By: Neal Stephenson Publisher: William Morrow Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: William Morrow Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 960 Publication Date: September 01, 2008 Release Date: September 09, 2008
Anathem, the latest invention by the New York Times bestselling author of Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle, is a magnificent creation: a work of great scope, intelligence, and imagination that ushers readers into a recognizable—yet strangely inverted—world.
Fraa Erasmas is a young avout living in the Concent of Saunt Edhar, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside "saecular" world by ancient stone, honored traditions, and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent's walls. Three times during history's darkest epochs violence born of superstition and ignorance has invaded and devastated the cloistered mathic community. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe, becoming out of necessity even more austere and less dependent on technology and material things. And Erasmas has no fear of the outside—the Extramuros—for the last of the terrible times was long, long ago.
Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent's gates—at the same time opening them wide to welcome the curious "extras" in. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." 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.
Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros—a threat that only an unsteady alliance of saecular and avout can oppose—as, one by one, Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Suddenly burdened with a staggering responsibility, Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world—as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.
Self Indulgent Don't get me wrong...I love Neal Stephenson and loved his other work. But this book is utterly self-indulgent and unreadable. Even for a lover of Gene Wolfe whose books are characterized by esoteric language, Anathem is just not worth slogging through for me.
Neal, please write a sequel to Anathem instead of jumping the shark!
great as expected, but... xkcd was right: the little trick of inventing new words the meaning of which must be deduced by the reader from context did get a little old.
But absolutely worth the read!
ponderous, derivative possible spoilers: My biggest complaint about this book is that it is too darn heavy. One gets tired of falling out of bed in the beginning or end of this book, with it's massive and inhuman weight, although the binding is actually beautiful and sewn with high quality thread. Also the paper at the front and back are wonderfully textured and the paper acid free which is I guess something the people in England can only dream of. the story is sort of 'his dark materials' written by gene wolfe, with a dash of harry potter thrown in for good luck. Unlike gene wolfe, you get to find out what eventually happened to all of the characters - they don't disappear in midstream for no apparent reason. also, if you are going to include a glossary, put it into a light, small pamphlet and package it in with the book. I don't know how many times I turned to the back of the book only to have it knock all of the stuff off of my bedside table, which can be a drag after replacing all the junk on it 3 to 4 times a night -see enormity of weight mentioned above. all in all, thank god for Hugh Everett because SF would be all military adventures in space if it hadn't been for his bifurcation theories. a tasty and almost infinite read.
Interesting Concepts On a world whose history has run somewhat parallel to Earth, mathematicians are secluded like monks and nuns, separated into walled cities where they live simplistic lives. They read, develop ideas, study theories, and shun most technology. These fraas and suurs are seen as mysterious and possibly dangerous by the general public outside of the walls. When an event of significance to the entire world occurs, though, these avout may be their world's only hope for salvation.
I really liked the characters in this book and the highly detailed description of the day-to-day life of Fraa Erasmus. The world in which he lived was fascinating and engaging.
However, I got lost in some of the deeper philosophy of this book, and was especially thrown off by Orolo's ideas of different narratives existing at the same time. Consequently, I had a difficult time figuring out what I was supposed to think about the end of this book, in which Erasmus seemed to be operating in more than one narrative at the same time. I found this to be an unsatisfying end to a book I had really enjoyed much of the way through.
Brilliant but not for the lazy reader It's interesting looking through the wide range of reviews already here for this book. It appears some readers want to be "spoon fed" and can't accept why, for instance, Stephenson would say "jeejah" instead of PDA or mobile phone. Partly because the concept is not properly captured by either term and partly because there is an explanation coming in a couple of hundred pages as to _why_ things on Arbre are _like_ Earth but not the same. It's important to the plot that we have an ongoing sense that this is "like" Earth but not "identical" to Earth. If the reader isn't able to mentally substitute "mobile communication/computing device" for "jeejah" after the first few occurrences then they shouldn't be reading speculative fiction.
Like Stephenson's previous work, Anathem expects the reader to bring an open, attentive mind to the process. This is not a novel to be lightly dipped into and read like some throwaway pulp adventure. It contains some quite detailed discourse on areas of philosophy and cosmology (amongst many other things). It is driven more by ideas than by people or situations.
Anathem is highly recommended for the reader who wants to have their mind exercised by what they're reading. It is definitely not recommended for readers who wish to simply sit back and be entertained - they should go see a mindless action film or equivalent.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
