The Charlotte Geeks Book Club meets on the second Tuesday of each month from 7-8 pm at Park Road Books in the Park Rd shopping center. Our illustrious leader and supreme book-chooser, Nathan, alternates the book choices between the fantasy and sci-fi genres. We have a friendly discussion of the novel’s plot points, characters, and themes (that mostly sometimes stays on topic), and then head next door for drinks, dinner and further discourse at Sir Edmond Halley’s. Tuesday is no longer latin night which means they no longer have blackberry margaritas, but the regular margarita is not too shabby. 🙂
May Selection: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
In real life, Hiro Protagonist is a pizza delivery driver for the mob, but in the Metaverse he’s a sword-welding prince fighting a new computer virus that is targeting hackers. Hiro is in a race to find (and destroy) the virtual villain that is threatening to bring about the infocalypse.
I read exactly 17 pages of this book because that was all I could stomach due to the ridiculous slang. I did not like anything in those 17 pages, and the thought of continuing filled me with dread. 😀 But I guess I can’t actually review a book that I didn’t read, so how about I just give you the basic rundown of what the other book club members (that actually finished the book) had to say about the story.
It was mentioned that the plot was a bit convoluted and the story didn’t quite tie together. Stephenson added page after page of expository explanations that were often times factually incorrect. The book was full of racism and stereotypes. The character development was pretty poor. Apparently, there is also a statutory rape scene that is described in unnecessary detail. The book is filled with terrible similes and metaphors (something about geographical cunnilingus???), and there is no real resolution to wrap everything up.
So, um yeah, I feel very confident in my decision to give up on this novel.
If you want to hear more about the crappiness that is Snow Crash, you should check out this podcast review that a fellow club member recommended 🙂
Would you like to join us next month? You can RSVP here on the Meetup site. The June book is Little, Big, a fantasy novel by John Crowley.