Book Review

[kenjari]

The Big U
by Neal Stephenson

This novel is set at American Megaversity, a huge institution modeled on Boston University, and specifically, Warren Towers. It follows the adventures of several students plus a couple of professors and some of the staff and administration as they navigate their way through the university's bureaucracy, culture, secrets, IT system, and tunnels. The story takes place over the course of an academic year that culminates in a civil war/riot at the university.
I found this book fairly disappointing, especially compared to Stephenson's other work. It's his first novel and it shows. The characters could use more development, the buildup to the final reveals could have been done better, and the war/riot is surprisingly boring. On the other hand, the satire of American university life in the 1980s is pretty amusing, and it was fun to spot early iterations of things that are important in later novels: code, computer programming, virtual reality, and a big rail gun.

Comments

[sovay]

This novel is set at American Megaversity, a huge institution modeled on Boston University, and specifically, Warren Towers.

Casimir is partly a fictionalization of my father. The rest of him is just fiction.

[kenjari.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's awesome! (I quite liked Casimir)

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

This book is one of my favorite of all books. I tried not to like it, knowing that Stephenson himself considers it unworthy, but it sucked me in anyways.

(Sorry, Neal! I still like Snow Crash a whole lot too!)

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that was my experience too. :) It's almost cute, in an odd sort of way, somewhat similar to "look at the paws on that one! he's going to be enormous when he grows up!". :)