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Discuss Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson in the comments below.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein was published in 1966:
The book popularized the acronym TANSTAAFL ("There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"), and helped popularize the constructed language Loglan, which is used in the story for precise human-computer interaction. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations credits this novel with the first printed appearance of the phrase "There's no free lunch", although the phrase and its abbreviation considerably predate the novel.
The virtual assistant Mycroft is named after a computer system from the novel.
Previously: Announcement post • Mars, Ho! • Foundation • The Three-Body Problem
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 05 2019, @11:46PM
Sounds suspiciously like "Rammer" by Larry Niven.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Snotnose on Sunday January 06 2019, @12:02AM (4 children)
I remember back when I was a wee lad with mom taking me to the library, me with a kids card. I snuck out one day to the adult sections, where I found some Good Stuff. Was checking the books out, looking at the librarian, hoping she didn't say anything to mom, and mom, hoping she didn't say anything to the librarian. Hate to say, but with 20/20 on top of 50 years hindsight mom wasn't paying attention or she would have shit. Sorry mom, that's the way you were.
I was about 8 years old at the time. It was the La Mesa library, long before they tore it down to build a new building (a friend's dad produced plays there, he died of a heart attack after the old one was torn down but before the new one was built. The new building didn't have a stage).
Oh yeah, I'd discovered dad's stash of Science Fiction a few months earlier. Top shelf, hall closet, under blankets? Sorry dad. I read them 1 at a time, left to right. I made sure to fluff the books so there was no obvious missing book. Again, I was maybe 8 at the time.
Fast forward to me, 20/21. Read a Heinlein book with TANSTAAFL in it, thought "turkey stole that from Niven". Then read the copyright page, realized wasn't as well read on early science fiction as I thought
The moral? There is none. I've had to pee for 30 minutes, but the cat is snoring in my lap and I'm liking the music on my stereo.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 2) by RedBear on Sunday January 06 2019, @12:17AM (2 children)
LOL. Cats: The primary cause of bladder disorders since forever.
Sorry SN, I don’t want to read TMIAHM again, I’m still sad-face inside from when I read it nearly 30 years ago. Then again, it made for an interesting storyline in... which was it, Number of the Beast or The Cat Who Walks Through Walls? I think the latter.
I was seven when I wandered out of the children’s section and stumbled on a science fiction anthology of some kind. I don’t think I ever went back to the children’s books.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 06 2019, @06:19AM (1 child)
Rescuing Adam Selene was part of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls. Pixel (the cat) was not prominently featured in spite of the title.
The rescue comes up just as tangentially in To Sail Beyond the Sunset.
I can't speak to The Number of the Beast as I have not yet read it.
(Score: 2) by RedBear on Sunday January 06 2019, @08:01AM
Oh, that’s right. I was trying to remember the title of that other closely related book. My mistake. I guess it’s been too long.
Number of the Beast is a cute sci-fi adventure, and far less of a downer than things like Glory Road or The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. I highly recommend it if you ever liked anything by Heinlein.
¯\_ʕ◔.◔ʔ_/¯ LOL. I dunno. I'm just a bear.
... Peace out. Got bear stuff to do. 彡ʕ⌐■.■ʔ
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Tuesday January 08 2019, @12:56AM
+5 funny, I love my peeps :) Background: More than a little drunk at the time, really wanted to pee, did not want to disturb the cat, and I've found a radio station on Pluto I really like (not a Pluto plug, they don't remember what I was watching last night; current show (Death Note or somesuch, adult anime) takes 32 down arrows, 3 right, then I get to guess which ep I finished last night. This is not user friendly, don't ask how many times I had to look for it until the magic button push sequence got me where I wanted to be.
Then again, the cat is snoring in my lap and I'm listening to the radio station. Which I really really like. I should drink more, I don't have to pee.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 1) by Marvin on Sunday January 06 2019, @08:20AM (3 children)
Snow Crash is a book that Wiliam Gibson would write, if he could actually write :)
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 06 2019, @08:36AM
Neal Stephenson is not fit to wipe William Gibson's flipflop.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by deimtee on Sunday January 06 2019, @10:16AM (1 child)
Most Gibson or Sterling books I quite liked. I don't know whose fault it was, but The Difference Engine by both is one of the very few SF books I could never finish. Every time I tried I just fell asleep.
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday January 07 2019, @11:54PM
Had the same problem. I started it three or four times and just couldn't go there..... Then one day picked it up again and finally started to get it, then couldn't put it down until the end. (And I normally get every Gibson book as close to first-day-of-release as I can and devour it.)
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 06 2019, @09:15AM
The story could have been better served if Neal would have decided whether or not he was writing a research paper and stuck to that decision. If he had written a nonfiction piece about attempting a verbally programmed hardware/firmware exploit against humans, that would have been interesting. If he would have just explained his concept quickly and concisely a single time, the book would have been dramatically shorter and devoid of the constant interruptions to rehash theory details superfluous to the story.
(Score: 3, Informative) by deimtee on Sunday January 06 2019, @10:24AM (1 child)
I like most of Stephensons books, but I think he needs more training in how to end a book. He writes a great intro, and then many, many, pages of engaging story, but at some point it is like "oh, I have to finish this soon. Here's a bunch of quick wrap-ups for the plot points I care about, the rest can go hang.".
If you cough while drinking cheap red wine it really cleans out your sinuses.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 06 2019, @11:14AM
He learned, and finished Anathem and wrapped things up in the end, more or less. Nothing can touch Tolkien's conclusions at the end of LoTR, of course.
Your complaint is sort of old, but then, by now, so is Anathem.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 06 2019, @02:24PM
You might try reading Heinlein's "Revolt in 2100" instead. It is more appropriate to modern times.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday January 07 2019, @01:27AM (3 children)
I got on to Snow Crash after Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon (which I absolutely loved). I enjoyed Snow Crash, but not quite as much as Cryptonomicon.
It's always entertaining seeing different authors' takes on the ubiquitous VR world that we will all live in sometime in the future. Some good ideas in the book, and an intriguing plot.
My main problem with the plot, however, was:
Interested to hear what others think.
(Score: 2) by coolgopher on Monday January 07 2019, @07:38AM
Wasn't that after they'd decoded it and thus could neuter it to some degree?
Now it's been many years since I read Snow Crash, so I could be off base here...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 07 2019, @04:04PM (1 child)
She already knew the language from her Babylonian studies, and so could control the neurolinguistic virus.
(Score: 2) by Mykl on Monday January 07 2019, @11:38PM
Thanks - that rings a bell.
I'm still not buying it though. Just because you know how a virus works, that doesn't mean you can't be infected.
(Score: 2) by bzipitidoo on Monday January 07 2019, @05:48PM
If I especially like a book, I'll read it more than once. I have read Snow Crash only once. Not bad, but it's one of those stories that's over the top. It's cyberpunk carried to caricature extremes.
All in all, a kind of nerd fantasy that's a bit embarrassing.
(Score: 1) by callmeemo on Wednesday January 09 2019, @05:08PM
I went into Snow Crash a few years ago expecting a cool cyberpunk adventure. I was somewhat new to the genre as far as books go (fantasy's my preferred), so I was excited for this staple (and Neuromancer). Now I'm down with the dystopian future, reflective and all that, 1984 is a warning not a guide, whatever. I just found the author's style to be underwhelming. I enjoyed the concepts, his world and technologies were interesting to learn about, and his characters were fun if lacking depth. The plot, however, just felt somewhat strung together from act to act with characters suddenly moving somewhere else entirely, often. It felt like things happened off the spotlight that could be justified or explained, but weren't really.
As deimtee mentioned, Stephenson just seemed like he was in a hurry to get to the end of it. Too many things left undone or unsaid to really feel enjoyable. I don't regret having read it, the concepts and Hiro Protagonist himself were certainly memorable (I'm a sucker for Tower of Babylon stories, thanks SMT), it just needed more time in the oven.