tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post8381499384908806217..comments2023-09-29T05:32:04.308-07:00Comments on StrangePegs: 12-year-old Drunken FantasyAndrew Leonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-7485397228556320472012-09-13T20:48:28.200-07:002012-09-13T20:48:28.200-07:00neal: The idea of the skateboarding is kind of coo...neal: The idea of the skateboarding is kind of cool, but the specifics of that were pretty, well, 12-y-o with the smart wheels and all of that.<br /><br />The realities of how the whole VR world would work (from a tech standpoint) are pretty dumb (with the whole laser in the eyes thing (but, then, we were still working on the Star Wars program at the time and thought lasers were -the- thing)), but the implementation is probably possible as much as anything is since you can make anything in a virtual world.<br /><br />I haven't read that, and my stack is too tall, at the moment, to add it on.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-50180751459672612932012-09-13T20:29:08.908-07:002012-09-13T20:29:08.908-07:00The best I can recall of Snow Crash was:
1. The s...The best I can recall of Snow Crash was:<br /><br />1. The skateboarding girl gets around by hitching rides on cars. Also, there's some weird stuff about a Dentata.<br /><br />2. It seemed that a lot of silly pop-culture stuff and unlikely characters were thrown together...kind of like one of those bizarre one-off light-hearted episodes of The X-files.<br /><br />3. There were grand ideas that offered prescient insights about the internet, which was in its infancy...but that came off sort of hokey and weird in the specifics. I wonder how much it's been dated by its specifics, and to what extent its thoughts about virtual realities offered insights about what was to come (Second Life, etc.)<br /><br />Also, just wondering what you thought of Never Let Me Go as it also appeared to be a rather vaguely explained alternate reality.neal callhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17285975416175230777noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-20646085926601865792012-09-13T09:25:32.810-07:002012-09-13T09:25:32.810-07:00AA: I don't even understand how that can happe...AA: I don't even understand how that can happen. Don't they require the people that write those things read the book first? It's ridiculous!<br /><br />G_G: Glad I could help. Sort of. Not sort of glad, but it seems that it's not quite help since you wouldn't have been interested anyway.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-71235996881954229582012-09-13T07:40:35.251-07:002012-09-13T07:40:35.251-07:00Haven't read the book, but just the age of the...Haven't read the book, but just the age of the characters alone would have been the turn off for me. Even in 1979 when I was the age of the characters, the entire plot of it would have been a "disinterested" for me. Thanks for the review, if this were on my list of want to read, I would quickly scratch it off.Gossip_Grlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06603645371306284338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-26931158278315869512012-09-12T20:27:14.763-07:002012-09-12T20:27:14.763-07:00That's such a stinker when a blurb doesn't...That's such a stinker when a blurb doesn't fit the novel at all. Read a few horror novels that did that as well. Bummed me out! Alleged Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04869021184116123477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-57682196379504239902012-09-12T19:53:09.471-07:002012-09-12T19:53:09.471-07:00L.G.: I know! It's so insane!L.G.: I know! It's so insane!Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-63689387308367826282012-09-12T17:09:47.536-07:002012-09-12T17:09:47.536-07:00It gets worse...
Now let me go bang my head again...It gets worse...<br /><br />Now let me go bang my head against the desk as I try and figure out how this got published in the first place. <br /><br />Luanne G. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15762881276976395955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-8546944400894598482012-09-12T14:15:11.042-07:002012-09-12T14:15:11.042-07:00Alex: I haven't seen any of his movies except ...Alex: I haven't seen any of his movies except Bloodrayne, and I think I wiped that one from my mind, so I can't really make a call on that.<br />I was, actually, hoping for amusing, so that's good :)<br /><br />ABftS: I have no idea! I suppose I can understand the people that get distracted by the "oh! that's so cool!" thoughts and don't have any actual brain functions happening anyway, but I can't figure out how it got published. Anyone going through that manuscript with any kind of critical eye should have pointed out the conflicts in the story. It baffles me. (Of course, the editing is poor, too. Lots and lots of punctuation errors.)<br /><br />Michael: That's the tone I was going for, although it's all true what I said which is what makes it so horrid!<br /><br />Sarah (well, not to Sarah): What's kind of funny is that usually she will just stop reading a book that's bad, but, with this one, she couldn't stop herself. Like watching a car wreck.<br /><br />Lee: You know, I do actually have to think that he was drunk when he came up with the idea. Or he took way too many philosophy classes at some point.<br /><br />Bess: One or the other definitely.<br /><br />Rusty: All I can say is that Snow is one of his first book and his big break out book, so, maybe, he got better? Still, if he spends all his time just telling us the plot I'm not sure I see the point.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-19343341814407022762012-09-12T12:11:01.871-07:002012-09-12T12:11:01.871-07:00Judging from your review of this book, I would wit...Judging from your review of this book, I would withold any recommendation to read his other works. I read Cryptonomicon and Reamde and thought they were both works of a genius, I don't think either of them had any of the plotting problems you mentioned, but if that show vs tell thing bothers you that much, well, that doesn't change in later books.<br /><br /><br /><br />Rusty Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09887821877521181811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-19159230457686101902012-09-12T11:17:20.844-07:002012-09-12T11:17:20.844-07:00Wow. Well I will definitely be leaving it off my l...Wow. Well I will definitely be leaving it off my list. Or reading it when I'm drinking. Bess Weatherbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17906770012735983929noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-6901193467902307012012-09-12T10:42:14.161-07:002012-09-12T10:42:14.161-07:00This was hilarious. If I were reading your blog f...This was hilarious. If I were reading your blog for the very first time I might think you made all this up, but I know this is you and you're not joshing us. I've never heard of this book but it sounds like a real trip. Maybe that's where the author's influence came from, along with too many bad Saturday morning cartoon shows.<br /><br /><br />Lee<br /><a href="http://tossingitout.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow">Tossing It Out</a><br />Arlee Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11663942782929929334noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-36674779234791928312012-09-12T10:28:18.310-07:002012-09-12T10:28:18.310-07:00I also read the book, and also hated it, for sligh...I also read the book, and also hated it, for slightly different reasons than Andrew had. But as a skilled critical reader, I have to agree with all his points--the action in the book is completely disconnected from the actual plot and the whole plot is revealed multiple times (and at agonizing length) by talking heads. I really cannot understand why this book is on so many sci-fi fans' lists of favorites. It's just bad writing.<br /><br />Previously I had read Diamond Age, also by Stephenson, and I don't remember it being terrible, but I also didn't love it as some people who recommended it to me did. Snow Crash, in contract, is a piece of utter crap.<br /><br />I will also mention that I found the author's treatment of the 15 year old female character to be definitely predatory. That was really disturbing to me. I can forgive bad writing but that sort of thing just creeps me out.<br /><br />Sarah aka Andrew's wifeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-39783295855126244192012-09-12T09:18:48.368-07:002012-09-12T09:18:48.368-07:00I have never read "Snow Crash." But from...I have never read "Snow Crash." But from your review, I'm gonna save those hours of my life and avoid it. Thanks for the heads up, Andrew. I really enjoyed reading this because your "tone" came across as kind of funny...like a good humorous rant. Bravo sir!Michael Offutt, Phantom Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557969104886174930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-52991133483838677442012-09-12T09:14:01.714-07:002012-09-12T09:14:01.714-07:00Me to an agent: "Hi, my book is about a guy, ...Me to an agent: "Hi, my book is about a guy, Joe Hero, and he's given a computer that explains the entire story to us. He also hangs out with a super hot 15 year old girl and the bad guy spends half the book in a helicopter."<br /><br />Agent: "What are you smoking, and why are you still in my office?"<br /><br />How did this book get published and how does it have such a huge following?A Beer for the Showerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17029139745335325356noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7658526372996117205.post-29671190638181300992012-09-12T04:26:14.292-07:002012-09-12T04:26:14.292-07:00But it did make for an amusing review!
So he's...But it did make for an amusing review!<br />So he's like the Uwe Boll of books, huh? Hopefully Boll doesn't make a movie out of it.Alex J. Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09770065693345181702noreply@blogger.com