We’ve read more than one short story in class in the past few weeks, so I know there’s a lot I can talk about, but I want to focus on “Snowcrash” Today.
I’ve only read 1 chapter of “Snowcrash”, and it was amazing. What stuck out to me though was the author’s satirical depiction of the future world, and it seems there was real meaning behind all the humor. Stephenson seems to have a pretty substantial libertarian following, and his libertarian views show greatly in “Snowcrash”. In the story, everything is privatized, creating a governmental system based on letting the people pay for what they want. I myself am fairly libertarian, as I believe that forcing people to send large portions of their income to an organization that rewards them with almost nothing in return is unfair.
Another thing that stuck out to me was the pretty clear wealth divide that Stephenson depicted. The poor live in storage units and in a land controlled by the Mafia and other gangs, while the middle/upper class live in city-state like suburbs. Stephenson also says a shockingly low number of people would own computers, and we all know how wrong that is.
All in all, what I read of “Snowcrash” was funny and interesting, and at least it didn’t involve weird alien babymaking.
Snowcrash--so funny, so cynical. Yes. :) Let me know what you think when you read the whole book, okay? I need a dependable review.
ReplyDeleteOn another note, the book depicts a libertarian world, but I'm not at all sure it's in favor of that world. You might have to wait for Firefly to see that. :)