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Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

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Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#51

Post by Cushman »

jmduke wrote: post #43
Cushman wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The coolest moment in the entire book involves somebody saying "I'm sure they'll listen to reason" and then pulling out an enormous gun labelled "REASON" It's actually quite a small gun, labeled "Ultima Ratio Regum", and the original owner (who delivers that line) dies when its software crashes. And if you think that was the coolest moment, I'm not sure what book you were reading... Did you miss the downhill skateb…

"Snow Crash is definitely action, and definitely dated (it's more alternate present than near future at this point), but if it's dumb I would sure like to see smart." I enjoyed reading Snow Crash, but I have to agree with the other posters -- it's a good story, not a great book. The prose is ...weak, to say the least, and it felt like science fiction for the sake of science fiction -- which is not to say that's bad i…

I wasn't trying to say it's a "smart book" per se; it's certainly an exercise in indulgent cyberpunk fan service, for better and for worse. Only that calling it a "dumb action movie" implies that the reader is not particularly aware of the state of action movies.

Personally, I'm a DFW man.

Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#53

Post by mark_integerdsv »

Cushman wrote: post #31
jff wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Did you miss the downhill skateboarding in an office building? The nuclear-powered cyborg security drone? Hiro deflects a spear with a katana. There's a man with his own nuclear deterrence strategy. Seriously, all these things are like you asked a 90's teenage what would be "kickin' rad". I loved the book, but in many ways it was just Stephenson saying, "Check out all this cool shit I thought up".

Of course. One of the themes in the book is the adolescent fantasies of male badassitude which follow them well into adulthood, with a diminishing but ever-present sense of possibility. Not to sound too pretentious, because it definitely presents those fantasies in a sincere way, but the book also satirizes the idea; Hiro, a consummate badass who literally carries samurai swords with him everywhere he goes, is consta…

Agree and also: this plays into the irony of the hero/protagonists name

Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#54

Post by excuse-me »

planetguy wrote: post #40
adriand wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Stephenson's later books are much better (though after Diamond Age they become too long to film anyway). I disagree - his most recent novel, REAMDE, is twice as long as it needs to be (and badly in need of a ruthless editor), takes itself far too seriously, is full of absurdly unlikely plot scenarios, and is in general almost totally unreadable.

I stand corrected on the latest one, which I haven't read. I've picked it up in the bookstore a few times but the combination of a thousand pages of thickness and a less-than--compelling blurb on the back ( wasn't this a Michael Douglas movie? ) have failed to convince me. Thanks for the anti-recommendation... a thousand-page book is a serious time commitment and there's a lot of other things I want to read. To be ho…

Diamond age is interesting, he almost gets to write actual characters. Snow Crash is an 80s heavy metal album made into a book. Cryptomincon is excellent.

The Baroque cycle - you have to like Baroque. All those gold filigrees and cherubs of a Baroque opera house don't compare to the elegant lines of a Gothic cathedral and these three books aren't a lean story.

Anathem - I have to read again to decide if it's simply too long or if there is a point.

Readme - I can only assume he got a massive tax bill or is channeling the spirit of Michael Chrichton on a bad day. The only thing that raises it above Tom Clancy is that his editor managed to cut out 1000pages of weapons specifications.

Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#55

Post by gcv »

adriand wrote: post #19
planetguy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Snow Crash is an interesting book, but a deeply flawed one. Stephenson's later books are much better (though after Diamond Age they become too long to film anyway). It is a bit of a dumb action movie, in many ways. A guy with a sword takes on an entire flotilla, if I recall correctly. The coolest moment in the entire book involves somebody saying "I'm sure they'll listen to reason" and then pulling out an enormous gu…

> Stephenson's later books are much better (though after Diamond Age they become too long to film anyway). I disagree - his most recent novel, REAMDE, is twice as long as it needs to be (and badly in need of a ruthless editor), takes itself far too seriously, is full of absurdly unlikely plot scenarios, and is in general almost totally unreadable.

REAMDE was a bit long, true, but I had a blast reading it anyway. For one thing, it's really fun — right now — to read a book which accurately portrays up-to-the moment garbage like social media, MMORPGs, and a bit about startup culture. Plus, much of the text is hilarious, especially Ivanov's lines.

Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#56

Post by dllthomas »

knieveltech wrote: post #20
rabidsnail wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they want to avoid legions of pissed off fundies protesting? You couldn't buy advertising that good for any amount of money.

There's good and bad publicity, and while the line might be blurred for software startups, it's fairly clear for film studios. Pissing off the conservative crowd in North America comes with some consequences for an entertainment/media company. Case in point: The Golden Compass. The studio was shooting for a $30 million dollar opening weekend. They grossed something like $8.8 mil. You might recall that leading up to t…

Narnia has also been around long enough that parents remember reading it.

Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#57

Post by excuse-me »

planetguy wrote: post #45
waterlesscloud wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Baroque Trilogy literally changed how I see the way the world works. Those endless detours are worth quite a lot.

Some of them are. Some of them are truly pointless. Neal Stephenson apparently had a giant map of 18th century London on the wall of the room where he wrote it, and as such apparently feels compelled, on certain occasions when a character goes from one place to another, to name every street he passes on the way. That's not atmospheric or interesting, it's just filler.

The point of Baroque architecture and music is to have too much detail at every level to take in - presumably he was trying the same thing in writing.

Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#58

Post by aphyr »

jmduke wrote: post #43
Cushman wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The coolest moment in the entire book involves somebody saying "I'm sure they'll listen to reason" and then pulling out an enormous gun labelled "REASON" It's actually quite a small gun, labeled "Ultima Ratio Regum", and the original owner (who delivers that line) dies when its software crashes. And if you think that was the coolest moment, I'm not sure what book you were reading... Did you miss the downhill skateb…

"Snow Crash is definitely action, and definitely dated (it's more alternate present than near future at this point), but if it's dumb I would sure like to see smart." I enjoyed reading Snow Crash, but I have to agree with the other posters -- it's a good story, not a great book. The prose is ...weak, to say the least, and it felt like science fiction for the sake of science fiction -- which is not to say that's bad i…

The prose is ...weak, to say the least

Really? I mean sure, on the scale of "everything written in the English language" it may not be top notch, but I think it's one of Stephenson's best crafted works. The allusive density and rhythm of the prose is delightful, and it's packed with juicy, gritty metaphors. Who could forget:

The Deliverator's car has enough potential energy packed into its batteries to fire a pound of bacon into the Asteroid Belt. Unlike a bimbo box or a Burb beater, the Deliverator's car unloads that power through gaping, gleaming, polished sphincters... You want to talk contact patches? Your car's tires have tiny contact patches, talk to the asphalt in four places the size of your tongue. The Deliverator's car has big sticky tires with contact patches the size of a fat lady's thighs. The Deliverator is in touch with the road, starts like a bad day, stops on a peseta.

Yeah, it may not be provocative, life-altering science fiction, but dammit, Snow Crash is good storytelling.

Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#59

Post by jmduke »

Cushman wrote: post #51
jmduke wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Snow Crash is definitely action, and definitely dated (it's more alternate present than near future at this point), but if it's dumb I would sure like to see smart." I enjoyed reading Snow Crash, but I have to agree with the other posters -- it's a good story, not a great book. The prose is ...weak, to say the least, and it felt like science fiction for the sake of science fiction -- which is not to say that's bad i…

I wasn't trying to say it's a "smart book" per se; it's certainly an exercise in indulgent cyberpunk fan service, for better and for worse. Only that calling it a "dumb action movie" implies that the reader is not particularly aware of the state of action movies. Personally, I'm a DFW man.

Reading DFW is like being run over by a train of literature.

I mean that in the best way possible -- he's an amazing author and one of the most unique voices that we've been fortunate enough to receive. If you haven't read it, his Kenyon address is stunning: http://moreintelligentlife.com/story/david-foster-wallace-in...

Re: Snow Crash movie to be written and directed by Joe Cornish

#60

Post by Cushman »

knieveltech wrote: post #20
rabidsnail wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would they want to avoid legions of pissed off fundies protesting? You couldn't buy advertising that good for any amount of money.

There's good and bad publicity, and while the line might be blurred for software startups, it's fairly clear for film studios. Pissing off the conservative crowd in North America comes with some consequences for an entertainment/media company. Case in point: The Golden Compass. The studio was shooting for a $30 million dollar opening weekend. They grossed something like $8.8 mil. You might recall that leading up to t…

The Golden Compass screwed itself. Trying to appease the protest, they softened the message, thus losing fans of the book in favor of conservatives who were never going to see it anyway.
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