Sunday, October 25, 2009
Overload
This book was very entertaining but incredibly confusing. I found myself thinking that I knew what they were talking about but then another perspective was thrown in. Through this stimulation of perspectives Stephenson uses them to keep the reader interested as it did me. I was always on edge and trying to figure out what was going on. The state of confusion that I was in at different points in the book kept me reading and intrigued. Hiro Protaganist made me feel that he was a slacker, I felt that he didn't do anything but sit on his computer and try to escape reality in the Metaverse. I related to him in this way because I too can be a true slacker and try to escape reality in different ways. It made me realize that I am more productive in reality rather than outside it and it takes real guts to take on reality. The time when I had realized which part of the story was reality and which was not was the point in which I felt that this was a joke, it seemed to me it was just a story that personified nerds and really didn't feel that it was worth my time. However, I was still drawn to it though for it's rather fast paced storyline. I don't know specifically what it was but something else drew me in. The text kept me on edge such as when the kourier was trailing Hiro. I could feel myself along for the ride getting excited and frustrated along with Hiro. Stephenson told it in such a way that I was wanting more. The frustration that Hiro felt throughout trying to do his job as a deliverator was felt on my end. The way obstacles would get in the way keeping him from doing his job the best that he can and the disappointment of not getting a job done or living up to standards that were set for him like crashing into the pool. When I don't accomplish what I set out to do it is devastating not so much that I didn't do it but I let people down and ruined their reputation or caused them to lose money. Like the deliverators they wanted to uphold their pride for Uncle Enzo and CosaNostra Pizza. This job was his family, as Hiro stated and since he had disgraced his family by crashing the car and more importantly not making the delivery he could not return. In many ways I feel that way when I screw up with my family. The point of contrast though is that my family will always accept me, affirm my mistake, and try to make it right.
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I too was very confused they way Stephenson would go from reality to the metaverse. It took me awhile to grasp the whole idea of the metaverse. But I liked how you related yourself to Hiro Protagonist. I never considered him a slack because of us fast pace and how he was so dedicated to getting the pizza delivered in a timely manner. I personally did not feel like a directly related to the book when I read it, but was still drawn in by all tense situations and different worlds.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the story is confusing, but like you said, Stephenson is really good at keeping the reader engaged. A technique that he uses that I think works well for this is run on sentences contrasted with very short, blunt sentences. The longer sentences give the reader a sense of urgency whereas the short ones give the reader a chance to breathe. For example, on page 14, he says "The border post is well lighted, the customs agents ready to frisk all comers-cavity-search them if they are the wrong kind of people- but the gate flies open as if by magic as the security system senses that this is a CosaNostra Pizza vehicle, just making a delivery sir." Earlier in the page when he is having a minor freakout about his car he stops and says "No need to get rattled," and it's almost like he's not just saying it to himself, but to the reader.
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