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"Poised between intransigent scepticism and uncritical credulity, it [science fiction] is par excellence the literature of the open mind."
- John Brunner
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| Burbclave | ||
| Contraction of suburban enclave; an extension of today's gated communities. |
Stephenson spends a fair amount of time looking at this future extension of the idea of a gated community. In his conception, these small housing developments are virtually independent countries. They were "...vast house farms out in the loglo wilderness a culture medium for a medium culture."
In the novel, pizza delivery is awarded a mystique once held only for grail-chasing or other mythic quests.
| The Deliverator never pulled that gun in anger, or in fear. He pulled it once in Gila Highlands. Some punks in Gila Highlands, a fancy Burbclave, wanted themselves a delivery, and they didn't want to pay for it. Thought they would impress the Deliverator with a baseball bat. The Deliverator took out his gun, centered its laser doohickey on that poised Louisville Slugger, fired it. The recoil was immense, as though the weapon had blown up in his hand. The middle third of the baseball bat turned into a column of burning sawdust accelerating in all directions like a bursting star. Punk ended up holding this bat handle with milky smoke pouring out the end. Stupid look on his face. Didn't get nothing but trouble from the Deliverator. |
| From Snow Crash,
by Neal Stephenson. Published by Bantam in 1992 Additional resources -
|
Here's another description:
Now a Burbclave, that's the place to live. A city-state with its own constitution, a border, laws, cops, everything.
<>
Places advertised on sites like privatecommunities.com try to offer safety and refuge from the problems of modern life. Of course, this option is only open to those who can afford it.
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