Anathem

I've had a hard time with some of the other Neal Stephenson books I've tried, but for some reason this one was right up my alley. I disagree with most of his thoughts on metaphysics as presented, but the overall narrative was able to keep me interested much more than I expected. I went into this book expecting to probably set it aside (as I have done with some of Stephenson's other works). I was pleasantly surprised when I found myself staying up late to see where the story would go next.

I don't really understand how Neal Stephenson is a bestselling New York Times author. Is there really that large of an audience for a 900+ page book that sandwiches a narrative of Greek philosophy, quantum mechanics and astronomy with a time line at the beginning and an ending of 50 pages of glossary and mathematical problems?

That's not to say I didn't like Anathem, although, having said that, in large part I liked it because I had the time to memorize entries from the glossary (you grow out of needing it around page 400 or so), to look up quantum mechanics, google philosophers and work out a proof of the Pythagorean theorem. This is a book to be read on vacation.

I loved Anathem. It's one of the few books that really begins on a small scale and then gradually scales up to epic scale problems, while entertaining the reader along the way. Similarly, it is one of the few books in which the author tries to posit scientific and philosophic hypotheses while still remaining an entertaining work of fiction and without becoming preachy or (unlike many of Stephenson's other works) an unreadable information dump. His science is entertaining and while it is bettered by outside knowledge, he explains his points in such detail that outside knowledge is not necessary. Stephenson is respectful of quantum mechanics, in contrast to myriad “science” fiction novels that throw around Everett and quantum mechanics as excuses for all manner of convenient magic.

That's not to say that I had no complaints: whole sections of the book drag, particularly because they seem to be rehashing what the reader already has either been told explicitly or intuited and many plans made by characters seem to ultimately go nowhere. More grievous is the closing arc, which has an unfinished feel. After 850 pages of having every action described to the minute detail, the last few pages feel like they're in outline form. Time jumps, plots are dropped, key points are ultimately only intimated and never explained outright. All of these are fine narrative devices but are in stark contrast to the rest of the book and therefore feel unfinished.

Too many books packed into one, and (for the most part) a tedious slog at that. It just feels like Stephenson is trying so hard, to show how smart and well-read and clever he is, that the story has to take distant second place to the author. I could go on for pages about what I liked, disliked, paused to reflect on, and/or rolled my eyes at... but there's no need. I'm glad I read this; I'm glad it's over; and I'm unlikely ever to read his books again. Move along.

I haven't read a Neal Stephenson book that I haven't enjoyed and this was another pleasure to read.

Most of the negative comments that I have read are about the made up words. This is a sci-fi novel. There are made up names for things in almost every sci-fi novel I have ever read. In a phrase: Get Over It. Amongst the reasons for this are to remind you that this is a different world with different ways of going about things, that the devices are not exactly analogous to those in our world and that Mr. Stephenson chose to do it this way.

Still, I loved the book even if it did take me even longer than normal to get through it (many diversions with work, comics and life got in the way. Pre-schoolers have a way of destroying reading time unless you are reading with them.

A master work, best book I've read in recent years.

A fantastic journey. Stephenson's alternate world is compelling, realistic and interesting. His device of moving you through many different aspects of the world continues his tradition of changing scenery to keep the story compelling while characters maintain their consistency.

Anathem deserves a whole wiki devoted to understanding the rich world Stephenson created. I was slightly let down by the final stage of the story, but not much really. No spoilers so I can't really go into why, but part of my let-down might be that it had to end.