The Big U

If you're like me, you're always up for another satire of academic life, but only if it's done well. Well, this is Neal Stephenson we're talking about, so let's get one thing straight -- you will love it. From the amazing talent who brought us Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, etc. comes this earlier, but equally enjoyable book. Stephenson takes dead aim at Those Who Take Themselves Too Seriously (you know who you are -- or, unfortunately, you don't). Readers who have read other Stephenson books know that the guy is an awesome talent, describing things as no one else can, always hilarious and true. The only thing I could compare to this book would be Brauner's Love Songs of the Tone-Deaf, an academic satire that may be even funnier. Check out also Francine Prose's Blue Angel. Gotta love this stuff.

For many years since its original publication in 1984, The Big U has been out of print. Some rumored that Stephenson himself had refused ever to allow the reprinting of this satirical masterpiece, while others whispered that Stephenson was waiting until he had sold off the last of a garage-full of first editions at inflated prices before authorizing a new printing. And, indeed, until recently if you wanted to own a copy of The Big U, you would have paid a couple of hundred bucks or more and felt lucky to have found one for sale in the first place. Now, however, by the simple expedient of clicking a button you can own a trade-size paperback copy of the book.The cover of the new edition is somewhat lackluster, and the paper on which it is printed is not of the highest quality. There also appear to be a few misprints (in this assessment I'm going on my recollection of the text from the first edition--I could be wrong). However, the joy of owning a copy of The Big U makes up for small inconveniences like these.On one level, The Big U is the story of the college for which it is named and of some of the inmates of that college--physics wiz Casimir Radon, student body president Sarah Jane Johnson and her friend Hyacinth, computer geek and gamer extraordinaire Fred Fine, science-shop techie Virgil Gabrielson, drugged-out political activist Dex Fresser, incongenial roommates John Wesley Fenrick and Ephraim Klein, college president S.S. Krupp, wino Bert Nix, and our narrator Bud (a young black Ph.D. in remote sensing).On another level, The Big U is a biting commentary (think Evelyn Waugh's The Loved One) on college life, equally relevant to the late 20th or the early 21st centuries. Roommate problems, cafeteria food, the petty and meaningless wrangling of student government, administration red-tape, and new-agey faculty all receive their share of Stephenson's merciless scrutiny.If The Big U stopped there, it would already be a classic, and well worth the read. But behind the zany hijinks related by Bud lies another dimension in which Stephenson examines a serious question about the direction in which society is headed--will we survive the current anti-intellectual trends which, to the dismay of many, are more and more visible even within the ivory tower? The Big U plays with the decay of society in general and of higher education in particular in many ways. In terms of the university itself, over the course of two semesters, the Big U devolves from something not to unlike a big modern university (one is irresistably reminded of UCLA) to a war zone populated by "Terrorists" and "Airheads." Meanwhile, its inhabitants deal with this decay in their own ways. For some, like Dex Fresser, there's not too much difference between his permanently drug-altered reality and the world which The Big U has become. Others, like Casimir Radon, whose idealized dream of university education dies a quick but distressing death when confronted with the reality of the Big U, perc

When will book publishers get it into their heads and re-publish this book? Hopefully, the success of his recent "Cryptonomicon" will prompt a reprint of odd little classic, a book that came out before Stephenson started getting name recognition. People, especially NS's fans, need to know about this book. Even my friend, who was the one who got me to read "Snow Crash", had never heard about this one. I just picked it up at a local library on a lark and was pleasantly suprised! "The Big U" is a maddening (and kind of funny, in a disquieting way) descent into a ravaged and war-torn...college campus? Strange as that may seem, after a little time reading, one almost starts to believe that, somewhere out there, there actually IS a "Big U"! The best way to describe this book: an average overcrowded state university as seen through the eyes of Hieronymous (sp?) Bosch or Dante... Sure, its detractors complain that its a bit dated and while this is true, it does nothing to lessen the impact. It must be read to be believed!

As an academic-type-person (Master's student in folklore, would-be-PhD) I found _The Big U_ a timeless satire. It's true that the computer system may be outdated, but that's not the point of the novel at all, it's only one of Stephenson's tools in a novel which brilliantly depicts the pointless stupidity that has infected so much of the academic world for the past few decades--liberal lunatics trying to deconstruct the world, keeping the community tied up in pointless politics so no-one notices that the "business-oriented" mercenaries who become administrators run everything for their own greater power and profit, without a care for Truth, Beauty, Wisdom, or any of the other noble endeavours that an academic institution should promote. I'm not sure if I enjoyed this book quite as much as _Snowcrash_ or _The Diamond Age_; however, I desperately wish I had my own copy, and I unquestionably think it should not only be reprinted, but should be required readi! ng on every college and university campus in the country. With luck, it might help keep the final vision of the American Megaversity from coming to fruition. And if it doesn't, well, at least it will help students prepare to survive the next live-fire campus rebellion.