Book Report from the Bus Stop: Shopgirl, Snow Crash, Hey Nostradamus!

i've been taking the train lately. and the bus. instead of driving. it's a two hour commute, but let me tell you this: you get a lot of reading done when you have four hours of commuting time a day!

and boy howdy, that's what i've been doing.

so far, i've read three novels in the past two weeks since school got over with. (brief note: i thought i did poorly on my paper...i got an A-. nice.) the first, was shopgirl. by steve martin. yes, that steve martin. if i could use one word to describe it, i would call it "serene." it was a wonderful re-introduction to reading for pleasure. it was very short, but very satisfying. it took place in L.A., a place i've never been. highly recommended to most readers.

next, i read snow crash by neal stephenson. this was an epic sci-fi type book. the main character's name is Hiro Protagonist, the greatest samurai fighter and hacker in a twisted dystopian future america. the book focuses around a virus that's being spread through the Metaverse, which is a lot like the MMOGs like Second Life, but more expansive--and infecting the actual minds of hackers. it's also being spread through a drug called "snow crash" (hacker term for a total system crash) in the real world.

the book had a lot of action, sharp dialogue, and very sardonic narration. in this future, there is no real government, so the world is essentially run by different franchises. there are several critiques of our culture hidden in there, many only thinly veiled. it popularized the term "avatar," which is used for any virtual representation of a person in a simulated reality, like Mii's on the Wii. it also seems to be the philosophical ancestor of movies like the matrix, which seem to have some strikingly similar ideas in them. and did i mention the sumerian mythology? oh yeah, that's in there too.

i'm currently reading hey nostradamus! by douglas coupland. it's heavy, but good. it's about a school shooting, specifically the death of one girl, and how her death affected those close to her in the years afterward. it's written in journal, stream-of-consciousness, confessional style. it's a bit hard to summarize.

that's it so far. i'll probably finish the coupland book tomorrow. i think i may start hiroshima after that. i love reading. and for now, it seems that i love the bus.