Did you read the book? Could be she's bashing so artfully to be seen bashing artfully.
I like Stephenson's books, but I'll offer that the literary value is not the point. "Cyberpunk"? It's basically sci-fi, wherein interesting ideas and facts are more importat than plot and character. (The long stretch of "plot" near the end of Snow Crash was incredibly tedious.) Still, some of us are happy to pick up such a book from time to time. And there are only so many William Gibson books to read.
What's annoying about Stephenson is that he has become a bit of a geek touch stone. It's ugly to watch people trying to demonstrate their geek cred by being first to praise his newest book.
Interestingly, Stephenson acknowledges that his breakthrough novel, Snow Crash, was originally intended to be a graphic novel. Did Friedell know that when she give him this whack?
This is the sort of character that makes one suspects that the greatest influences upon Stephenson's work have been comic books and cartoons.
but is she navel-gazing? Her own, that is, not yours.
Posted by fontana labs | Link to this comment | 10-26-03 6:57 PM
Did you read the book? Could be she's bashing so artfully to be seen bashing artfully.
I like Stephenson's books, but I'll offer that the literary value is not the point. "Cyberpunk"? It's basically sci-fi, wherein interesting ideas and facts are more importat than plot and character. (The long stretch of "plot" near the end of Snow Crash was incredibly tedious.) Still, some of us are happy to pick up such a book from time to time. And there are only so many William Gibson books to read.
What's annoying about Stephenson is that he has become a bit of a geek touch stone. It's ugly to watch people trying to demonstrate their geek cred by being first to praise his newest book.
Interestingly, Stephenson acknowledges that his breakthrough novel, Snow Crash, was originally intended to be a graphic novel. Did Friedell know that when she give him this whack?
This is the sort of character that makes one suspects that the greatest influences upon Stephenson's work have been comic books and cartoons.
-Magik
Posted by Magik | Link to this comment | 10-26-03 11:04 PM