Slog - Comments on Today The Stranger Suggests http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539 BooksNeal Stephenson If you've read The Diamond Age, you know that Stephenson made science fiction suddenly matter again. If sci-fi isn't your thing, maybe you read Cryptonomicon and marveled at his ability to write an intelligent thriller. Or maybe you were blown away by Stephenson's hugely ambitious historical epic, The Baroque Cycle. Whatever the genre, he's one of the best writers in the Northwest, and he's making a rare public appearance to read from his newest book, Anathem. (University Temple United Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd St, 634-3400. 7 pm, $5.) PAUL CONSTANT See what else is happening in Books... Copyright 2008 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:00:00 -0800 Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:05:34 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by max solomon spoonman!

when will bald + goatee go out of favor?

women: do you LIKE this look?

]]> max solomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1141855 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1141855 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:17:16 -0800 Comment by Greg Why is this being held at the University Temple?

]]> Greg http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1141897 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1141897 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:24:29 -0800 Comment by PopTart @1 I love him for his mind...

]]> PopTart http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1141945 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1141945 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:33:10 -0800 Comment by Cow I know I'm going to get hated for this, but...

or maybe you tried picking up a few different books of his, got bored beyond belief 50 pages into a 2,500-page novel, and moved on.

]]> Cow http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142000 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142000 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:47:28 -0800 Comment by Levislade @4 - your loss.

Shit, I should really go to this. I saw he was appearing at Third Place in not-Seattle, but didn't realize he was coming here!

]]> Levislade http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142018 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142018 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 11:54:02 -0800 Comment by Mike I agree with #3. Stephenson's work is too long and have weak endings. He does have interesting ideas.

]]> Mike http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142056 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142056 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:06:31 -0800 Comment by Amelia @1: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Am on page 633 of the new one.)

Who cares about endings? They're overrated. Besides, I liked the ending of The Diamond Age, and speaking as a history major I'd like to see you find an ending for a story that began with Cromwell and Samuel Pepys. What, you want to stop before the American Revolutionary War, just because it exceeds the human lifespan? In history you just stop writing.

]]> Amelia http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142105 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142105 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:21:09 -0800 Comment by Amelia @1: Sorry, must get my mind back into the gutter. With my post-30 dyslexia, I read "Women, do you like this book?"

Neal's not fashionable. He probably relies on cookery more than clothing. Apart from which, I blame Seattle. When I first moved here from Germany and was volunteered to sell beer tickets at an Oktoberfest, I was shocked by the way people's clothing had frozen in fashion time. Looking around the room, I could tell exactly when couples had left Germany and moved to Seattle: 1981, 1992 and, looking down at my own black minimalism, I realized: 1999. Now I too am frozen.

]]> Amelia http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142116 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142116 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:24:43 -0800 Comment by Jerod I haven't started reading Anathem yet (I'm saving it for a long flight I'm taking next month) and I've never been to a reading before. Do they usually start at the begining of the book or somewhere in the middle? I'd like to go, but I don't want to spoil the book for myself. Ideas?

]]> Jerod http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142135 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142135 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:34:07 -0800 Comment by ivan Hey, look, I'm a big Stephenson fan, but "made science fiction suddenly matter again?" What kind of smug little pissant bullshit is that?

Sci-fi has always mattered. Those who do not heed the lessons of science fiction are doomed to repeat them.

]]> ivan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142196 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142196 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:58:08 -0800 Comment by A Non Imus Agree with @3 and @6: Stephenson is okay for a science fiction writer, but that's not a high bar anymore.

Compare him to the greats, like Asimov, and he's clearly a total hack. Excessively wordy prose, with an inability to complete a narrative arc.

]]> A Non Imus http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142199 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142199 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 12:58:49 -0800 Comment by Paul Constant @9: Authors don't spoil themselves at readings. They usually read interesting bits, but they don't want to ruin anything. They want you to buy the book, because they live on royalties, after all. You should go.

@10: Mainstream literature's recent interest in sci-fi springs directly from Stephenson. If you read sci-fi, obviously sci-fi never stopped mattering. But you couldn't have someone megapopular like China Mieville without Neal Stephenson.

]]> Paul Constant http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142361 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142361 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:12:47 -0800 Comment by ivan @ 11:

Stephenson is twice the writer Asimov ever was. Asimov's characters were wooden and lacked depth. Clarke had the same problem..

]]> ivan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142459 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142459 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:09:33 -0800 Comment by ivan @ 11:

Stephenson is twice the writer Asimov ever was. Asimov's characters were wooden and lacked depth. Clarke had the same problem..

]]> ivan http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142460 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142460 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 15:09:47 -0800 Comment by ballz! stephenson = awesome!
not really a SF writer anymore, if you want that check out Neal Asher or Richard Morgan. Asimov = pretty boring compared to new SF

]]> ballz! http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142556 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142556 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 16:13:27 -0800 Comment by TacomaRoma I'm with 11.

"Excessively wordy prose, with an inability to complete a narrative arc."

I think he's completely incapable of ending a book and simply stops writing when he thinks he has enough pages.

Good luck with your reading, Paul.

]]> TacomaRoma http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142618 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/09/today_the_stranger_suggests_539#c1142618 Stranger Suggests Mon, 15 Sep 2008 17:05:34 -0800