After much deliberation, I've decided that Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson will be my selection. Much like Mrs. White and her selection of Gilead, I'm using my turn to select a book that is completely different from what we've read to this point, and unless I'm mistaken, it will be something completely new from a genre standpoint for a large majority of you. Unlike most of the people in this club, most of my reading, aside from our book club, comes from the fantasy and sci-fi genres, and I want to use my selections to broaden your horizons like you folks have broadened mine with your selections.
Snow Crash is sharp and funny, a nice counterpoint from Gilead. It will also be quite a culture shock; from John Ames' slow, sedate, spiritual world of the past to the near-future world of high speed pizza delivery that Hiro Protagonist lives in - when he's not jacked into the Metaverse. Yes, the protagonist's name is Hiro Protagonist. Stephenson has a wry sense of humor.
Snow Crash is one of the modern classics of science fiction, and Stephenson is one of the few sci-fi writers of today who has a chance to transcend the genre like Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke. There's a lot to appreciate here, from the satire of modern life, to the Stephenson's vision of the future of computing and communications... and that's not even taking into account the story itself, which is plenty enough reason to love the book. As paul pointed out to me a few days ago, this is our longest selection to date, at 468 pages, but I don't anticipate that being much of an obstacle. This is a novel that was written to be read - not written to win a Pulitzer. The pace of the story carries the reader along with it, especially compared to previous selections like Revolutionary Road and Gilead... both great books, but they read like a Sunday drive. Snow Crash reads like a Formula 1 road race in comparison.
Here's what the publisher has to say:
Only once in a great while does a writer come along who defies comparison — a writer so original he redefines the way we look at the world. Neal Stephenson is such a writer and Snow Crash is such a novel, weaving virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cyber-sensibility to bring us the gigantic thriller of the information age.
In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo's Cosa Nostra Inc., but it the Metaverse he's a warrior prince. Plunging headlong into the enigma of a new computer virus that's striking down hackers everywhere, he races along the neon-lit streets on a search-and-destroy mission for the shadowy virtual villain threatening to bring about infocalypse. Snow Crash is a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous... you'll recognize it immediately.
I think 4 weeks should be plenty of time for us finish the book so we can begin discussion. That would put us at September 6th. If people think they need longer (or heck, even shorter, since I read near half the book yesterday after composing this post), drop a comment here and we can modify as needed.
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