Calum
This was a daunting read, but proved to be an absolute blast. I started and got stuck pretty early, but on coming back I was able to pick up the vocabulary and names a lot more easily and blasted through the rest in a few days. To be sure, this seems to happen for me a with a lot of books, so it's hard to say if this is Anathem-specific, but the ride that Stephenson takes you on is absolutely worth it.
I tried describing this book to people and struggled to get it into words, so here's my best shot. Anathem takes place on a planet similar to Earth in a lot of ways, but most notably there are orders of monastic scholars called avout that segregate themselves off from the rest of the world. We spend a good chunk of the book just figuring out how this life works and dealing with relatively petty drama, and then the plot kicks into high gear.
The first thing that distinguishes Anathem for me is the reworking of vocabulary for many common things. While obviously presenting some barrier to entry, I found this impressive because not only did the words seem like they could easily have existed in English, they reflected something interesting about how we privilege the words we happen to use. For example, “theorics” is a catch-all term that distinguishes academic/theoretical study from “praxic” or practical/actionable affairs. I found this to uniquely emphasise the thought-action distinction as central to scholarship, as opposed to the more discipline-based division we tend to talk about with phrases such as physics vs applied physics.
The other big difference is that Anathem is a book that follows nerdy scholars, and so if you happen to like literally having characters describe thought experiments to each other this book will definitely appeal. In particular, the book discusses a great deal topics on the philosophy of consciousness and thought. I have no idea what the analogues or bases are for these discussions in real philosophy, but the effect (combined with the vocabulary thing) is to make you strongly question the foundations of why you think the things you think, or what you consider to be true and real. As the book develops, this quickly becomes a feature of not just the style but the plot, but I won't spoil any more.
So we are left with a beautifully put together, rich world with good characters, infused with a heavy dose of philosophy and science. Anathem is a trip, truly, that will keep you thinking.
P.S. If I'd make one nitpick, it's that there didn't need to be a romantic subplot...
2024-02-22: (more spoilery) Relistened on Audible and this is still such a banger. I think the main point I want to touch on is how the Cartasian Discipline relates to longtermism. In particular things like the 10000 year clock being built by the Long Now Foundation is very similar to the mathic clocks in conception and purpose, and the characterisation of the mathic world as uniquely capable of thinking in the long term and its contrast with the Saecular mostly throws into relief just how Saecular our world is. The description of waxing and waning of cities, of settlements and nations, is undoubtedly factual, in that that has happened in different regions of the world, and yet I think I still maintain a possibly-counter-zeitgeist progressivist opinion that the future holds good things, and despite thinking about doom and gloom we will have ways to address said gloom. The other part of the longtermist thinking is that the isolation of the mathic orders is critical to their ability to think long term, both because it is impossible to do so when immersed in the Saecular with its distractions but also because of the forcing function of having nothing else to do. I question the end of the book in the context, actually, which presents the formation of the Magisteria and the integration of the avout as a victory, a waxing of the status of the avout that is to be desired, but I also see that as an erosion that shakes the Discipline foundationally. The whole rest of the book is still a riot but I've become more attracted to the concept of a longtermist foundation, and maybe the monastic vibe of theorics, avocation and simple living. #monkcore2024
This was a daunting read, but proved to be an absolute blast. I started and got stuck pretty early, but on coming back I was able to pick up the vocabulary and names a lot more easily and blasted through the rest in a few days. To be sure, this seems to happen for me a with a lot of books, so it's hard to say if this is Anathem-specific, but the ride that Stephenson takes you on is absolutely worth it.
I tried describing this book to people and struggled to get it into words, so here's my best shot. Anathem takes place on a planet similar to Earth in a lot of ways, but most notably there are orders of monastic scholars called avout that segregate themselves off from the rest of the world. We spend a good chunk of the book just figuring out how this life works and dealing with relatively petty drama, and then the plot kicks into high gear.
The first thing that distinguishes Anathem for me is the reworking of vocabulary for many common things. While obviously presenting some barrier to entry, I found this impressive because not only did the words seem like they could easily have existed in English, they reflected something interesting about how we privilege the words we happen to use. For example, “theorics” is a catch-all term that distinguishes academic/theoretical study from “praxic” or practical/actionable affairs. I found this to uniquely emphasise the thought-action distinction as central to scholarship, as opposed to the more discipline-based division we tend to talk about with phrases such as physics vs applied physics.
The other big difference is that Anathem is a book that follows nerdy scholars, and so if you happen to like literally having characters describe thought experiments to each other this book will definitely appeal. In particular, the book discusses a great deal topics on the philosophy of consciousness and thought. I have no idea what the analogues or bases are for these discussions in real philosophy, but the effect (combined with the vocabulary thing) is to make you strongly question the foundations of why you think the things you think, or what you consider to be true and real. As the book develops, this quickly becomes a feature of not just the style but the plot, but I won't spoil any more.
So we are left with a beautifully put together, rich world with good characters, infused with a heavy dose of philosophy and science. Anathem is a trip, truly, that will keep you thinking.
P.S. If I'd make one nitpick, it's that there didn't need to be a romantic subplot...
2024-02-22: (more spoilery) Relistened on Audible and this is still such a banger. I think the main point I want to touch on is how the Cartasian Discipline relates to longtermism. In particular things like the 10000 year clock being built by the Long Now Foundation is very similar to the mathic clocks in conception and purpose, and the characterisation of the mathic world as uniquely capable of thinking in the long term and its contrast with the Saecular mostly throws into relief just how Saecular our world is. The description of waxing and waning of cities, of settlements and nations, is undoubtedly factual, in that that has happened in different regions of the world, and yet I think I still maintain a possibly-counter-zeitgeist progressivist opinion that the future holds good things, and despite thinking about doom and gloom we will have ways to address said gloom. The other part of the longtermist thinking is that the isolation of the mathic orders is critical to their ability to think long term, both because it is impossible to do so when immersed in the Saecular with its distractions but also because of the forcing function of having nothing else to do. I question the end of the book in the context, actually, which presents the formation of the Magisteria and the integration of the avout as a victory, a waxing of the status of the avout that is to be desired, but I also see that as an erosion that shakes the Discipline foundationally. The whole rest of the book is still a riot but I've become more attracted to the concept of a longtermist foundation, and maybe the monastic vibe of theorics, avocation and simple living. #monkcore2024
Fricking amazing. tbc
I was hit a lot harder by this than the first. In hindsight, The Blade Itself is setup. This book lets the characters breathe a lot more, and gets to have them interact, both directly and in allusion and parallel. It makes me think a great deal about anger, since so many of the characters seem at its mercy. But it's the softer moments, especially “Scars” and the last chapter “Back to the Mud”, which elicited sobs. I don't know if I'd say there is a nihilistic thread to this so far, almost the opposite. Somehow, despite tragedy, it feels hopeful - not explicitly, but nevertheless.
I was hit a lot harder by this than the first. In hindsight, The Blade Itself is setup. This book lets the characters breathe a lot more, and gets to have them interact, both directly and in allusion and parallel. It makes me think a great deal about anger, since so many of the characters seem at its mercy. But it's the softer moments, especially “Scars” and the last chapter “Back to the Mud”, which elicited sobs. I don't know if I'd say there is a nihilistic thread to this so far, almost the opposite. Somehow, despite tragedy, it feels hopeful - not explicitly, but nevertheless.
After my unsuccessful murder I wasn't unhappy for an entire year.
A couple of diamonds in here but an awful lot of rough. “Reprieve” I enjoyed immensely and brought up repeatedly. I was constantly thinking about his near death experience and subsequent elation as a pretty revealing anecdote about the nature of happiness and sadness, and how relative they are. “An Insult to the Brain” I found really quite funny as a discussion on stories, and how we construct them and find escape and meaning in them. The rest was dated at best, and psychopathic at worst.
After my unsuccessful murder I wasn't unhappy for an entire year.
A couple of diamonds in here but an awful lot of rough. “Reprieve” I enjoyed immensely and brought up repeatedly. I was constantly thinking about his near death experience and subsequent elation as a pretty revealing anecdote about the nature of happiness and sadness, and how relative they are. “An Insult to the Brain” I found really quite funny as a discussion on stories, and how we construct them and find escape and meaning in them. The rest was dated at best, and psychopathic at worst.
irish roman martian hunger games
irish roman martian hunger games
lysanderoth au chune
lysanderoth au chune
nerd cultural appropriation and misogynistic cultural approbation in service of white guilt literati and personal guilt deflection. redpill incel bible if they could read it
nerd cultural appropriation and misogynistic cultural approbation in service of white guilt literati and personal guilt deflection. redpill incel bible if they could read it
