I would not want to live in the world of Snow Crash. I would rather not live in a world where a dentata is necessary. Especially for 15 year-olds. I suppose we read this to remark on globalization and anarcho-capitalism, but I could not quite get over the really, really messed up social…stuff. Most of this stuff seemed unnecessary to the plot (a detailed pedophilic sex scene for instance) and makes me wonder a lot about the character of Mr. Neal Stephenson. I don’t know if he is getting out repressed feelings, but I felt uncomfortable. Why does Hiro have to find his computer erotic? Why is Y.T. such a sexually experienced person with a hot body when she is 15, an awkward age for most humans? The many descriptions of every move that Y.T. takes while “pooning” waste a lot of time. Maybe this book as a movie would be better seeing as most of the descriptions are akin to when someone tries to describe a “you had to be there” moment. I know I am being extremely critical, but I do hope that our world will not escalate to that state.
I know I did not really answer the two questions, but I suppose since I have no technological knowledge that the functions and structures of this world is possible, but I cannot believe that most of the characters and their actions could occur. Since Jasmine, Athkor, and I have labeled our room Mr. Lee’s Greater Hong Kong, I suppose that is the franchise I would want to live in. But only if I were a Rat Thing. Because then I could run super fast and no one would want to kill me. Plus I’ve always envied the lives of dogs. In view of the upcoming week, lying around and occasionally playing catch seems like an enjoyable alternative to papers and finals.
7 comments:
Yep to your post Tori. After asking around about what people thought of the book it became clear to me that this is probably a guy book. Us girls are definitely a little uncomfortable with Stephenson's descriptions of Y.T. and upset with what I am beginning to consider a very masochistic world. I am not a huge feminist, but I am kind of hoping that in the future it won't only be men controlling the world.
I personally enjoyed the book. Admittedly, the pedophilic sex scene and the lengthy description of skateboarding does not contribute to the plot significantly. However, I feel it is the franchises, these islands of civilization, and the social dynamic between people in both the metaverse and reality that are at the heart of the story.
Every franchise-state to me represents a sort of apartheid, as well as a removal from outside society. Citizens shut themselves off in a wide array of franchises, with their own governments and social services. The only sort of interaction between people-groups is through the metaverse, which is a distant way of developing relationships and living your life. What I found most intriguing is that Stephenson does not criticize this form of interaction, but leaves it up to the reader to decide. I personally find that Hiro over-utilizes the metaverse to put it mildly. He seems to be more at home in a fictious state then that of reality, but I feel its a detail that helps us better understand the personality of Hiro.
To sum it up, yes Stephenson sometimes is like Nathaneil Hawthorne and uses way more words than necessary to describe a situation, but I enjoyed his book.
I just had a problem ignoring the sick perversion to appreciate the "intriguing" aspects of the book. Not to mention ignoring all the technical stuff that I could not understand. I think when so much of the book must be ignored to appreciate it, it probably does not deserve my appreciation.
I'm an American Psycho fan, so obviously the sex scenes didn't bother me. Ultimately, they served to further the plot in explaining why Raven was out of commission for Hiro's escapades on the Raft. I could be just as critical of Jane Austen, The Notebook, or any other chick flick's unrealistic portrayal of men, furthering the "unrealistic expectations" supposedly created by pornography, as you are of Y.T.'s characterization. I feel this post fails to address the broader point and merely serves to view the book in its most literal reading.
I personally found it to be far more interesting in regards to its portrayal of the continuing decentralization of power globally and the rising power of corporations and other various non-state actors. This ties well into my first post about the rise of non-state actors being the greatest issue today in world politics, and issue I still hold to be true.
What I find to be interesting in the book is the fact that corporations in many, if not most, cases deal with governments on equal or superior terms. When we view the handling of various matters, whether they be military or economic, the private sector is almost always consulted and often directly employed to fulfill the roles governments often assume themselves. This decentralization of power is indicative of a broader trend that exists in society today, a movement toward the "nam-shub of Enki" described in the book. I find even more interesting the radical backlash from this trend. We see this in Rife's desire to reunify the world under one language. This can be seen in many left-wing socialist and right-wing nativist responses to globalization, where they desire to isolate themselves from the rest of the world, maintaining their independent identities and unified only under their one region with one centralized authority. This creates a large clash, much like that seen in Snow Crash, between all of the franchulates and Rife's Pentecostal vision. I saw it as a highly exaggerated yet fairly accurate example of foresight on Stephenson's part in viewing the way the world works today.
And besides, Tori, you watch Maury in my and Seamus's room all the time. Y.T.'s display shouldn't freak you out that much :P
I think the fact that someone would want to conceptualize a future where Y.T. exists bothers me more than anything else.
A lot of the reasons I do not like the book is because of Stephenson's choices. I could have dealt with the sex scene if the rest of the book was less objectionable. I liked Fido, and that was about it. However, I feel like the book's merit lies in the sort-of realization of the technology it mentions. This is not a book with much literary merit, if you want to compare it to Austen. That is not just an individual thing. Her books are classics and have been acknowledged by critics with credentials.
In Snow Crash, the characters are flat. Undeniably so. Plus, the bad pun of "Hiro Protagonist" is out of place as it is the only one existing in the book. If this story is only about ideas and the story is not helping the ideas, then perhaps the story is unnecessary. Stephenson's audience is very narrow. Since I am not a member of his intended audience, I felt thrown out of the story. The ideas would be more palatable in a different medium.
Such revolutionary ideas should not have been encumbered by a bad story. Sometimes authors can find the masterful middle ground of great storytelling and great ideas, but Stephenson fails to do so in my mind. Argue with me if you will, but from what I've gathered, a large amount of readers did not appreciate the novel and I think that this indicates a flaw.
Sure, there are young sexually active people in the world that are showcased on Maury. My problem is with the creation of the character. A sassy teen with attitude who can fend for herself could be a great role model. But when that character decides that all the advice her mother gave her about what to do when a man is fresh was not actually applicable in the real world, I think there is a problem.
I do not think that chick flicks have literary merit or revolutionary ideas, so I do not need to address that argument because it did not address mine. Nor do I think Y.T. furthers unrealistic expectations, that was not my argument at all.
I agree that there is more to the book than what I mentioned, I am saying that many aspects of the story put me off from getting the "meaning" and "purpose," and that is not an aspect of a good piece of literature.
And Bovice, you cried during The Notebook.
Um. You are all pandering to PTJ's will by crazily discussing this book.
Just so you know.
And I think the book is HELLS ASS WEIRD. But ignoring the anarcho-capitalist stuff, I guess the languages part of the narrative was interesting, even if at times I got lost.
Oh, and the ending? Hmm. A little, a little predictable in my opinion.
Tori, your last comment hit the tale on the donkey, so to speak :) I found myself agreeing with everything you said.
Bovice, there is no way you can justify the sexual objectification of women in this book... even if you do compare it to chick flicks. Even in the most inappropriate parts of the more risky chick flicks like Sex in the City for example, you won't see a woman taking advantage of a man. This is more of a sociological argument though because our society has created this stigma in the entertainment business... but it's authors like Stephenson who perpetuate the problem by continuing to sexually objectify women in their writing. The sexual part of Snow Crash was completely unnecessary!
Tori, I also felt left out of the audience for this book... mostly because the sexual content totally put me off. Other than that I would have been much more inclined to like the book. So for future sci-fi writers, stick to the sci-fi and forget attempting to spark entertainment levels by adding sexual content... the novel would have been much better without it!
Post a Comment