Cyberpunk

I really liked Snow Crash.  It was a fast-paced, action-packed conspiratory investigative adventure in a world that I've identified with since my childhood dreams of being a masterful hacker.  I feel like I missed a lot in speeding through it because it was very long, but I enjoyed it regardless. 

Initially I found the world a bit difficult to grasp, and I'm still not entirely sure I understand of many of the details.  Through it's candid descriptions, comical self-awareness, and over-the-top cliches, it is difficult to tell to what extent the author intended the book to be a parody of its own subject-matter.  It seems to strongly demonstrate the challenging art of conveying the very modern punk attitude desensitized, disillusioned sarcasm through text.

Despite the relatively contemporary elements that give Snow Crash its character, in many ways it bares the markings of a mythical tale.  Beyond the humorously obvious factors, like the main character's name being "Hiro Protagonist", the main characters typically have incredible abilities including physical combat and elite powers that would, in other context, be considered supernatural, placing technology in the role of magic and don't a splendid job of it.  Little fiction that I've read in the past has so directly dealt with memetic psychology and the potentials presented by mental programming as we inch ever closer to singularity.

The reality presented by the metaverse of Snow Crash, as a kind of communal info-world in which anything is possible that has circumvented the authority of government, begun radical social trends, and irreversibly changed humanity forever seems entirely too close to home.  Despite all of its absurdities, the speculations made about the impacts of our ever-increasing technology have an air of truth to them.  I believe this book provides a valuable warning to be aware of the subliminal impact of ideas and the psychological vulnerability created by media technology.