5 ms·

Is that the one that had hundreds of pages of monks hanging around at the beginning? I got bored and couldn't make it through

sdenton4 6y ago
It is the BEST book, though. It becomes a madcap zany heist in the second half, but the 'boring' beginning bit is my favorite. I think back on 'The Book' every time I have to debug bad code... https://anathem.fandom.com/wiki/Book https://anathem.fandom.com/wiki/Book
ahartmetz 6y ago
Neal Stephenson tends to cram too many side stories into his books, some of them quite boring :/ I kind of regret that I slogged through Cryptonomicon and I would advise anyone to stop reading after 200 pages if bored, the next 700 won't really be better.
- foobarbecue 6y ago
  I enjoyed cryptonomicon but get where you're coming from! I think his books would be way better with aggressive editing. Seveneves was great but so many long lame sections should have been removed.
  - X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
    Imo the third part should have just been a sequel
    - foobarbecue 6y ago
      I think the third part should not have been published at all. That environmental determinist ethnography stuff felt like it was straight out of old school racist colonial philosophy. I did think their naming scheme was great though.
      - X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
        Yeah I'd prefer to have not read it either, but I can't take that back. I typically suggest people read the book, but feel free to stop at the third part. It did have some weird regressive vibes, the only redeeming part to me was the idea that multiple distinct groups were able to survive and had to make major changes to adapt, the bit about the different lines descended from the eves was just weird.
- chrisweekly 6y ago
  Strongest possible disagreement here on your 2nd sentence. I'm not a Stephenson fanatic, but IMHO Cryptonomicon kept getting better throughout.
db48x 6y ago
That's probably the one. It's probably not for everyone; the first part of the book is building a whole and detailed world for the story to exist in, as well as creating an interesting and articulate main character to tell the story. One of the really good things about Anathem is that Stephenson hides a lot of clues and advanced mathematics in the early chapters. For example, there are two very good explanations of configuration spaces (aka Hemn Spaces) which might seem like a complete waste of time, but is actually foreshadowing.
quesera 6y ago
That's the one. I thought it was great -- it's not unusual when reading an "epic era" Stephenson book to spend a lot of time wondering what story is being told. But he's a great writer and if you enjoy his style, you usually are rewarded with two or three books of story by the time you run out of pages.

sdenton4 6y ago

It is the BEST book, though. It becomes a madcap zany heist in the second half, but the 'boring' beginning bit is my favorite. I think back on 'The Book' every time I have to debug bad code... https://anathem.fandom.com/wiki/Book https://anathem.fandom.com/wiki/Book

ahartmetz 6y ago

Neal Stephenson tends to cram too many side stories into his books, some of them quite boring :/ I kind of regret that I slogged through Cryptonomicon and I would advise anyone to stop reading after 200 pages if bored, the next 700 won't really be better.

foobarbecue 6y ago
I enjoyed cryptonomicon but get where you're coming from! I think his books would be way better with aggressive editing. Seveneves was great but so many long lame sections should have been removed.
- X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
  Imo the third part should have just been a sequel
  - foobarbecue 6y ago
    I think the third part should not have been published at all. That environmental determinist ethnography stuff felt like it was straight out of old school racist colonial philosophy. I did think their naming scheme was great though.
    - X6S1x6Okd1st 6y ago
      Yeah I'd prefer to have not read it either, but I can't take that back. I typically suggest people read the book, but feel free to stop at the third part. It did have some weird regressive vibes, the only redeeming part to me was the idea that multiple distinct groups were able to survive and had to make major changes to adapt, the bit about the different lines descended from the eves was just weird.
chrisweekly 6y ago
Strongest possible disagreement here on your 2nd sentence. I'm not a Stephenson fanatic, but IMHO Cryptonomicon kept getting better throughout.

db48x 6y ago

That's probably the one. It's probably not for everyone; the first part of the book is building a whole and detailed world for the story to exist in, as well as creating an interesting and articulate main character to tell the story. One of the really good things about Anathem is that Stephenson hides a lot of clues and advanced mathematics in the early chapters. For example, there are two very good explanations of configuration spaces (aka Hemn Spaces) which might seem like a complete waste of time, but is actually foreshadowing.

quesera 6y ago

That's the one. I thought it was great -- it's not unusual when reading an "epic era" Stephenson book to spend a lot of time wondering what story is being told. But he's a great writer and if you enjoy his style, you usually are rewarded with two or three books of story by the time you run out of pages.