Anathem

Anathem - loved it

My first Neal Stephenson book so I have nothing to compare it to, but I considered it to be quite impressive. The first 1/3-1/2 were very slow and methodical, with a great deal of character and thought development. The rest of the book was much faster-paced and dramatic. I appreciated the inital groundwork that Stephenson established and thought it paid dividends thereafter.

The book is part escapist sci-fi, part philisophical exploration, part human introspection. These happen to all be fascinating subjects for me, so I was hooked.

It is definitely not light reading. I found myself constantly referring to the appendix to remember definitions, and to the timeline at the beginning of the book to aid my comprehension. I read and re-read several excerpts that I struggled to digest the first go-around. But that's my kind of book -- I like to be challenged mentally, and Anathem nailed it.

It was over 900 pages, but I didn't mind -- wished it had kept going. Would have liked to have seen the toils of the "second reconstruction," and further character development of Raz, Ala, Tulia, Jesry, Arisbalt, Lio, etc. as they aged. I'll miss them.

I'm now a Neal Stephenson fan and look forward to reading his other books.

9 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Too Much...

I read the reviews on this book and figured that I would love it. I like longer books with a lot of detail and subplots. However, this book was just too intense. The main problem that I had was that the first 150 to 200-ish pages you practically have to learn a new language in order to understand the book - and these are words solely for this storyline. It wouldn't have been too bad if I was learning real English words. Once you're finished with the book, you don't need the learned words anymore. Yes, there was a glossary, but who wants to stop reading and look up a word in the glossary literally every other sentence? I think this would have been an excellent book if it were toned down a little. The plot and subplots were actually very good and the book was well written. If it weren't for the constant new words that I had to learn for the story, I probably would have given this book a 4.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Only one major flaw

With Anathem, Stephenson has created a well-crafted story with complex characters set in a believable world. This tome is rich with relevant social commentary, engaging philosophy and ontological epistemology. The only major flaw I could find on my first reading has to do with several instances where the authors voice over-rode the voice of certain characters. The characters of Fraa Jad and Fraa Lodoghir were ultimately more wise than their author and this created some odd moments when the wisdom of a millenarian was overwhelmed by the condescension of Stephenson. Be that as it may, it is a very timely and even occasionally brilliant work which should not fail to please anyone who has wrestled with Pythagorean, pre-socratic, platonic, neo-platonic, and aristotelian philosophy as well as that of Kant, Hegel, Whitehead, Wittgenstein and Heidegger. A dose of Theology and Soteriology rounds out the minimum prerequisites.
The world of Anathem is similar to a stage on which Gene Wolfe (Book of the New Sun), Frank Herbert (Dune Chronicles) and Walter M. Miller, Jr (A Canticle for Leibowitz) discuss contemporary events and philosophical trends. A very engaging (and demanding) read. Congratulations Neal!

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

This is a fascinating tale

In the future on the planet Arbre, great thinkers are clustered behind the ¿Concent¿ walls where they control knowledge from the illogical thinking ¿Saecular¿ masses. Preadolescents who show a strong logical ability for rational thought are taken away from the masses to be educated as logical scientists or pragmatic mathematicians inside the cloisters. They learn early on their responsibilities as knowledge is power and knowledge used unwisely is dangerous thus must be coveted and protected.------------ Nineteen year old Raz showed signs of brilliance when he was eight, he was collected to be trained as a muse. He has become a ¿Tenner¿ over his decade plus of intense learning. Thus his time to go outside amongst the low life Saecular is coming an event he is allowed once every ten years hence a Tenner. However, the cloistered soon realizes a pandemic catastrophe from outer space is coming soon. Much of the older Concent members feel strongly that physical intervention is prohibited as they debate what to do. However, teens like Raz and those he associates with have not lost their need for adventure. Foolishly perhaps without adult supervision and some would say in violation of their elders, they set forth to save Arbre.---------- This is a fascinating tale mindful of Gulliver¿s Travels to Laputa, the flying island of scientists and mathematicians. The debates and discussions on history and the upcoming calamity are enjoyable to follow, but can turn tedious as long stretches purposely lack action those behind the walls are reflective thinkers not necessarily doers except perhaps the teens. Fans who appreciate a cerebral science fiction thriller with as much philosophizing as action will want to read Neal Stephenson¿s brillian, interesting but different ANATHEM.------------- Harriet Klausner

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Very Good and Enjoyable, but not Perfect.

Excellent world creation and plot setup. Story took a while to develop with all the character building. Story seemed to end quickly and could have been more thoughtfully developed like the rest of the book, otherwise I would have given 5 stars.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Not exactly recommending it to anyone

Neal Stephenson, in this book apparently seems to be doing a whole lot of character building and surrounding description with details that are highly superfluous. This book makes the reader believe that every single descriptor is of utmost importance only to offer the bad taste of having rummaged through the first half finding out finally that many details were not even used in the second half of the book. Having finished the entire book, I saw many loose threads of whole ideas developed up to a point, abruptly ending without any further mention. I felt that I toiled through it all only to be left with a flat taste in my mouth.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Name of the Rose into Thin Air Beneath the Planet of the Apes: A Space Odyssey, Hidden Dragon of the Third Kind.

Heaping helpings of self-indulgence and interesting digression can make Neal Stephenson books great, but unfortunately this one isn't great. I enjoyed the read, and if you love Neal Stephenson, you'll read this and enjoy it, but it certainly isn't a place to start exploring his stuff.

My specific complaints -- as referenced above, the book is too all over the place. Rather than just nodding at various genres, Neal stops to wallow in each. On top of that, I found the characters very thin. If you haven't read Neal Stephenson before, you'd be much better starting with Cryptonomicon, or with Quicksilver, the first book in the Baroque Cycle. You can land here once you've run out of those, and explored some of the earlier stuff (Snow Crash, for example.)

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Time and mind drifter

'Monyafeek' who would have thought it'd be a love story?

1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Fasinating.

New world, lots of interesting ideas. Quite engrossing. The ending is somewhat abrupt, but otherwise I liked it.

Stephenson is a fantastic author and this book is his best, in m

Stephenson is a fantastic author and this book is his best, in my opinion. The ideas are what makes it so fantastic, you find yourself trying to make maps of the places and doing math to keep it all straight, not because it is unclear but because the ideas keep you going. It's like a good puzzle. I knew nothing about the story of this book going into it. I didn't even read the back of it and I would reccomend you do the same. Dive in and you will love Anathem.

T

Rytt wtt vgg

0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Will exercise your mind

If you are a fan of philosophy, science, math, and the intersections between these fields, you will love this book. I scanned the timeline in the intro prior to reading, but found throughout the read that there were enough common parallels and interspersed definitions to get through without having to flip to the glossary (nook edition). The alternative setting is just close enough to understand, and yet far enough removed to introduce a wealth of challenging "what ifs," "what could have beens" and "what might yet be." I also found it a highly relevant commentary on our present society... whether set in it or not. I concede that the first parts of the book are slow reading, but those willing to hang in will be richly rewarded.

Very good book to read or listen to!

We own this one in three mediums, Hard back, audio and now ebook. My wife and I both read this when nothing else strikes our fancy. There are always surprises in the twists of the plot that we seemed to miss or forget.

Highly Recommended...but

If you don't enjoy being thrown into a new world and made to learn that world then you probably wont enjoy this book. There is something wholly satisfying about the world that Stephenson creates, and I found myself not wanting to leave to the point where I drug on finishing it.

Some will love it

And others will not. To sum up, all I can really say without ruining the plot is this: Stephenson develops his story in a way somewhat similar to Victor Hugo in his immortal classic Les Miserables. To enjoy Anathem, one must be willing to read at the pace that Stephenson dictates. If one has the paper version, it's the kind of book to make margin notes in. I loved the book, but that's no guarantee that you will.

loved it!

great book. suggest not reading the definitions / history at beginning and figuring everything out as you go along. lots of history of philosophy but with a very interesting plot and well developed characters.

My Favorite Book

Title says it all. Very philosophical. The friendships are very strong between the main characters. My only complaint is that the first 200 pages are sort of boring, but very necessary ground work.

Yes he IS the coatrack hadrack....

This is a bodacios read. Hats off and high dee ho's to Master Stephenson again.

incredible reading

A friend gave this to me, saying 'it's hard to describe'. She was right, anc I loved this book. Highly recommended if you love a bit of math, philosophy, and aliens.

Neal Stephenson at his best!!

What a fabulous story. While reading this it sometimes reminded me of Atlas Shrugged, sometimes, Dune and some times like Robert Heinlein's Have Spacesuit will Travel. But mostly it is like nothing you will ever read. I highly recommend it!