From the very beginning of this blog I’ve wanted to use it to keep track of books I’ve read and give my reactions to them–brief reactions, because I have neither the time nor inclination to be a full-fledged book reviewer, I decided long ago–and yet somehow, I’ve almost never done it.
But let me attempt again, mainly because I really hope you’ll go out and read the book I just finished, Neal Stephenson’s Anathem. (It won’t actually be released until September 9, but for some reason–I think because my name’s on the SF Canada website–I received an advance reader copy.)
I confess I’ve rather avoided Stephenson up until now because everyone talked about how long and complicated his books were, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to plunge into something that could prove rather turgid. But now that I’ve devoured Anathem, I suspect I’ll be working backward to Cryptonomicon and his Baroque Cycle.
Big ideas (starting with the notion of philosopher-theorist monks who emerge from their monasteries only briefly every one, 10, 100 or 1,000 years), great world-building, and a flat-out space opera-ish ending: the book, at 900 pages, felt, if anything, not long enough.
So go and read it. And I’ll move on to the next thing on my list: The New Adventures of the Mad Scientist’s Club, by Bertrand R. Brinley. Or, as Monty Python would put it, “And now for something completely different…”
1 comments
This one’s been getting a lot of good buzz.