Anathem
by Neal Stephenson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Neal StephensonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-09
ISBN: 0061474096
Number of pages: 960
Publisher: William Morrow
Product features:
- Fiction, Novel
Book Reviews of Anathem
Book Review: A review for Stephenson fans who are leery about this book...
Summary: 5 Stars
I feel compelled to write a review of Neal Stephenson's latest work, Anathem, because quite simply it is one of the best, most eye-opening books I've read in the last five years.
Now, this qualification comes with some qualifications of its own.
First of all, if you're the average kind of guy with a short attention span, who gets angry when internet discussions get side-tracked by people who're talking about something you don't understand, then this book is not for you. If you've read and enjoyed Neal's other work, but wish he'd just get on with telling the story instead of providing the reader with endless descriptions of, say, the techniques involved in breakfast cereal degustation, then this book's not for you.
If, on the other hand, you enjoy Stephenson's insights into western history, culture and philosophy - especially rational, scientific philosophy - then you'll want this book in your suitcase on your next holiday to wherever it is you go to read Fun Stuff.
I feel compelled to point out that it is not necessary to have a deep background in math or science to read this book, as some reviewers have claimed. Frankly, it was these claims (by people who otherwise enjoyed the book) which put me off of reading Anathem and made ultimately buying it a bit of a shot in the dark for me, even though I'm a rabid Stephenson fan. What I feared were long discourses on, say, numbers theory and the like which I would not be able to follow at all.
I'm happy to say that this is not the case.
I'm a social scientist with a nodding acquaintence with philosophy - enough that I could probably identify one out of every five philosophers that Stephenson uses in the book. And that's not much. I mean, I'm savvy enough that when Stephenson talks about "Gardan's Steelyard", I understand that he's referencing what our world calls "Occam's Razor". I know that the "Protans" are probably stand-ins for our world's "Proteans". But that's really about it: the level of knowledge anyone who had to sleep through a freshman "philosophy of science" course should have. As a social scientist, however, my math skills don't go beyond what was required to get me through my sophmore "Statistics for Sociologists" course and of physics, I know next to nothing, having dropped that as a senior in high school.
But I was still able to read this book quite easily and with great interest. In fact, I think it would serve as a fun primer for one of those freshman-level philosophy of science courses. It's certainly made me want to read more of Stephenson's sources.
So if you've been holding off reading Anathem because you were afraid of the depth of the material, I'd say give it a shot. A simple undergrad university-level education should be more than enough for you to get through this and to enjoy the journey.
One thing I should add, however, which pleasantly surprised me, is Stephenson's continuing maturation as a writer. In Anathem, the "worst" of those long "side tracks" which Stephenson so loves to engage in are sequestered off as seperate appendixes which can be read if, as and when the reader feels up to them. They reward attentive reading, but are dry enough to pose huge stumbling blocks to the story. By shunting them off to the appendixes, Stephenson has made the book much more accessible and enjoyable to the average reader without depriving the rest of us of the übernerdity which we so enjoy in Neal's work.
This was a very good and mature decision of the writer - or his editor - and should be applauded.
Also, this is the first Stephenson book which I've ever read that has a coherent sense of closure - obviously something Neal really worked at bringing about, given the book's last sentence. Normally, this man's books are a bit like roller coasters: one reads them not because of where they lead, but because of the thrills along the way. Anathem, however, comes to a logical and satisfying ending with all loose ends nicely tied up except for those upon which reasonable and rational sequels might normally be hung. Again, this strikes me as a definite advance for Stephenson in terms of his writing skills.
All in all, Anathem is a great book - perhaps a real science fiction classic on the level of LeGuin's "Dispossessed" or Asimov's "I, Robot". If you like Neal's work and haven't read it yet, or simply enjoy well-thought out and rigorously researched science fiction, pick it up now!
Summary of Anathem
For ten years Fraa Erasmas, a young avout, has lived in a cloistered sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside world. But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change?and Erasmas will become a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world, as he follows his destiny to the most inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.
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