You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

A few of us are going to read Snow Crash sometime in January 2017. Everyone is welcome to join in. We need to set a more specific date. Any ideas?

I'm easy. I think.

Was it Mariab who is joining us too?

Read it earlier, definitely a recommended read.

I've had this on my Want-To-Read since 2011. Maybe it is time?

I'll join in.

Flexible with start date. Always only one book away from a new read!

I have the audiobook and the print version. I started it on audio last year I think and I liked it but I wasn't sure what was going on. Which to be honest, happens quite frequently with cyberpunk/weird/obscure books anyway. But the fact I was listening to it and my mind tends to wander a lot with audiobooks, I found I couldn't keep up so I put it on hold. I think it was reading it for a toppler and I didn't want to switch to a print book at the time as I already had one on the go. And so it went on my "Started come back later" shelf. I will be starting it again from scratch. I will use the print book to start with but then I might interchange depending on how I feel.

I have had this book on my "want to read" list since 2012. I am also flexible about start date.

Sarah wrote: "Was it Mariab who is joining us too?"

Yes. She probably hasn't seen this thread yet.

Right, I haven't. Now I have. I'll definitely join the B-read, as long as it takes place in January, like I say, december is "panic and craziness"-time for me.

How about the second week in January - start Jan 9? Does that suit everyone?

Janice wrote: "How about the second week in January - start Jan 9? Does that suit everyone?"

Works for me!

Works for me.

Works for me.

A nice amount of people involved so it should be a good buddy read :-)

I'll update the calendar to Jan 9th then. Yes, it promises to be a good buddy read, Sarah. :)

I know this Buddy Read officially starts tomorrow, but I started the book by way of Kindle sample to see if I wanted to buy it. The answer was yes. It gets off to a very fast start.

I'm hoping to start it tomorrow, but I have 7 hours left on the audiobook I'm currently reading. I'll be starting as soon as I can. I'm looking forward to the buddy read.

I'll be starting tomorrow. I never did start the novella over the weekend so I'll puy that back on the shelf and start this one instead.

I started the book earlier. I've read about 8 pages so far, just started chapter 2. I remember this bit from last time. Lots of company names to get head around. Some unusual made up terms too which are kind of explained butnot massively which is quite normal for cyberpunk. I've not read one ror a while so it always takes me a little bit to get my head around it and then it's fine. Pizza delivery (view spoiler)[sounds dangerous! And a serious business too. You have to go to university to run a pizza shop? And a dedicated pizza university? Very odd. (hide spoiler)]

Running errands this morning and will start reading this afternoon.

Have both the audio and a dead tree copy here. Based on a previous experience with this author, I felt I should give myself the option to switch.

Definitely a good move Almeta.

I have just passed where I got to when I first attempted the book. I really didn't give it much chance last time. It doesn't make a huge amount more sense than last time. It's the genre, not the writing though. I think I'm more used to it now as I've read much more of thus kind of thing. Basically, i had read chapter 1 and 2 before. I've now finished chapter 3 and i feel like I've been drawn in and I'm very curious about this world. I'll come back and comment more later.

Corporations/privatisation/sponsored by(view spoiler)[In this world it seems like everything is owned by large corporations. Even the roads. But not just one company who owns all the roads but one road owned bybone company and another by another. And of course this breeds competition. But also I'm guessing things will be wildly different throughout the country/world, inconsistent facilities and services, areas of which are well served and others very under privileged. No mention of government yet, just corporations. A little scary as our work is heading that way. Everything these days seems to be sponsored by or funded by a company. Our government contracts things out to outside companies and then are held ransom by them with ever increasing prices which in the end they probably could have done themselves for less. (hide spoiler)]

I have read about five chapters. I'm still not entirely sure I understand everything that is going on, but I am getting more of a feel for it. This world does seem to be run by private interests (corporations, the Mafia) and I am beginning to wonder if there is any government. Even the police, such as they are, seem to be hired by private residents of neighborhoods.

I will be starting this afternoon. I'm a bit nervous given that two of you have commented about not understanding everything, or slow to understand.

Don't worry Janicce, that's part of the fun. The book seems designed to challenge a reader's expectations.

The confusion is why it took me four times to finish this finally

Whilst not sure where the story is heading or how all things relate yet, i am enjoying it. I am very intrigued to learn more about the world and the people we've met so far. It is a challenging book because the world is complex. You definitely can't tune out whilst reading it which is why i struggled when i started last time with the audio version.

So, Travis, after you finished it on the fourth try, did you feel it was worth your efforts? Something about it must have appealed for you to keep trying that long.

It has a very high average star rating on GR!

I'm in chapter 5 (view spoiler)[There have been a couple hints at racism. I'm pretty sure i remember Travis mentioning this back when he read it and why he suggested people read it as a buddy read. Is that right Travis? There was a mention that all pizza shop workers were immigrants. I can't remember the country name now. Hiro pondered on whether an American could make a pizza or not. There is also a burb, owned by a company, which is an apargheid complex allowed ing only white people to live there and enter there full stop. A visa is needed. It's like it's another fountry as opposed to a housing estate.

I found the skater kourier's pizza delivery really tense. She made it with seconds to spare. The presence of a chopper was strange. And the mafia owe her one. I'm curious how she is going to fit in to things. There is a bit of jumping around time wise between chapters.

The metaverse sounds interesting! (hide spoiler)]

I've not read the synopsis for this book in a while. Just revisited it now. I see that Snow Crash is a drug/virus. This seems to be a theme with cyberpunk books. So many of them have some kind of cyber drug. Or at least the ones I've read recently have.

I felt in the end I understood it well enough to give it 4 stars and planned to read the next book. There is a next book right or am I confused. Either way. Not sure I'm gonna venture on that 2nd one anymore

I wasn't aware of there being a second one. Off to check it out.

Appears I have it mixed up with something else

Was confusing this with Altered Carbon

My husband says that The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is an "oblique sequel."

I seem to be in minority liking snow crash better than Diamond Age. I really didn't get that one at all. Stephenson is hit an miss for me. Nothing beats the baroque cycle for me.

I'm almost tempted to read this again with you guys but I've already done parts of it so many times still I believe it has a blue cover which could fit my yearly challenge.

I'm somewhere in Chapter 2, possibly 3. I haven't got a clue what's going on. (view spoiler)[ It seems like this pizza delivery career is a euphemism for something else - drug dealing? Mafia business? (hide spoiler)]

I'm really stressed right now. I'll listen for a bit tomorrow after I finish work and see how it progresses.

Travis of NNY wrote: "I felt in the end I understood it well enough to give it 4 stars and planned to read the next book. There is a next book right or am I confused. Either way. Not sure I'm gonna venture on that 2nd o..."

The book doesn't show as part of a series here on Goodreads, but it does on FictFact. There, it shows as a series called "Stand Alone". I'm not sure what that means. Perhaps, for an author who has a lot of series, these are his stand alones. I tried going to his website, but I couldn't find anything to enlighten me.

I've completely been sucked in to this book. I'm really enjoying it. I still don't know where it's going. I don't feel as confused now as I'm getting used to the terminology even if i don't know what it all necessarily means. I am a bit of a nerd though and my background is computer science and cybernetics so cyberpunk really appeals to me. I can understand why it wouldn't appeal to everyone.

So we have two worlds. Reality and the metaverse. Two worlds does make it twiceas likely that things willbe confusing. Lol. It is obvious though when Hiro Protagonist (i love his name) is in reality and when in the metaverse. So far. His story line is in present day whilst YT's is in the past. I'm guessing her timeline will catch up at some point.

I think I'm in chapter 7 and snow crash has just been mentioned for the first time (view spoiler)[I'm curious as to why the guy giving it away was black and white. Has he taken snow crash and it caused that to happen? Hiro was wise not to take it. Everything about it sounds wrong. Jever take free drugs from a stranger, well not drugs that you've never heard of before. Free? Who gives free drugs away? Unless it's to get people hooked. Or there is something sinister behind it. Even if they are in the metaverse. (hide spoiler)]

The police (view spoiler)[how corrupt are they?! I'm not sure the difference between the two jail like places. Clearly one is better than the other otherwise they wouldn't accept bribes to take to one over the other. Can't believe they took YT's money. And I was a bjt confused with when she arrived at The Clink. They wanted to take her clotbes. But because she didn't fight and in fact started the process off, they did a 180 and almost reacted in disgust even though they'd of done it by force just seconds earlier. Did i interpret that right? <\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

I think I just finished the chapter you were just discussing, with YT and the police. I appreciate the clue about YT being in the past while Hiro is in the present. I was puzzled about how time was structured so differently for the two. I think you did interpret the scene right about YT (view spoiler)[ forcing the police to change course by surprising them. (hide spoiler)].

I've decided to set this book aside for now. I've got way too much on my plate right now, and I just need something light and easy to escape in.

Janice wrote: "I've decided to set this book aside for now. I've got way too much on my plate right now, and I just need something light and easy to escape in."

That's fair enough Janice. It's definitely not a light, fluffy book. I hope you find something more suitable for your mood.

I did end up starting this. I'm about caught up with you guys. Now I need to go read through spoilers although I'm following it fine. No wonder its only like my 5th time reading the first half of it. But my town is mentioned. Interesting he lists the towns not base names where he lived growing up. Mentioning Watertown NY rather than fort drum which would be the normal military answer when they live here briefly

I finished Chapter 10 last night. (view spoiler)[ I was very interested to meet Juanita. I liked the idea that she did "faces" for Black Sun, and her work was a major factor in its popularity, even though her male coworkers did not value her work or consider it important. She seems like an interesting character. So far, what I have seen of Da5id makes him sound like a jerk. He appears to have suffered a Snow Crash, so maybe now we will find out more about that. (hide spoiler)]

The book seems to be all in present time now. Not sure when it began to feel that way maybe chapter 12 or 13. Around the time of the concert I think. Please correct me if I'm wrong when you get there though

I think I'm in ch 12. I agree with you Casceil about the new characters. (view spoiler)[I like Juanita. Being a female in a male dominated world is hard. When I was at college doing computer science, I was the only girl. I got respect there though as I knew what I was doing and was head of the class. But when I went to uni, it was harder. There were a few more women on the course but a number of the guys were like "You cant code - you're a woman!" I often reminded them of Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer. So I like that we have a competent female hacker/programmer who the men around her respect (apart from her past coworkers). And yes, Da5id seems like a jerk. I even find his name annoying. lol.

When Da5id activated the snow crash, seemingly not much happened but he's crashed out of the metaverse now so I guess we'll see what happens next. Juanita was in black and white too, just like the snow crash pusher. Coincidence?! Unless I missed a reason for the black and white nature of avatars. Juanita seems interested and knowing of snow crash plus the guy that's selling it. I'm curious about that.

Hiro's sword fight was cool. I like that Hiro helped to break Y.T out of the clink. I'm liking Hiro. The car chase away from the scene was a little tense and they seem safe in the Hong Kong suburb now although Ive not quite finished the chapter so who knows what's going to happen. The dogs have just burst out to save Y.T and Hiro. Are they real dogs or robot/droids of some kind?

Anyone else get the sense that each suburb feels like more of a country than a housing area? It's like they have their own rules, enforcement, entry restrictions, resident restrictions etc. It also sounds very segregated.
(hide spoiler)]

I haven't got as far as a concert yet. I'm guessing that's coming up in the next chapter. Ill let you know about timeline when I get there. Time is still switching back and forth for me.

I too feel there's more to Juanita and ahe will reappear later on. Left to us as a mystery her real purpose I think.

The audiobook is giving me no chapters so I'm trying to keep pace with everyone as I don't know how to post a spoiler without knowing the chapter. I don't know if you've met YT mother yet but given her occupation is she really so blind to her daughter's activities. I feel she is also to play a larger role later on based on her job

So in the audio between chapters there is a few seconds of random jargon I now know to be people speaking babel. Turns out they say the chapter # at the end. I'm in chapter 35 or maybe just started 36. We are just starting g to see how several elements of the book actually link together. What seemed quite confusing is making sense except I still can't grasp the biblical stuff and its role fully yet although I think it should start becoming more clear