3 ms·

I found The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer to be an incredible read, and a great introduction to Neal Stephenson. Like William Gibson he has

• darkarmani 5y ago
  I would not have people start with that book. It's easy to get confused. It is very tough to get through some parts (unless you've read it multiple times and are a super-fan). I find the message very interesting: culture is technology. He has such strong libertarian characters in every novel, he also shows that: "being strong but along makes you weak" (Mel being captured and trussed up). His cultural superiority explanation falls apart slightly in two ways: Victorian culture is lacking (the point of the Mel experiment) and the three girls have completely different outcomes from their "Primer education". (or maybe Victorian culture just needs to evolve). I'm not sure how I feel about the Victorians battling the (barbarian) Chinese and the very feudal class structure.
• satori99 5y ago
  It is also a possibly a (sort-of) sequel to Snow Crash. There are hints all over the Diamond Age that refer to Snow Crash; > "Chiselled Spam," Miss Matheson said, sort of mumbling it to herself. > "Pardon me, Miss Matheson?" Nell said. > "I was just watching the smart wheels and remembering an advertisement from my youth," Miss Matheson said. "I used to be a thrasher, you know. I used to ride skateboards through the streets. Now I'm still on wheels, but a different kind. Got a few too many bumps and bruises during my earlier career, I'm afraid."