The Big U
Ratings11
Average rating2.8
The New York Times Book Review called Neal Stephenson's most recent novel "electrifying" and "hilarious"...but if you want to know Stephenson was doing twenty years before he wrote the epic Cryptonomicon, it's back-to-school time. Back to The Big U, that is, a hilarious send-up of American college life starring after years our of print, The Big U is required reading for anyone interested in the early work of this singular writer.
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In the future, when an author thinks that his book isn't worth reading, I'm going to take his word for it. The Big U is too over the top to be an enjoyable, subtle satire of the large university life, although it had that potential in the beginning. On the other hand, the melodrama and large scale events are too trivial for the novel to be epic. The overall effect is pretty “meh.”
The detail and fact finding that Stephenson is known for is all but absent in this book. The only signature Stephenson move that the Big U contains is the litany of story lines and multiple character narratives, but with uncharacteristic brevity and lack of details, the constant storyline switching is irritating and makes the novel shallower rather than deeper.
Also, Stephenson should know that his fans are the physics majors, hackers and LARPers of the universe and be a little more careful with the negative stereotyping
5/10
Not bad for a debut novel but I can see why Stephenson disowned this book and tried to remove it from printing.
Some of the Stephenson's signature style peeks through but overall it's pretty underwhelming in every aspect. Definitely do not recommend this one as an intro to his work.
This was a favorite of mine back in the 80s. Recently re-read it (listened to it on audible)- and was just as amused. Things drag a smidge more towards the end than I remember, but I enjoyed it.
