Anathem by Neal Stephenson
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Book Reviews of Anathem
Book Review: What a fun ride!
Summary: 5 Stars
Love the originality! I usually don't like reading 900 page books, after about 300 pages I get restless. Not so with this one. I could have read on even longer. Not counting additional reading material I read about 10 books a month, every month. I crave originality and a world to get lost in and I thank you Neal Stephenson.
The idea of a 'monastery' for scientists, mathmeticians and philosphers is an intriguing one but put that 'monastery' on another planet with it's own history, language and ideas similar to ours but not the same and you have an exponentially intriguing read. I liked how he kept some things a little mysterious which only added to the intrigue. (His parody of those scientists who must have proof of everything via Fraa Lodoghir was great!)
One of the great purposes of sci-fi, for me, is to take ideas and put them in an alien context so that we can view them freshly and objectively and I thought Stephenson accomplished that quite well.
Add some good characters, wit and adventure and off we go to get lost in another world!
The only thing that bogged the book down a little was his constant criticism of religion. It became a little petty. He could have cut some of that out and still made his point.
Book Review: Do you have the time?
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm a Neal Stephenson fan - I think most of the positive reviews of this book that you will read come from other Neal Stephenson fans. There is a reason for that - you have to like the style to trust him enough to keep going through the indoctrination.
Look at the reviews - the positive ones are well written, bombastic and they all tell you it's worth it. Take a hint. Snow Crash had enough mind candy to keep a wide audience interested. Cryptonomicon was the book that hooked me and I'll now buy anything the man writes until he stops. But I started and stopped it twice before finally working through it when I had time. If you're a 'voracious' reader and expect to knock this one out in a week on your way to the book that Uncle Joe recommended, you'll miss, to my mind, the real joy of experiencing crafted sentences and detailed scenes that he paints for you. His works are best when you really give yourself to the experience.
So if you're ready to take some browbeating not as the contrived fiction that it sometimes seems to be but rather as almost a rite of passage to full immersion, then give it a try. If you need an easy read or expect quick and constant entertainment...keep searching.
Book Review: This book will be talked about for years
Summary: 5 Stars
Some books are fluff without any lasting appeal. Anathem, on the other hand, is a book that will be discussed for a long time. Talk about HIGH CONCEPT, jeez. This is truly a culmination of Neal Stephenson's career and all of his prior books have led up to this book. I am confident that this will win most/all of the specualtive fiction awards this year.
Who will like this book:
Well if you enjoyed his prior novels I am not sure how you can not like this one. Any true fan of adult speculative fiction should enjoy this book. It is not easy but would you really prefer it that way.
Who will not like this book:
If you did not enjoy Cryptonomican or The Baroque Cycle by Stevenson than you should stay away from this one too. This is not a pulp fiction book like the Star Wars and Star Trek books out there. Those are for a more juvenile audience whom do not want to have to think much while reading. I am not saying there is anything wrong with reading those books but lets be honest and agree that not all books are for everyone. This book will require a higher degree of concentration and not everyone has the time or patience to read a book like this.
Book Review: Good book for anyone who happens to have a mind
Summary: 5 Stars
Compared with the 'Baroque Cycle' and 'Cryptonomicon', Stephenson's earlier works in a similar vein, I actually would call 'Anathem' both the easiest and the most rewarding. Once you get a hold of the new vocabulary in 'Anathem' (which should not take more than fifty pages or so), it's pretty smooth sailing -- not so much by virtue of its being 'easy', but because of the gripping (with tenacious tentacles) plot, the author's never-failing gift with words, and -- most of all -- the grand scope of the ideas the reader is exposed to. These are the Big Questions of philosophy, which thinkers have grappled with for centuries. If you have a background in philosophy, 'Anathem' will be familiar territory, though no less enjoyable a read; if you are, so to speak, a layman, then 'Anathem' will be even greater food for thought.
Because of its nature as a Novel of Ideas, 'Anathem' may not appeal immediately to everyone, especially those who get hives when asked to think hard, but I encourage you to give it a good long try, for lurking beneath all the philosophy is a fine plot and very lovable characters. Take a chance, and give your brain some exercise!
Book Review: One of my top ten favorites
Summary: 5 Stars
Anathem reads like a historical novel and a lot of the history is only implied within the story. This creates mystery and when the mysteries are explained, or when you are granted an insight, it's extremely satisfying, in the same sort of way that Lost. Stephenson, as always, does some very, very clever things with this narrative. He creates a unique, interest world, full of characters that make me smirk. The concepts are brilliant, in that I think about them when I'm not reading the book. He makes you invest a lot in the book, and then he gives you a good return on the investment.
This is a book of big ideas and high concepts. I loved A Canticle for Leibowitz and I loved In The Name of the Rose, and Anathem feels like a Neal Stephenson engineered mash-up of those two books. For me, it was a page-turner, but it's not Michael Crichton. I wouldn't recommend it to my aunt's book club.
I'm a huge Stephenson fan. Not so much of the early cyberpunk, but Cryptnomicon and the Baroque Cycle are also in my top ten list. If you loved those, you will love Anathem. If you like Neal Stephenson, buy this now!