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A review by geniusscientist
Anathem by Neal Stephenson
5.0
I was giddy reading this book. It was amazing. I love Neal Stephenson SO HARD.
I will say what I say about every Stephenson book that I've read, which is that he has a talent for creating incredibly likable characters. I love everybody -- I even love reading about the "bad guys" (although we didn't really get to know too many in this book.) Everyone is smart and funny (whether intentional or not) and I really liked how everyone in the concent looked out for each other. I dunno, I just loved everybody. For me, that is the sort of thing that makes me read a book manically, at every possible opportunity.
The story takes place on a planet that is similar to, but not quite, Earth. So that's neat to start with. I liked the language and the made-up words that he used. I didn't find myself flipping to the glossary as much as some of these other reviewers seem to have done; I liked figuring stuff out as the story went along. I also didn't object to the "exposition" taking 200 pages. The first 200 pages were FUN and then served to make everything else seem strange -- otherwise we might think the later story is the normal part, and that wouldn't have worked, since it wasn't "normal" to the protagonist.
And then everything that they talk about! I expected the whole thing to be about Technology (just because that's sort of what everything he writes is about) but while there is some of that, it ended up being a lot more metaphysical in nature. Which is fun as hell to think about.
I don't know, just read it! It is amazing. I might even recommend this as a first Stephenson book, though it'll take a brave soul to start a 900+ page book by an author he has not yet read. In that case try [b:The Diamond Age|827|The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer|Neal Stephenson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388180931s/827.jpg|2181158] first. But yeah, read this! That means you, Curt! Oh yeah, and as Fjellanger reminded me, he didn't talk about currency ONCE! Which is awesome, because my eyes start to glaze over when he talks about currency. Extra hooray for that!
(I read this again in 2011.)
I will say what I say about every Stephenson book that I've read, which is that he has a talent for creating incredibly likable characters. I love everybody -- I even love reading about the "bad guys" (although we didn't really get to know too many in this book.) Everyone is smart and funny (whether intentional or not) and I really liked how everyone in the concent looked out for each other. I dunno, I just loved everybody. For me, that is the sort of thing that makes me read a book manically, at every possible opportunity.
The story takes place on a planet that is similar to, but not quite, Earth. So that's neat to start with. I liked the language and the made-up words that he used. I didn't find myself flipping to the glossary as much as some of these other reviewers seem to have done; I liked figuring stuff out as the story went along. I also didn't object to the "exposition" taking 200 pages. The first 200 pages were FUN and then served to make everything else seem strange -- otherwise we might think the later story is the normal part, and that wouldn't have worked, since it wasn't "normal" to the protagonist.
And then everything that they talk about! I expected the whole thing to be about Technology (just because that's sort of what everything he writes is about) but while there is some of that, it ended up being a lot more metaphysical in nature. Which is fun as hell to think about.
I don't know, just read it! It is amazing. I might even recommend this as a first Stephenson book, though it'll take a brave soul to start a 900+ page book by an author he has not yet read. In that case try [b:The Diamond Age|827|The Diamond Age or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer|Neal Stephenson|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388180931s/827.jpg|2181158] first. But yeah, read this! That means you, Curt! Oh yeah, and as Fjellanger reminded me, he didn't talk about currency ONCE! Which is awesome, because my eyes start to glaze over when he talks about currency. Extra hooray for that!
(I read this again in 2011.)