4 ms·

I have similar feelings about the book. "an astronomical amount of suspension of disbelief" is a good way of putting it. There's too much detail and too little

I have similar feelings about the book. "an astronomical amount of suspension of disbelief" is a good way of putting it. There's too much detail and too little explanation, and so I felt like I couldn't see the forest because the trees were in the way. Here's a HN comment I wrote shortly after reading it last year: > Snow Crash is so bizarre. It launches you straight into the story with no explanation, starting off with some crazy pizza delivery man in a rocket car with swords and an electric zapper thing for people who don't pay the bill. The whole book is like that--it never explains how, why, or when, leaving you to piece it all together yourself. The entire time I was reading it, I was waiting for a 30000 feet view of the world. But then it ended, never having fully explained itself. > I've never read anything else quite like it, and honestly don't know what I think of it. Are all of Neal Stephenson's books like that? https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19704665 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19704665

ian-g 6y ago
In case you haven't read anything else, and for other people here, yes his books are projects. I really liked Seveneves though. And The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. has been good so far!
- jsolson 6y ago
  Interesting. I've loved most of Stephenson's books and Cryptonomicon easily holds the title of most re-read book in my collection. Seveneves, on the other hand, I absolutely loathed in basically every regard. My loathing for it makes it memorable enough to be my most hated book (there are plenty of books out there that are 'worse', but are also unmemorable -- Seveneves is viscerally memorable)
  - celticninja 6y ago
    the end of seveneves is what fucks it, it's a great book until the last third/quarter.
    - arethuza 6y ago
      I actually like the ending of Seveneves - not as great as the first part but still pretty good.
- peteretep 6y ago
  > The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. has been good so far! If you give up reading when it gets to the Halloween party, you’ll be sorted. The ending is disappointing.
sfjailbird 6y ago
To your last comment, I bought Snow Crash, based on a lot of recommendations, and hated it, for the stated reasons. It completely put me off Neal Stephenson. Then, much later, I relented and got Cryptonomicon, and it is one of my favorite books ever. I have since dabbled a bit with Stephenson, and amazingly his other books fall along the same divide for me. Zodiac is amazing, the Victorian sci-fi series (Diamond Age?) are unreadable. One book, Seveneves, the first part is amazing Neal Stephenson, the second is lazy, naive and dumb Neal Stephenson. Super puzzling, almost as if he has (really bad) ghost writers. I have since gone back to Snow Crash (could not finish it the first time), and with some overbearing, it is not entirely unlikable.
- aidenn0 6y ago
  That's funny because I love The Diamond Age, I like Snow Crash and thought Cryptonomicon was mediocre at best. I also never made it to the second half of Seveneves because I disliked the beginning so much. Clearly there are two styles of Stephenson books, and we like the opposite ones. [edit] Maybe I should try finishing Seveneves to see if I like the ending?
  - swasheck 6y ago
    I was captivated by the first half of Seveneves and simply endured the second half. The very end was like, “meh - I see what you did there” but to get there took great feats of endurance.
  - Alex63 6y ago
    Hear, hear. The Diamond Age is probably my favourite: The Diamond Age +++ Snow Crash ++ Quicksilver/The Confusion/The System of the World ++ (I think it makes sense to rate them as a series) Anathem + Seveneves - Cryptonomicon - Reamde -- Fall, or Dodge in Hell: hate to admit it but I haven't read it yet. It's sitting right next to The Rise and Fall of DODO, which is also waiting to be read. And I should probably read Zodiac at some point, but it hasn't seemed urgent.
    - arethuza 6y ago
samplatt 6y ago
>Are all of Neal Stephenson's books like that? He got better over his career, but the short answer is yes.
- jdkee 6y ago
  The Big-U and Interface were fantastic.
endtime 6y ago
No one else is mentioning Anathem, so I'll plug it here. It's a glacially paced math-fiction book that gets pretty good around page 800 or so. I enjoyed it, but can definitely see why others wouldn't. In any case, I read it years ago, but IIRC it does eventually more or less deliver on the 30,000 foot view.

ian-g 6y ago

In case you haven't read anything else, and for other people here, yes his books are projects. I really liked Seveneves though. And The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. has been good so far!

jsolson 6y ago
Interesting. I've loved most of Stephenson's books and Cryptonomicon easily holds the title of most re-read book in my collection. Seveneves, on the other hand, I absolutely loathed in basically every regard. My loathing for it makes it memorable enough to be my most hated book (there are plenty of books out there that are 'worse', but are also unmemorable -- Seveneves is viscerally memorable)
- celticninja 6y ago
  the end of seveneves is what fucks it, it's a great book until the last third/quarter.
  - arethuza 6y ago
    I actually like the ending of Seveneves - not as great as the first part but still pretty good.
peteretep 6y ago
> The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. has been good so far! If you give up reading when it gets to the Halloween party, you’ll be sorted. The ending is disappointing.

sfjailbird 6y ago

To your last comment, I bought Snow Crash, based on a lot of recommendations, and hated it, for the stated reasons. It completely put me off Neal Stephenson. Then, much later, I relented and got Cryptonomicon, and it is one of my favorite books ever. I have since dabbled a bit with Stephenson, and amazingly his other books fall along the same divide for me. Zodiac is amazing, the Victorian sci-fi series (Diamond Age?) are unreadable. One book, Seveneves, the first part is amazing Neal Stephenson, the second is lazy, naive and dumb Neal Stephenson. Super puzzling, almost as if he has (really bad) ghost writers. I have since gone back to Snow Crash (could not finish it the first time), and with some overbearing, it is not entirely unlikable.

aidenn0 6y ago
That's funny because I love The Diamond Age, I like Snow Crash and thought Cryptonomicon was mediocre at best. I also never made it to the second half of Seveneves because I disliked the beginning so much. Clearly there are two styles of Stephenson books, and we like the opposite ones. [edit] Maybe I should try finishing Seveneves to see if I like the ending?
- swasheck 6y ago
  I was captivated by the first half of Seveneves and simply endured the second half. The very end was like, “meh - I see what you did there” but to get there took great feats of endurance.
- Alex63 6y ago
  Hear, hear. The Diamond Age is probably my favourite: The Diamond Age +++ Snow Crash ++ Quicksilver/The Confusion/The System of the World ++ (I think it makes sense to rate them as a series) Anathem + Seveneves - Cryptonomicon - Reamde -- Fall, or Dodge in Hell: hate to admit it but I haven't read it yet. It's sitting right next to The Rise and Fall of DODO, which is also waiting to be read. And I should probably read Zodiac at some point, but it hasn't seemed urgent.
  - arethuza 6y ago

samplatt 6y ago

>Are all of Neal Stephenson's books like that? He got better over his career, but the short answer is yes.

jdkee 6y ago
The Big-U and Interface were fantastic.

endtime 6y ago

No one else is mentioning Anathem, so I'll plug it here. It's a glacially paced math-fiction book that gets pretty good around page 800 or so. I enjoyed it, but can definitely see why others wouldn't. In any case, I read it years ago, but IIRC it does eventually more or less deliver on the 30,000 foot view.