Anathem

English language

Published Jan. 4, 2008 by William Morrow.

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (4 reviews)

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 …

11 editions

Review of 'Anathem' on 'GoodReads'

4 stars

I first tried reading Anathem back when it was relatively new, but couldn't get past the first 100 pages or so. Now, having the benefit of a decade more worldly knowledge (such as the history of the Catholic church, Western philosophy, etc.), I've finally finished it and I can say that it was an incredible read.



Is it an collection of philosophy dialogue? Is it an action-adventure novel? Is it actually just Snow Crash presented differently?



Yeah, kind of, but it's also a book that gets exponentially more exciting as it goes on and also says some pretty profound things. (The profound things are, unfortunately, fiction, but it would be a high bar for an action-adventure novel to also truly advance philosophy.)



So if you're considering reading this, just know that you shouldn't worry too much about the made-up words - you'll understand them in due time - and that …

Untypisches Buch von Neal Stephenson

5 stars

Untypisches Buch von Neal Stephenson - es spielt nicht auf der Erde sondern auf einer Art Parallelwelt auf der Vieles anders ist. Und es hat eine großteils lineare Handlung. Viel Stephenson-typisches gibt es aber doch: Vor Allem die Detailverliebtheit - er erfindet dafür 3500 Jahre in sich stimmige Kulturgeschichte des Planeten. Ich halte es für ein Meisterwerk - auch wenn ich verstehen warum sich die Begeisterung von so machem Stephenson-Fan eher in Grenzen hält.

Review of 'Amalthea' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Die Geschichte wäre wirklich gut und ich bin ja durchaus bereit mich mit Technik auseinanderzusetzen, aber hier bin ich doch häufiger ausgestiegen und hab bloß noch drüber weggelesen. Das technische Interesse und die Details des Autors in allen Ehren, aber dieser Roman könnte ein paar hundert Seiten weniger haben, was ihn einfach griffiger machen würde.

Subjects

  • Life on other planets -- Fiction
  • Disasters -- Fiction
  • Monasteries -- Fiction
  • Philosophy -- Fiction
  • Mathematics -- Fiction