5 ms·

Could you cite any of these bits of reused Anathem dialogue? I've read Anathem countless times, and didn't notice anything other than "plane-change maneuvers a

Could you cite any of these bits of reused Anathem dialogue? I've read Anathem countless times, and didn't notice anything other than "plane-change maneuvers are expensive" or something to that effect, which I think is more of a truism than reused dialogue.

aaronbrethorst 11y ago
"Plane change maneuvers are expensive" is the one I remember off the top of my head, but I do distinctly recall another line elsewhere in the book. Sorry I can't be more specific.
- nitrogen 11y ago
  I noticed a lot of parallels between Snow Crash and Anathem. Both had dialogues meant to educate the reader, and there is a little overlap in the concepts explored in both books.
- db48x 11y ago
  Plane change maneuvers _are_ expensive; reusing that sentence can't possibly detract from a book.
  - aaronbrethorst 11y ago
    Rephrasing such a sentence undoubtedly requires far less energy than the delta v necessary to accomplish the actual maneuver.
    - rosser 11y ago
      Coming up with different phrasings of the exact same concept per book is potentially more expensive in terms of suspension of disbelief. "Why is she taking a whole paragraph to say, 'Plane change maneuvers are expensive'?"
    - mikeash 11y ago
      Why bother? It's not like Stephenson invented that sentence. It's a fact, stated in the simplest possible way. If you google that literal sentence, you'll find quite a few uses unrelated to his books.
    - EdwardCoffin 11y ago
      Want to take a swing at that yourself? I did do some google searches for the phrase in question, and other people have used it online (though I admit all the citations I found in my cursory search date to after Anathem, though that is no guarantee that they are aping it.)
      - e12e 11y ago
        No comment on re-use or what-not, but: https://www.google.no/search?q=Plane+change+maneuvers+are+expensive&num=50&safe=off&source=lnt&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:1970,cd_max:1980&tbm= https://www.google.no/search?q=Plane+change+maneuvers+are+ex...

aaronbrethorst 11y ago

"Plane change maneuvers are expensive" is the one I remember off the top of my head, but I do distinctly recall another line elsewhere in the book. Sorry I can't be more specific.

nitrogen 11y ago
I noticed a lot of parallels between Snow Crash and Anathem. Both had dialogues meant to educate the reader, and there is a little overlap in the concepts explored in both books.
db48x 11y ago
Plane change maneuvers _are_ expensive; reusing that sentence can't possibly detract from a book.
- aaronbrethorst 11y ago
  Rephrasing such a sentence undoubtedly requires far less energy than the delta v necessary to accomplish the actual maneuver.
  - rosser 11y ago
    Coming up with different phrasings of the exact same concept per book is potentially more expensive in terms of suspension of disbelief. "Why is she taking a whole paragraph to say, 'Plane change maneuvers are expensive'?"
  - mikeash 11y ago
    Why bother? It's not like Stephenson invented that sentence. It's a fact, stated in the simplest possible way. If you google that literal sentence, you'll find quite a few uses unrelated to his books.
  - EdwardCoffin 11y ago
    Want to take a swing at that yourself? I did do some google searches for the phrase in question, and other people have used it online (though I admit all the citations I found in my cursory search date to after Anathem, though that is no guarantee that they are aping it.)
    - e12e 11y ago
      No comment on re-use or what-not, but: https://www.google.no/search?q=Plane+change+maneuvers+are+expensive&num=50&safe=off&source=lnt&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:1970,cd_max:1980&tbm= https://www.google.no/search?q=Plane+change+maneuvers+are+ex...