Monday, October 20, 2008

Anathem

Are any of you reading Neal Stephenson's new book? My brother gave it to me Saturday night and I am now over 100 pages in to the over 900 page book. It has religion, sci-fi and some politics all rolled into one presentation. Perfect for me but I wonder if all of you guys would like it. In it Math equals Catholocism to baseline it; I am thinking of you here Wolf.

So far I am not picking up the normal Stephenson voice. The one that says, "I am badass, you know I am badass, soak in the awe of my badassery." This books says something more like, "Heh, I made this world up between the time my right foot hit the floor and my left foot in the floor when I got up this morning." It is not as good as his other stuff which only means it is six times better than other writer's current works. I can't tell if he has a trigger to pull later in the story or if he is just enjoying telling the story. Is he commenting all along or is he setting up something big?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm about thirty pages into the book. I feel more at sea reading this one than I did reading the Baroque cycle. Mostly because the world he's imagined is so foreign. I think he's still showing off -- the fact that he can keep all these intricate details straight.

I'm actually having a harder time connecting with characters and really differentiating them. I'm just seeing a bunch of monks in my head right now.

avk said...

That's funny. I'm just seeing a bunch of monks in my head, too.

I'm not reading the book, though. Maybe I should go lie down with a damp towel over my eyes.

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