# Neuromancer or Snow Crash? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236 "2009-12-14T17:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/41 "2009-12-17T21:47:44Z")
> [@Pyper](#): > > I think all of you who are saying nothing happens in Neuromancer need to read more carefully, or perhaps you were dazzled by the prose. It’s a caper story. An eclectic team is gathered to commit a crime by a mysterious boss. > > The plot revolves around the process they go through to steal a mysterious object, but it turns out that the person who hired them IS the mysterious object, looking to be freed. > > Or so I remember. As I said in my post, I _know_ that stuff happened. But it didn’t feel like it did for me. I got what he was doing with his prose, but it just didn’t do the thing for me. It wasn’t being dazzled so much as being given a verbal shot of NyQuil. 'Cept NyQuil tastes like licorice, and is automatically better. That being said, I’m thinking of picking _Neuromancer_ up again; I was sixteen-ish when I read it, and I might appreciate it more now. (I’m not sure, though; Count Zero and Burning Chrome got read right after, and I really liked those). I mean, Christ, I was able to slog through and enjoy _Dhalgren_, so this should be nothing. 😃 ETA: I had _Neuromancer_ in my desk at work (probably because I had my replacement copy of the Mirrorshades anthology shipped here, and they came in the same eBay Lot). No time like the present. . . ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/42 "2009-12-18T01:22:24Z")
Neuromancer. Snowcrash, like all Stephenson I’ve read, just poops out rather than delivering what one thought would be an amazing conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/43 "2009-12-18T01:37:06Z")
Neuromancer. Yes, it’s dated. But I can read it over and over and I never get tired of it. Snow Crash was fun and had neat ideas, but Neuromancer had characters I cared about. It’s soothing to me, I read it about twice a year. He never saw Molly again. ( **Fenris** already got the first line!) ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/44 "2009-12-18T02:17:15Z")
Ok. I can not CAN NOT get underway in Neuro. I actually tried to pick it up again this week, believe it or not, and I just can not get a grasp for Gibson’s style. There are way too many question marks for me in the opening pages. Very unsettling to read something on faith, and then pile on three or four more things on top, all with faith as well. Just me or does anyone else find the " I will get to this in a second " style to be offsetting? Snowcrash on the other hand, was a gradual progression and built and built. And frankly if you research memes, and realize that plot line in the book, the progression is still building.-- To know its based on real science is, for lack of better words. scary. ---
**Author:** ![Ston\_Col](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Ston\_Col](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ston_Col)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/45 "2009-12-18T02:39:58Z")
Having never read “Snow Crash”, I still recommend that one. “Neuromancer” has very vivid imagery and scenery, but the plot is turgid and slow-moving. Read “Neuromancer” in a location where you lack better forms of entertainment, such as on an airplane, over multiple bathroom trips, or at a baseball game. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/46 "2009-12-20T04:25:25Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > Just me or does anyone else find the " I will get to this in a second " style to be offsetting? Actually, if I’m understanding what you’re referring to, I freakin’ love it when a story does this: plops me down in the middle of the action with little idea of what’s going on, no backstory in the beginning, no nothing, so I flounder and flail around trying to figure out what’s happening. I find the gradual move from ignorance and confusion to understanding to be immensely satisfying. Neuromancer excelled at that. Of course, I decided as a teenager to read some William Gibson. I started with Count Zero, moved to Mona Lisa Overdrive, and ended with Neuromancer, not realizing they were out of order until I was in the middle of Neuromancer. That was a little TOO confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/47 "2009-12-29T14:35:22Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Stephenson seems to have gotten better in this respect in his latest books (the _Baroque Cycle_ and, particularly, _Anathem_). Agreed - the Baroque Cycle has an intricately plotted and (to me) satisfying ending. Both Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon had endings that were a little lacking to me (though I love and reread both frequently). ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/48 "2009-12-29T14:55:34Z")
Necromancer is really [part of a trilogy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprawl_trilogy). I think its a little odd to read it as a stand alone book. Youre doing yourself a disservice if you just read the first one. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236/49 "2009-12-29T17:20:00Z")
IIRC William Gibson was computer illiterate when he wrote Neuromancer. Neal Stephenson was not when he wrote Snow Crash. Take that as you will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neuromancer-or-snow-crash/521236.md?page=2)