Snow Crash

By: Neal Stephenson

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 17 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

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 cybersensibility to bring us the gigathriller of the information age.

In reality, Hiro Protagonist delivers pizza for Uncle Enzo's CosaNostra Pizza Inc., but in 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.

©1992 Neal Stephenson (P)2001 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Brilliantly realized...Stephenson turns out to be an engaging guide to an onrushing tomorrow." (The New York Times Book Review)
"Fast-forward free-style mall mythology for the 21st century." (William Gibson)

An All-Time Favorite

If you like cyberpunk, you need to listen to this. Excellent performance, but the recording sounds a bit old, lossy, and glitchy — my only complaint. It's quite 90s retro and nostalgic, however! The story has endured very well and I still love it.

Wow, mind blown and actually impressed!

This book hooked me in from the beginning and made me laugh; filled with smart-ass humor but seriously one of the top 3 books I've ever read!

Reading >> Listening

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No. Snow Crash is a book that works much better "read" novel than "listened." Stephenson is VERY discursive; whole chapters are really nothing but lectures - often very interesting when read but very tedious and, really, rather pretentious when listened to. Much of the humor evaporated in the audio version, which I think is primarily the fault of Jonathan Davis whose performance is terrible precious and mannered. Some books reveal more of them selves when read well - I've just listened to Gibson's "Zero History" and appreciated Gibson's ability to sum up salient points in a sharp sentence as opposed to Stephenson's taking chapters to do the same thing. (I've read most of Stephenson - though got very tired of the Baroque Cycle - and all of Gibson).

What three words best describe Jonathan Davis’s performance?

mannered., precious

Did Snow Crash inspire you to do anything?

well i'm quite curious about how both The Diamond Age and Cryptonomicron fare as audio books. I very much enjoyed both and each has a reader other than Davis.

Entertaining book - not great though

Seems like the story didn't age well. Not what I want from a cyberpunk story.

Another Fun Adventure Only Neal Can Deliver

Great book. Definitely required reading for fans of the Cyberpunk genre. The ending seemed a little abrupt but it was great none the less.

Maybe it was good once, but it's very now and the story is a bit thin.

I am writing this on a phone, so I will make it brief. Th narrator did an amazing job, and is probably the only reason I finished the story. And I am cheap, so it's my money and all, I might as well listen. The story though was just...lacking. Reality has surpassed his original ideas, other authors have taken the VR/Internet concept MUCH further (check out Ready Player One), and the story just never really wraps up in a way you can care about. It's actually kind of a corny ending really. Sure, that leaves you to your imagination, which is sometimes better (see The Matrix Trilogy as an example of how to completely and mercilessly maul a great story), and maybe that's more of a Japanese story sort of approach. That's fine if that's what you intend, but this is more like an excuse used by a fat girl at a McDonalds shamefully asking for an order to be super sized after the cashier checks her waist line than what the author probably intended. Could have been wrapped up better. Even more cliche even, there were just a lot of loose ends and "who cares?" by the time the story finishes. Maybe he thought there would be a sequel. Maybe there is. I don't know and don't even care enough to find out. I will probably never listen to this book again honestly, which is kind of a shame, because I am a cheap SOB and would love to get more mileage from this but won't.

Love the story love the narrator hate the music

I

do not understand why there is any value in taking one out of the narrative with second-rate, 10 second, repetitive music.
I was frustrated with other audiobooks but this one even has the music every chapter break.
I paid for the narrative not for someone else's music preference.
This seems like a more recent trend and one I hope ends soon.

Very Interesting Concepts

This was a good story. There were a few things lacking in the action. unique ideas presented by the author more than made up for them. Know that I'm a very tough critic this book will be enjoyed by most with an interest in technology, sci-fi or even fantasy.

Very uneven

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would not recommend, the story does not flow well and in the end, you wonder why you hung in there for so long

Any additional comments?

The setting of the story is well done, it is to some extent a believable possible future. But to me there are two major flaws. I did not understand the motivations of the main characters - they put their lives at risk, but i could not figure out why. And there are LONG parts in the story where the "librarian" recounts ancient history to support the current events. Those parts of the narrative comes across like reading a boring history book - I thought authors are supposed to "show", not to "tell".

2nd listen just as good

One of my favorite Stephenson books. 2nd listen and still holds up years after first time. If you’re a Stephenson fan and haven’t listen to this one yet, grab it now.