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I love Cryptonomicon but I don't think it would be adaptable in any way that bears more than a superficial similarity to the book. Though actually I feel the sa

I love Cryptonomicon but I don't think it would be adaptable in any way that bears more than a superficial similarity to the book. Though actually I feel the same way about Snow Crash, so we'll see. As far as adaptability of Stephenson goes, I could see Zodiac, or maybe REAMDE, that would work in a way that resembles the books. Maaaybe Seveneves, though you have to deal with the significant separation between Part 2 and Part 3. The rest of his books, including Cryptonomicon and Snow Crash, are too intertwined with "theoretical" concepts to make much sense in an adaptation. I mean, yes: you can have a show or movie about a pizza deliverer/hacker named Hiro Protagonist who swordfights in the metaverse; or Jack and Eliza's Adventures in Enlightenment Europe; or whatever. But the real underpinnings of the story aren't going to make it in and that's what makes Stephenson's books interesting.

haikuginger 9y ago
> though you have to deal with the significant separation between Part 2 and Part 3. I don't think that'd be too hard to do. You just have to add some sort of ritualistic ceremony or somesuch occurring at the beginning of Part 3 where "the story of the Seven is told". You'd have a faceless narrator for the seasons of the show that cover parts 1 and 2, and then, once you reach the end of part 2 (at the end of a season, natch), you reveal the narrator as some sort of hierarch who's been telling the whole story up until now, and jump into the beginning of the next season from there, narratorless, possibly with flashbacks to the narrator telling bits of the post-Epic history as they become relevant. What I really want is an Anathem TV show though.
- acheron 9y ago
  That's true regarding Seveneves. And hey, once you get a season out of part 3, there's no reason you couldn't continue from there with new stories. It's a perfect introduction of a new setting.

haikuginger 9y ago

> though you have to deal with the significant separation between Part 2 and Part 3. I don't think that'd be too hard to do. You just have to add some sort of ritualistic ceremony or somesuch occurring at the beginning of Part 3 where "the story of the Seven is told". You'd have a faceless narrator for the seasons of the show that cover parts 1 and 2, and then, once you reach the end of part 2 (at the end of a season, natch), you reveal the narrator as some sort of hierarch who's been telling the whole story up until now, and jump into the beginning of the next season from there, narratorless, possibly with flashbacks to the narrator telling bits of the post-Epic history as they become relevant. What I really want is an Anathem TV show though.

acheron 9y ago
That's true regarding Seveneves. And hey, once you get a season out of part 3, there's no reason you couldn't continue from there with new stories. It's a perfect introduction of a new setting.