''The Big U'' (

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

) is a novel by American writer

Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work explores mathemati ...

. His

first published novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

, it is a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposin ...

of campus life.

Plot

The story chronicles the disillusionment of a number of young intellectuals as they encounter the realities of the higher education establishment parodied in the story. Over time their lives and sanity disintegrate in different ways through a series of escalating events that culminates with a full-scale civil war raging on the campus of ''American Megaversity''. Told in the first person from the perspective of Bud, a lecturer in Remote Sensing who is new to the university, the book attacks and makes fun of just about every conceivable group at university, though its portraits of the

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted, or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly t ...

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

s/ role players tend to be more detailed than those of other factions. The events take place at a fictitious big university consisting of a single building (a central complex with eight towers containing student housing), making the university an enclosed universe of its own. Stephenson uses this fact to take what starts as a mostly realistic satire and move it further and further into the realm of improbability, with giant radioactive rats, hordes of bats and a lab-made

railgun A railgun or rail gun, sometimes referred to as a rail cannon, is a linear motor device, typically designed as a ranged weapon, that uses Electromagnet, electromagnetic force to launch high-velocity Projectile, projectiles. The projectile norma ...

. The book was written while Stephenson attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

and the fictional campus is parallel to BU in many ways. The dormitories are similar to

Warren Towers Warren Towers is one of the three Boston University dormitories traditionally intended for underclassmen, the others being Towers (Boston University), The Towers and Boston University West Campus, West Campus. The building is located at central ...

, one of the largest dorms in the US. The character of President Septimius Severus Krupp shares traits with then–BU President

John Silber John Robert Silber (August 15, 1926 – September 27, 2012) was an American academician and candidate for public office. From 1971 to 1996, he was President of Boston University (BU) and, from 1996 to 2002, Chancellor. From 2002 to 2003, he again ...

, although his name—like those of his predecessors as president of the Big U—is taken from the Roman Emperor

Septimius Severus Lucius Septimius Severus (; ; 11 April 145 – 4 February 211) was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. He was born in Leptis Magna (present-day Al-Khums, Libya) in the Roman province of Africa. As a young man he advanced through cursus honorum, the ...

. The neon Big Wheel sign plays a part reminiscent of the

Boston Citgo sign The Boston Citgo sign is a large, double-faced sign featuring the logo of the oil company Citgo that overlooks Kenmore Square in Boston, Massachusetts. The sign was installed in 1940 and updated with Citgo's present logo in 1965. The sign has be ...

just east of the BU campus in

Kenmore Square Kenmore Square is a square in the Fenway–Kenmore neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is formed by the crossing of Beacon Street, Commonwealth Avenue, and Brookline Avenue. It is the eastern terminus of U.S. Route 20, the longest U. ...

Literary significance and criticism

Stephenson has said he is not proud of this book.Neal Stephenson states that "The Big U is what it is: a first novel written in a hurry by a young man a long time ago.
Author website
When Stephenson's ''

Snow Crash ''Snow Crash'' is a science fiction novel by the American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's novels, its themes include history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryp ...

'' was published in 1992, the book that became a best-seller and vaulted him to fame, ''The Big U'' was out of print and Stephenson was content to leave it that way. When original editions began selling on

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

for hundreds of dollars, he relented and allowed ''The Big U'' to be republished, saying that the only thing worse than people reading the book was paying that much to read it.

Connections to Stephenson's later work

Julian Jaynes Julian Jaynes (February 27, 1920 – November 21, 1997) was an American psychologist who worked at the universities of Yale and Princeton for nearly 25 years and became best known for his 1976 book '' The Origin of Consciousness in the Break ...

' theory of the

bicameral mind Bicameral mentality is a hypothesis introduced by Julian Jaynes who argued human ancestors as late as the ancient Greeks did not consider emotions and desires as stemming from their own minds but as the consequences of actions of gods external to ...

used by Stephenson in this novel to explain the behavior of some of the cult-like student groups is an important part of the plot of ''

''. * The idea of institutions of learning also serving as repositories of nuclear waste reappears in ''

Anathem ''Anathem'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson, published in 2008. Major themes include the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the philosophical debate between Platonic realism and nominalism. Plot su ...

''.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Big U, The 1984 American novels 1984 science fiction novels Campus novels Novels by Neal Stephenson 1984 debut novels American satirical novels

Plot

Literary significance and criticism

Connections to Stephenson's later work

See also

References

Sources