Anathem
by Neal Stephenson
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Book Reviews of Anathem
Book Review: Disappointing for this Stephenson fan.
Summary: 3 Stars
There are a few ingredients that Neal Stephenson puts into each of his (previous) books:
1)An amazingly witty and smart writing style, with many laugh out loud moments
2)A big concept (rise of rational thought in the Baroque Cycle, or of information technology in cryptonomicon)
3)Crowd pleasing, swashbuckling, page turning plot
4)Big tangents in fascinating directions, where he wanders off plot, and explores an idea.
5)Character development that makes you CARE about his characters
Put these together and you have some of my all time favorite books. This book fails to live up to his previous efforts.
I'll discuss each of the 5 ingredients, and how I see them (or not) in Anathem:
1)He is still a strong writer, but their is zero humor, and more tragically, little of the (hard to describe) "wit" of his previous books.
2)There is certainly an exploration of philosophy in a way that few fiction writers dare tackle. But it doesn't seem as ambitious, focused or interesting as say the Baroque cycle, which addresses the rise of rational thought and modern finance in the west.
3)Nearly all of his previous books have a serious page-turner hidden inside, with unique plots. The action elements of this book (opposed to philosophy discussion) didn't seem unique or inspired, and was sometimes downright conventional. Frankly I was bored a lot of the time. And this from a guy who loves, loves, loves the difficult Baroque Cycle, even the most difficult, Quicksilver.
4)Not many of these, unless you count the philosophy talk. For some that is a good thing, but not for me! I like the Captain Crunch, furniture porn, and damascus steel tangents.
5)I never particularly warmed to many of the characters, even the main character.
I think that my criticisms of #1 and #5 may have something to do with the fact that he decided to tell the story in the first person. A lot of the wit and fun of his previous books are in the voice of the third person narrator. Our first person narrator is kind of a dull fellow, and tells his tale with a pretty flat affect.
Add on the made up vocabulary, and it was a book that was hard to like.
Take home: A decent Sci-fi book from an author who has spoiled me with his previous fantastic work. I'm looking forward to his next with high hopes!
Book Review: rewarding and frustrating
Summary: 3 Stars
Neal Stephenson, what a brilliant guy. He has depth and insight (upsight?) and a welcome curiosity about the human situation and the universe. No, wait, "cosmos".
And what a vocabulary, as well as a sharp wit. All things that keep me reading (or attempting to read) his books. Heck, where the English language will not suffice for the offworld context, not to worry. Mr. Stephenson is no slouch at coining terms of his own or, better yet, tweaking existing terms in a most clever manner. Yes, I had to keep refering back to the glossary. Likely, many of his most ingenious twists went right over my head.
In Anathem we have Orolo cast as Socrates with the protaganist as Glaucon. The allegory of the cave moves into the multiverse. Oops, polyverse. No, "polycosm". Pretty heavy stuff.
I could never be on Stephenson's level in a million years, so I enjoy trying to comprehend him. I doubt that as a philosopher or scientist or historian that many other sci-fi writers or writers period are on his level either, so kudos to him.
But for all of that, he is not hugely compelling as a storyteller. Despite the humor and intelligence, there is too much dry discourse that does not move the plot ahead. There is too much detail that does not even move the philosopy or the science ahead. And often, the writing somehow lacks warmth. Attempts to include romance into the tale, or other human passions, just fall flat.
I am a big boy and I don't have to have a "page turner" or something that will spellbind me in the first paragraph in order to proceed. But in Anathem, after 500 pages, the plot still often crawls at a snail's pace, or the pace backs off just as it had started to gain momemtum.
"When we first became aware that they were in orbit around Arbre, we assumed that something was going to happen soon. But it has been maddeningly slow" (p.623). No kidding!!
Dialog/dialogue is great, but if one is going to pen (literally it appears, as Neal writes with a Parker) a thousand pages, it has got to move fairly well. Anathem, for all that is valuable and occasionally wonderful in it, does not move well.
Enjoy this book if you know Stephenson, love philosophy, historical comparison, and glimpses of eternity. Don't try it if you are not patient and tedium tolerant.
Book Review: It's only 900 something pages--and that's too short.
Summary: 5 Stars
You'll like this if you liked "Cryptonomicon",
"Snow Crash" and "Zodiac", but not novels like "Quicksilver".
For the last decade, I didn't read Neal Stephenson's works: that probably has more to do with me than with Neal Stephenson--paying less attention to history than other subjects in college, I found myself really intimidated by what I actually don't know about history while trying to read his last several books. The annoyance factor multiplied by 3,000 pages was enough to keep me away.
However, this is an entirely new story, and it's not historical. This is a thrilling and funny book full of the usual set of glossary/addendum with mathematical problems/philosophical text for days, with political intrigue and impending doom thrown in to make it more interesting; set in the midst of a an alternative-earth-religious community, it has hand-to-hand combat scenes, adolescent romance, and good descriptions of real relationships like brothers and sisters, and groups of friends involved in problem-solving and political maneuvering. As an example, one of the most compelling sequences features the protagonist watching his long-lost sister work with a five axis plasma lathe. (If you're not the sort of person who thinks that's neat, this probably isn't the book for you.)
Basically, this fires on all cylinders most of the time, and all of the elements create a page-turner, if you really like to think about specific subjects, specifically logic, philosophy, political theory, visual math, and conflicted teenagers (?).
If those aren't your areas of strength, you're going to hate this for the same reasons that non-history buffs avoided Stephenson's last three books.
Otherwise, well, I'm on page 300. I'm starting to get anxious that I only have six-hundred-something pages left!
Edit: O.k., so it's eight hundred something pages, and it is a bit of a slog. It's also a well-worth-it-slog.
I have to hand it to Mr. Stephenson, though, just when I was thinking he'd made a serious logical error near the end, he turned it into a major plot point. This is fun. It's also hard to put down. If you don't have a lot of time, wait for a long weekend or two--or you may find yourself making up for work at odd hours because you were reading this.
Book Review: Another Stephenson Natural Philosophy Masterpiece.
Summary: 5 Stars
Neal Stephenson's works illicit complaints that they are very esoteric and difficult to understand. I find that they have multiple layers like an onion that the reader must peel away to discover the tasty meat that lies within. `Anathem' is no different. As `Snowcrash' gave us a peak at Virtual Worlds, and `The Baroque Cycle' rendered a glimpse into the birth of the Scientific Era, this newest work like `Cryptomonicon' before it introduces us to the world of Mathematics albeit from the point of view of the aliens of the Earth like planet Arbre.
Arbre is several hundred years post a nuclear war that nearly destroyed the world. Much like in `A Canticle for Leibowicz' science has become a religion that has been shut in within the walls of monasteries and cloisters. Once every ten years the doors of the monasteries open and the general public is allowed in and the monks are allowed out to mingle and reassure one another that all is well.
Though now Arbre has returned to a 21st Century technological state science is generally frowned upon by the Secular authorities except when someone is needed to solve a problem then they summon someone or a group of people from the mathic Monasteries.
The Mathic Communities themselves try to shade themselves from secular things. Atheism and aesthetics are much esteemed. If someone breaks the rules they can be given an Anathem and kicked out of the Math becoming `dead' to its members hence the title of the book.
In the story a group of young novices under the tutelage of Fraa Orolo an Astronomer set about to find what kind of interplanetary phenomenon he had been investigating when he was suddenly the victim of an Anathem and is kicked out of the monastery. What they discover puts both their order and the entire world of Arbre at risk.
Like his previous works, `Anathem' in addition to being a satisfying adventure is a book that teaches the reader something. In this case it's Geometry, Physics, Philosophy, and Anthropology. Much like Plato's dialogs this book has characters debating the nature of things such as quantum physics or deism. It is not a book that can be read quickly and be enjoyed but if you take your time and savor what has been written you will enjoy yourself and may actually learn something new.
Book Review: Worth the Investment!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have just finished reading Anathem by Neal Stephenson, and thought I would share a few thoughts on this book. First, as a disclaimer, I am a Neal Stephenson fan, but I hope to deliver an honest review.
Anathem is not the biggest, best or most entertaining read produced by Neal Stephenson. If you are looking for a pleasurable way to while away a few hours, then this book is probably not for you. Anathem requires that you work a bit for the enjoyment you receive. The first-person aspect is not the most friendly of writing styles, and there are people who would not read this book because of that alone. That tied to the large amount of fabricated terminology used on the fictional world presented here requires a more substantial investment of time and effort before you can reap the rewards of this book.
But rewards are here in spades! Stephenson is a master of writing books for intellectuals. He does this by including the science, so you feel you are getting an education while enjoying the story. And as much as I admire his writing because he does include the science, I feel that it is his skill at bringing interesting characters to life that appeals to me most.
He develops interesting characters, gives them exceptional lives, and allows them to live large in his stories. Anathem is a wonderful example of character development! The main character, Erasmus, is believable and you like him, with his self-effacing style and his loyalty to his friends in the book. He is a good person that you can identify with, making this strange society on another planet seem almost normal, and maybe even desirable, as long as "Raz" is in it.
If you're a Stephenson fan you have to read this book! You will not be disappointed. If you have never read Stephenson, and are thinking of Anathem as your first foray into his work, I would recommend other choices instead, such as much earlier works like Cobweb, Zodiac, or maybe even the classic Snow Crash. But if you want to go ahead and read Anathem first, you will be rewarded with a richly textured story of friends, coming of age, courageous deeds and of course, otherworldly peril! The bottom line is that I loved this book, and it is one that I will keep and read again.