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    The Big U
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    The Big U
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    The Big U
    Ebook390 pages6 hours

    The Big U

    By Neal Stephenson

    3/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    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 out of print, The Big U is required reading for anyone interested in the early work of this singular writer.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 13, 2009
    ISBN9780061847387
    Unavailable
    The Big U
    Author

    Neal Stephenson

    Neal Stephenson is the author of Termination Shock, Seveneves, Reamde, Anathem; the three-volume historical epic the Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World); Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Zodiac and the iconic Snow Crash, named one of Time magazine's top one hundred all-time best English-language novels. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

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    Reviews for The Big U

    3/5

    439 ratings20 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This is not as good as I remembered it being from when I read it last century. But there are hilarious bits throughout. And it is so true, if a bit hyperbolic.
    • 2/5
      Stephenson's debut novel (which he hated) has many of the same ingredients of his other novels, but it seems like he hadn't figured out how to mix it all together and cook it yet. The Big U is an absolute mess, a broad satire of higher education that gets more ridiculous (and tedious) as it goes along.

      The one redeeming factor: for a 30-year-old novel, The Big U is really forward-thinking with its critique of higher education. Especially regarding the vocational/business-minded mentality and flaws of the multiversity. If only the book could've stuck more to that and less to giant rats.
    • 1/5
      Perhaps it is to much a product of another time but the jarring shifts of storyline between characters and the frequent jumps in time with no backfilling of the story made this book a chore to read.
    • 3/5
      Stephenson's first published work is a bit uneven - the first half is an amusing satire of big campus life, and the second half pulls out all the stops, with an all-out war erupting, complete with mutant rats, nuclear waste, foreign nationals, bizarre cults, lots and lots of weaponry & violence - and of course, some heroic geeks.
    • 3/5
      good
    • 4/5
      The Big U Book ReviewThursday, February 26, 2015 at 12:02AM modify remove organize post follow up I picked up The Big U while I was organizing my library, and I decided to see if I still liked it ten years [at least] since the last time I had read it.It turns out, I do! For me, this is the perfect college satire, on the same level as Thank You For Smoking or Office Space. I read it when I was an undergraduate, and it was hilarious, and a devastating send up of the bizarre world that is the American university. Ten years later, it is still hilarious and devastating. Then I flip to the flyleaf, and I find Stephenson wrote it in 1984.Stephenson nailed the essence of university life in a way that is still relevant thirty years later. The LARPers. The Goddess worshippers. The terrible cafeteria food. The out of control parties. This is the American university, in all of its glory. American universities have long been at the center of the culture war, fostering, even encouraging, a hothouse culture in which the strangest things can flourish. Add to that a culture that has been intellectually static for the last hundred years, a guaranteed fresh supply of naive teenagers, and you will get a system that loops through the same obsessions, over and over and over.In the introductory chapter, Stephenson's narrator says: What you are about to read here is not an aberration: it can happen in your local university too. The Big U, simply, was a few years ahead of the rest.This turns out to have been prophetic. In the Big U, we have all of the current obsessions of trendy politics. Rape culture. Identity politics. Minoritarianism. Endless curricular disputes. Weird religions. There are few things in the book so outrageous that they have not managed to happen in the last thirty years. It is all so ridiculous, and all so pertinent. I liked it the first time because it seemed very much like my alma mater. I like it now because it seems like all the universities in America. If anything, my own university has only grown more like American Megaversity with the passage of time.It is fortunate this is a book and not a movie, because it prevents you from seeing out of date clothes and assuming everything in the book happened in the past. With a few minor changes, The Big U could easily be set today. The Stalinist Underground Battalion would have to be replaced with Occupy Wall Street, smart phones would have to be added in, and the university mainframe would have to be replaced with the web, but everything else could stay the same. The first time I read this book, I was attracted to the commonalities to my own life. The character who was a budding physicist. The genius programmers. The awkward fit of so many of the viewpoint characters to the dominant party scene. Even the bit with the university locksmith [in college, I worked as a student locksmith for the university]. It just seemed to fit.Ten years later, there are a few things I appreciate more now than I did the first time. The cynical university president is someone I can now identify with. The Big U administration made poor choices, but now that I have actual responsibility, I appreciate the heroic virtue that would be required to resist those temptations. S. S. Krupp is bright, decisive, and capable. His only flaw is putting the university's reputation [and lots of jobs] ahead of doing the right thing. I am glad I don't face the same choices, because it is hard to see how I could realistically do better in the same circumstances.The sexual dynamic that drives many of the viewpoint characters is far more obvious in retrospect. Especially if you were a nerd [who I presume is Stephenson's target audience]. Teenagers are driven by their hormones in strange ways, nerdy teenagers even more so, and those of us who have survived that phase can only pity them. This too shall pass.Of all Stephenson's books, this is the one I like best. The first Neal Stephenson book I ever read was Snow Crash. Snow Crash was recommended to me by my freshman year college roommate, and I liked it enough to try more, although I'm not sure its many fans realize it is a dystopia. The Big U was the second. I really liked The Big U, so I tried a number Stephenson's other books, but I never really enjoyed them. Stephenson wrote Zodiac when it seemed like dioxin was the worst thing ever made by humans. By the time I read it, the evidence was a little more mixed. Thus I had trouble taking the plot seriously. I couldn't get through even the first volume of the Baroque Cycle. Maybe this one was a fluke.I choose to see it as a stroke of genius. Maybe this book couldn't have been written seriously or intentionally, because we are all too identified with sides in the on-going culture war that rages in the universities. Stephenson has a pretty clear side with the left-Libertarians now, but in this book maybe he hadn't quite found his voice, because even characters on the wrong side seem sympathetic, despite some salvos in favor of his clear favorites. As Lincoln and C. S. Lewis argued in their distinctive ways, the sides we are on, and the sides that are really in the right, may not necessarily turn out to be the same.
    • 2/5
      Dated now, but funny and wince-inducingly horrific, especially to someone who was in Ames around the same time. Mostly, a fascinating backward glimpse at the authorial mind that would later create Snow Crash.
    • 5/5
      I really loved this novel and everything that was included in it. I love the aspects of community, friendship, love and the multicultural aspects that are brought about in this book. It gives a side to every story and gives something that unites everyone- the concept of growing together. I would definitely use this book in one of my classes and possibly even pair ths book with our own community(classroom) garden to show all of our diversities, but at the same time, all of our differences.
    • 3/5
      You can clearly see the seeds of Stephenson's later work - ideas, plot devices, even characters. It is his typical sense of humor, very entertaining (if you are willing to suspend your disbelief) and a good idea or two to think about.That being said, Its not quite as mature as his later work. If your a Stephenson fan, don't bass this one up. but if you're new to the author, start with one of his better known books.
    • 4/5
      The first book by Paul Auster I read. The invention of solitude consists of two separate parts. Written from a very different view they both handle the relation between a father and a son. The first book, Portrait of an invisible man, is a very beautiful description of Austers father. His father comes to live in this book. It really is a beautiful portrait of a lonely man. Part two, the book of memories, is a lot more about thoughts and ideas than about events. Auster reflects on other father/son relationships. He talks about the painter Rembrandt who painted his son Titus and about Gepetto who created his son Pinocchio.I found the first part easy to read. Austers descriptions of his father are so real, you can see that man in front of you, all alone is his big house. The second part is sometimes a bit to philosophical for me. And I never heard of mr. Mandelstam. The book ends with a letter from mrs. Mandelstam to her husband. I had to search the net for him. I don't know why Auster ends with this letter, though the story of the Mandelstams is one people should now. But I couldn't find out what it had to do with the rest of the book...4 stars for part I and 3 for part II. That makes 3.5 stars for this Paul Auster novel.
    • 1/5
      This truly is an awful novel. It boggles the mind that an author that went on to write modern classics like Snow Crash, Zodiac (yes, Zodiac dammit. It's a great read) and Cryptonomicon could possibly have written this book, even at an early age. Stephenson knows it's atrocious which makes it a little better, but unfortunately after being out-of-print for many years, he inexplicably allowed Harper to bring it back in 2001. Why, Neal, why??!!!??
    • 4/5
      I picked this book up out of curiosity at a science fiction convention, and started reading it at the seller's table. When I came back up for air at the start of Chapter 3, I bought it! It's a fun, action-packed romp with some serious themes underneath. Deena is an intelligent young woman, handicapped by an overprotective helicopter mom and her own insecurities. When she accidentally becomes a host body for a nanite swarm, the only person she can trust is her quiet but equally-smart classmate Luther. But Luther has secrets of his own, and Deena has to make some serious ethical decisions as well as developing her own self-reliance. One thing I especially liked is that she doesn't sit around waiting to be rescued; once she has learned something about the capabilities the nanites give her, she figures out how to use those abilities as a weapon against the bad guys. I would recommend this book for both boys and girls in the 12-15 age range, and for readers of any age who like well-written science fiction.
    • 4/5
      When I first requested this book on LT, I was a bit hesitant-- the cover and title looked intriguing, and the (short) summary sounded fairly good, but it wasn't my usual type of book. I went ahead anyway. As soon as my copy arrived in the mail, I started the book. Little did I know that I would be pulled into the story so quickly and easily.While it's not the type of story that I normally read, when I say it was different, I don't mean it in a bad way. The plot was unique, at least from everything else I've read in my life, and I enjoyed it a lot more than I originally thought I would. Not only did I want to keep reading and find out more about the special (and I mean that in a good way, not in a rude way!) friends and family at Ben's ranch, but I also enjoyed reading the conversations, which were almost always entertaining, witty, and very honest. Some of the conversations that were held in this book really made me stop and think 'You know what? He/she is right, that is how life is.'. While sometimes simple, the words were no less awe-inspiring. Although the romance in this book took a back seat--heck, maybe even the back trunk--to the rest of the story, it wasn't half bad either. Kara and Ben's love story wasn't the steamiest by any measure (it was actually pretty non-existent in the book and when it was there it was very, very tame) but it did have it's share of warm, tender moments, which almost made up for it. Almost... (If anyone knows me, they know that I prefer a bit more.. sex in my books, so reading one like A Gentle Rain, I did almost find myself losing interest at times simple because, in my book, romance novels=sex. Yes, I realize this isn't true, nor is one needed for the other to happen, but that's how I like my romance novels (for the most part) and it's hard to change my ways. However, I will admit that I've read some amazing romances before that had little to no sex in it.)4/5 STARS! In short, I would recommend this book to almost anyone out there-- it's a great story about family, love, and being able to tie those two together through thick and thin. The characters are very vivid and sweet, and the story, though gentle, flows along nicely. It will definitely leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling in your heart, something that very few novels can do.
    • 4/5
      The Big U is the first and least of Stephenson's novels. But if it ultimately fails to cohere, that's only because it was an ambitious attempt--with themes and a voice that Stephenson's fans will recognize from his later work. [2008-08-05]
    • 4/5
      The story of a big university gone wrong. A great read for anyone attending or planning on attending a large state university. Everything goes wrong as the whole academic system falls down and the school is thrown into warring factions.
    • 5/5
      Very imaginative novel set in a university environment, with central ideas taken from "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" by Julian Jaynes. Due to reasons revealed some way into the novel, the students on campus regress to a more primitive mentality and a tribal society takes shape. Very funny novel.
    • 4/5
      Stephenson’s first book, The Big U is funny and foreshadows some of the repeating themes that appear in his later books.Here we have a huge university—American MegaVersity—complete with vast amounts of bureaucracy, indifferent students, befuddled faculty, scary administrators, a computer worm roaming the school’s mainframe, mysterious Crotobaltislovians, and a few smart folks trying to survive and move forward.Over the course of the school year, conditions at the MegaVersity disintegrate, with some students developing bicameral minds, allowing them to receive instructions from inanimate objects (notably the Big Wheel, an enormous neon sign). By the middle of the spring semester, events move the university to the brink of destruction, with a labor dispute closing down classes, but other groups preventing students from leaving. Our heroes do what they can to save the university and themselves.The Big U isn’t as polished as Stephenson’s later books, but that’s not a surprise. Some of the material looks a bit dated these days (the use of mainframes is dying out, even within the administration), but the book is generally amusing and certainly reminded me of my early college experiences.
    • 3/5
      Weird story about students in a university. It's not SF like most of Stephensons earlier books, though in a way it is.
    • 5/5
      When I saw Neal Stephenson at the LBS, a friend who had come along (after being introduced to Stephenson when I loaned him The Big U) asked if it would ever be reprinted, like Zodiac had recently been. Neal's response was "Over my dead body." Fortunately he doesn't appear to be dead, so his publisher must have finally won the argument without too much bloodshed.I can see why he might not have wanted to see it back out there. His writing style is not nearly as polished as it is now. He was obviously still finding his way as an author. But on the other hand, the writing isn't bad, and it is one of the funniest, and most accurate caricatures of college and university life I've ever read.The Big U is the American Megaversity. An entire University stuffed into one giant building. And what happens when all of those different completely incompatible groups of jocks, frats, geeks, gamers, intellectuals, administrators, service workers, faculty, graduate students, student political organizations, and corporate sponsors are all pushed to overload. With giant mutant rats in the basement.In spite of the fact that it is about 20 years old, no college students today would have any trouble recognizing every single character & event. The names of the drugs might be a little different. As are the names of the student activist groups, but they are all still there, still completely identifiable.And all funny as hell.
    • 4/5
      The ending fulfills one of every college students' dreams. I can't say the writing's great, but reading this while at school was one of the most gratifying experiences of those four years.