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)

Interesting plot, but a bit soiled by the anti-Asian racism and glorification of the Italian mafia

The plot was fantastic and i appreciated how there was a connection made between the classics of old and the modernist technocratic portrayal of VR.

What distracted me however was the distraction of gratuitous anti-Asian racism juxtaposed with the protagonist supposedly being of mixed-race Black/Japanese personage. As a reader who is also a person of color, the one-dimensional way certain characters were portrayed actually betrayed the fact that this story was written by a cis-gendered white male with no personal connection to any of the cultures he portrayed. What drove this point further home is how the Italian mafia was overly gloried throughout the novel. There is an apparent caste system here, and it’s clear where the author feels each ethnicity belongs in this futuristic tale.

Would recommend this read, but with a grain of salt.

Amazing story

The audio could be redone with more modern hardware, but the story itself is really quite unique

Engaging story.

A very engaging story however, the ending seems a bit rushed and out of nowhere leaving you questioning what happens next.

Poor audio quality and annoying sound effects

The story was great, but the audio quality is not good. The recording sounds old and like the narrator is in a large echoey room. The sound effects between chapter are distracting and annoying.

Great performance of a book filled with great intellectual tangents

Great read, got a lot right! Love the etymology of certain words along the way.

Choppy story, bounced around too much and never really got anywhere.

Interesting idea but poorly executed. I wanted to like this book but sadly I didn’t and can’t recommend it. It was a choppy story, bounced around too much and never really got anywhere

The style of writing

The only criticism is that it is so damned detailed that you have to go back and re-listen, but I suppose that detail is part of the magic.

Fun Ride at the end

A hell of a ride overall with some philosophy, religion, and a dallop of Dystopia. I came away with a deep appreciation for why this is a sci-fi classic.

slow start but action-packed

The beginning was slow and a bunch of useless prose about a car that gets destroyed randomly and doesn't matter. The ending is unsatisfying and feels like there is a sequel coming because it just ends, but in the middle is an awesome glimpse at a dystopian future where corporations take over the world and an ancient power is unearthed.

The narrator can be a bit stale, and there are some inconsistencies in the audio quality at times like they edited a line or added something in at a different time with different equipment but it was decent overall.

Not as good as remembered

I read Snow Crash when the paperback came out, and remembered it fondly. Listening to it now, I’m amazed at how foolish I was a quarter century ago.

The story is based off of a fundamental misunderstanding of how networks, viruses, and the human mind work - which is fine as long as the world they’re set in is interesting. The world of Snow Crash is a patchwork of the cheesiest late 90s stereotypes. Still, a fun book is you don’t pay attention too closely.

The babble between chapters gets old almost immediately. Then it gets annoying. Then it gets infuriating. It’s like getting punished for sticking it out and listening it.

Not the worst thing I’ve listened to, but definitely not my favorite.