Snow Crash

De: Neal Stephenson

Narrado por: Jonathan Davis

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.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"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)

Excellent example of what an audiobook should be

Thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. I listen to audiobooks quite frequently and I can honestly say this is my favorite. A reasonably intelligent use of sound effects and excellent vocalizing make this a joy to listen to. I had originally read this in paperback and was quite suprised to find myself identifying MORE with the characters through the audiobook than I had in my original reading.

While this IS considered sci-fi and/or cyberpunk, don't let those terms scare you off. The envisioned future is pretty realistic and just 'gritty' enough to give you a good feel for it. Most of the technology is pretty conceivable and easy to understand - and very little of it is thrown in just because the author's supposed to be writing 'sci-fi'.

The audio version does bog down a bit in one or two spots. Some of the religious lingo/jargon/names was a bit easier to absorb in hardcopy. It's a lot easier to look back a page or two - or know you read that name just a minute ago and glance back over a paragraph or three - than it is to zap your MP3 player back 6 or 7 minutes. You might want to bookmark the beginning of such sections if you're either a die-hard fan or a theology major... Otherwise, listen through it and absorb what you can. You'll get a good idea where things are heading in short order.

Excellent reading of vastly entertaining story

i've been avoiding Snow Crash for ages, despite the high recommendations of my friends. in this case, i'm glad i went for the audiobook, because the reader they chose really made the listening a huge pleasure. the story is fast-paced, very entertaining, and rather amazing for how closely it parallels some of what is happening today. highly recommended.

blah

3 stars because I managed to finish it.

you know those movies where they spend more on the special effects than they do the story?...well this is the book version of that.

Cool technology with a just blah plot.

Great Concept, Well Written

This was my first audio book and I was very pleased. The reader was very clear and the book was entertaining. I plan on buying other books from this author.

Overrated

This book is full of some extremely clever ideas, and I really want to like it more than I do.

It seemed to me like the story never settled on a tone. It was never funny enough to be a comedy, and never serious enough to be straight sci-fi. You're left with something that is stuck halfway in between, in world you don't care about with characters that you don't feel anything for, because they aren't charming enough to be likable, and their peril never feels real enough that you can sympathize with them.

The book leaves you with a number of interesting ideas to chew on, all of which probably could have been used to greater effect in a better story.

My biggest complaint about the book is that it ended before the story did.