Neal Stephenson Live Webcast for his new book

Tue, 09/09/2008 - 4:37pm — Valhalla

Just got a notice that Neal Stephenson (Snow Crash, The Diamond Age, The Baroque Cycle) is launching his new book, Anathem with a live webcast at 10pm EST:

Anathem

If you love, as I do, the slightly naughty pasttime of sucking up history, politics and economics through well-told fiction, here's a guy for you. I haven't heard much about Anathem, but found The Baroque Cycle hugely satisfying (once I got into it; must admit it took me a few times with the first book). Yum!

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Glad To Hear It's Not Just Me

By BDBlue on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 7:05pm

I've got the first book of the Baroque cycle and I think I've started it three times. I had given up on trying again, but now you have me thinking it might be worth another go since it looks like I'm not the only one who has had some trouble getting into it.

It took me 3 tries too

By Valhalla on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 7:15pm

I kept getting as far as page 50, maybe even 100, and putting it down again. Once I got past about p 150, iirc, then I got really involved. Enough so that I had a hard time putting it down and going to work, and felt sad when I finally finished all 3.

Best news I've heard in a long time

By Dawn on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 9:04pm

I've been meaning to write you all a nice review of the Baroque Cycle. I devoted months to it last year and nearly started over when I was finished. I admit you probably have to have a propensity for liking huge stories like that, but I encourage anyone to stick with it. I promise it comes together.

Thank you for the heads up.

Dawn aka Ruffian

I liked Cryptonomicon a lot better

By lambert on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 9:17pm

Stephensen's always had a tendency to run off at the mouth, and IMNSHO, the Baroque Cycle is w-a-a-y too verbose. Snow Crash and even Diamond Age are far superior, stylistically.

[ ] Very tepidly voting for Obama [ ] ?????. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

—

"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi

I liked Cryptonomicon a Lot Too

By Dawn on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 9:23pm

as a standalone book for a weekend. But sometimes I do like to lose myself in 3000 pages. I can honestly say I hardly ever found it too wordy. All a matter of taste.

Snow Crash and The Diamond Age

By Valhalla on Tue, 09/09/2008 - 10:33pm

are cultural critique while The Baroque Cycle is like PolySci and Econ courses in college, except interesting. Cryptonimocon's kinda half and half.

I like all his books, just in different ways.

The kick-off webcast was sponsored by The Long Now foundation (which I'd never heard of), but this is their mission:

The Long Now Foundation was established in 01996* to develop the Clock and Library projects, as well as to become the seed of a very long term cultural institution. The Long Now Foundation hopes to provide counterpoint to today's "faster/cheaper" mind set and promote "slower/better" thinking. We hope to creatively foster responsibility in the framework of the next 10,000 years.

Sounds pretty cool, I think I'm going to dig in and poke around.