Blog# 5: Snow Crash

I'll start with the words of L. Rob Rife:"Shit, if I took time out to have an opinion about everything, I wouldn't get any work done". :)
I like the idea of an alternative virtual reality "The Metaverse", where people can do whatever they like without suffering any consequences, have relationships, kill other people in sword fights, do something that helps release a negative energy. The whole idea of an alternative reality that people can use as an outlet from the constraints of Reality is very relevant, considering a popularity of video games in the modern world
I think the name of the personages like Y.T.(Truly Yours), Hiro Protagonist (Greatest sword fighter in the world) reflect their personal characteristics.. Y.Y. is a good friend and partner, who always trying to help ("I can do that. Open the hatch"). Hiro Protagonist seems like the one of the prominent figures,a leading character, and a champion, who is always trying to do the right thing for people around him (helping Y.T. to escape from the jail).
I was really shocked by the cold and cynical expressions of L. Rob Rife on pages 110 and 111, where he compares United States with "whale straining krill from the ocean". "The function of the Raft is to bring more biomass... They come here, they get decent jobs, find Christ, buy a Weber grill, and live happily ever after.." Here L. Rob Rife sounds as a true cold and constantly calculating capitalist, who doesn't know anything about humanity, moral values, and other wonderful and meaningful things that makes life of a normal person happy and fulfilling. He (L. Rob Rife) looks at people as at biomass that could be used for making money. Apparently, the character of Mr. Rife is not surreal, and that is a typical capitalistic way of thinking.
So far, I'm enjoying this reading despite a few shocking expressions. Also, I've found interesting that he illustrates people from Tajikistan and Abkhasia, which are republics of the former Soviet Union, as primitive and uneducated, that wasn't objective at all. Such nonobjective judgment questions the credibility of Neal Stephenson as a writer, because it reflects his political views and reveals the specific audience he is trying to target.
I deeply emphasized with Hiro in the passage on the page 58: "So when his mother visits him in the Metaverse, looking tan and happy in her golfing duds, Hiro views that as his personal fortune. Through this passage I learned that he is a loving, caring, and respectful son who put well being of his parents above everything else. He doesn't care that he lives in a "shithole", as long as his mother is doing well, and as long as he has a "Metaverse", "and in the Metaverse, Hiro protagonist is a warrior prince."