernible to ours truly, but it was still intriguing to draw conclusions and make inferences, and then compare it with Stephenson's own perspective.

For these reason and so many more, Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash is a great literary work, both in Cyberpunk and popular fiction. If other writers take cues from him when attempting to produce a CP story, the genre would be a much more influential and stimulating one.