Some novelists give us popcorn: snacks of characters interacting in episodes of tasty enjoyment, to be read and then forgotten three hours later. I like popcorn—but whether it is a pricey gourmet treat with truffle oil or capers and cheddar, or an almost-scorched microwave bag of munchies, popcorn is not memorable. You consume and move on.
Other authors provide a solid meal, with two sides and a biscuit. Realistic characters, impressive plot twists, inventive conflicts and resolutions leave you with plenty to digest. Still, by time you open the covers of the next book, you've digested what is enjoyable and nutritious from this one, and you're hungry again.
Neal Stephenson is more like the world-class chef who takes everyday ingredients and whips them into a life-changingly succulent repast. I have yet to read a Stephenson novel once and know how I feel about it. I must ruminate. I must re-read.
"Anathem" is no different. I can scarcely believe this rich meal is available for less than $2 as a Kindle novel. The novel begins with a compelling look at a cloistered culture, which seems religious until you realize that here it is science and philosophy that must be protected from the ordinary world—the 'extramuros' world outside the cloister walls.
The denizens of the 'intramuros' cloister, the 'concent,' are kept focused on their studies. They forego possessions, limiting themselves to a Bolt of newmatter cloth (which can be reconfigured in size, texture, and other characteristics of fabric), a newmatter Chord (a rope or cord of similar diversity), and a newmatter Sphere. These three possessions serve as clothing, bedding, pack and tools for all sorts of purposes. They also provide identification of the owner as an 'avout' (whether male 'fraa' or female 'suur'): someone who lives the cloistered life.
Residing in their "Tenner" cloister, the four fraas Erasmus, Lio, Jesry and Arbilast obey the Discipline while they eagerly await the day the gates will open to allow them to interact with the "Extras" for ten days. For these four, this 'Apert' holiday happens once every ten years. The 'One-Offs' in the Unitarian cloister of their concent have Apert once a year, while the 'Hundreders' will not exit until ten years from now for their once-a-century mingle with the world outside the walls and the fraas (and suurs) from other cloisters. None of them, Extras, One-Offs, Tenners or Hundreders, can imagine the mindset of the 'Millennarians' who stay cloistered for a thousand years before they emerge.
Just this one detail might provide a lesser writer with a complete novel. In "Anathem" it is the initial baseline stroke of paint on a vast canvas that includes philosophical colleges, cultural upheavals, alien visitors, vast works of engineering and gadgetry, and a central theme: What does it mean to be conscious in the world? How do our minds perceive reality, and how do they affect reality?
Philosophers from Thales through Kant and Gödel to Husserl have thought about these questions and written or spoken about their attempts to unravel meaning from them. Stephenson's novel takes these snooze-worthy tomes and distills them into an adventure, complete with complex characters whose actions we can cheer or hiss (sometimes both for the same person).
"Anathem" is a challenging read in the most delightful sense. I noticed as I re-read it on Kindle that every few pages, I was prompted to visit Wikipedia to expand on the details of the story. The 'Teglon,' a crucial mathematical tiling problem in the novel, led me to 'Penrose prototiles' and 'Wang dominoes.' The concept of 'Cnoös' as a personalization of the interaction of thought and reality led me to Husserl's theory of intentionality, and onward to 'noesis' (nuos) and the Gnostic philosophies.
I know this is not the last time I will read and enjoy (and spend quite a while digesting) this complex tale. Like all great works of literature, Stephenson rewards the devoted fan with new vistas of thought each time you enter his world.
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Rhetors, Incanters & Vailers Past Present & Future Before During and After
Anathem's deep , on the shallow end of it are the Vailers (its actually the deeper end but its the easiest to understand imho).Rhetors specialize on Before and the Past.Incanters the Future and After the present.Vailers are masters of the Present During the now.Emergence is their religion, but theres no religions in Anathem just logic and intuition.That is knowing exactly what to do and when to do it. Emergence when all causes and effects rise up to affect you and yours, and knowing exactly what has to be done in that moment.Buy this book, read it (over and over again, its so highly re-readable) but focus on the Ringing Vail on your first run through and how you can incorporate their system into your own life.Then buy the Book of Five Rings and Sun Tsu and Clausewitz and even books on John Boyd (theres a free pdf book titled "New Conception of War" by Ian Brown Google it).Its a must read. Get it.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2008
Top reviews from other countries
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- Scott AkenheadReviewed in Canada on September 15, 2017
Possibly the ultimate "novel of ideas"
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Jan Onderwater aus NLReviewed in Germany on July 5, 2017
Ein Intelligenter SF für Liebhaber
- Jon MorganReviewed in Australia on October 23, 2016
A great story set in a fascinating world
