tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8792500011486498545.post5326478602977418792..comments2010-04-09T19:40:51.615-04:00Comments on Lexicon: First thoughts on StephensonSovawaneahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00971625126488939305noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8792500011486498545.post-83686458683040386412010-04-09T19:40:51.615-04:002010-04-09T19:40:51.615-04:00Realism isn't the best word I could have used....Realism isn't the best word I could have used. It's like there's two kinds of speculative in SF. There are the kinds where it's more of a what if scenario, like alternate histories or worlds that may only resemble our own. And there's the sort of parody/satire/dire warning type, where it's supposed to be where our own future could be headed. Stephenson seems to be more of the latter and I expect more in the way of plausibility out of that kind. <br /><br />Nell doesn't work as a call girl. She works at a fancy sort of brothel, but as a writer/director, coming up with customized scenarios for the clients. <br /><br />A book doesn't have to have female characters for me to identify with for me to enjoy it. I think I may have identified with Y.T. by default due to her being a girl, since none of the characters were very relatable or had obvious motivations for doing anything. Y.T. was young enough that she could have just been caught up in everything out of boredom, so it wasn't as annoying...until she meets Raven. <br /><br />I'll definitely still read Anathem, it's actually the one that from reviews seems most interesting.Sovawaneahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00971625126488939305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8792500011486498545.post-29960800274320378802010-04-09T01:34:32.371-04:002010-04-09T01:34:32.371-04:00I've never really considered Snow Crash to eve...I've never really considered Snow Crash to even be attempting any sort of realism. I've always considered it to be more of a hightened reality bordering on parody. Regarding the librarian, yeah, I think perhaps that sort of info-dump could have been handled a little better... except, that I kinda like info-dumps. The whole sumerian mythology and language ideas was fascinating to me in my formative years (I'd never been exposed to anything remotely that interesting when I was 15), and I think all the ideas in the book are what make me enjoy it so much. That and the fact that there's like, samurai swordfights and crazy 30-minute pizza delivery for the mob type scenes.<br /><br />Now that you mention it, the YT dentata scenes have always struck me as being odd. But I've never read the book with YT as the person I identified with. I'm honestly blanking on the circumstances and plot at that point, so I'll refrain from any specifics. I reread the book about 6 years ago, but it's probably worth picking up again at some point (when I finish off a lot of other things). I remember enjoying the plot and thinking that the various ideas he'd thrown out there were all tied together well enough at the end that it made for a satisfying story. But then, being a guy and having Hiro as the guy I related to helps, as he's the main character here.<br /><br />I've always considered The Diamond Age to Stephenson's weirdest work, and I've found the ending in particular to be lacking. I think you hit on a the key low points, in particular the Drummers sections, which are nigh incoherent. There's an interesting idea buried in there (with the whole collective consciousness thing), but I remember emerging from those chapters with a "What just happened?" feeling (that might have been kinda the point though).<br /><br />If I remember correctly, the whole climax of the book was very awkward. First, there's a big jump in time. Nell goes from being a little girl to being kinda grown up, and a high-priced call-girl? Catering to neo-victorian prudes? Or something like that? I don't really remember. And the rest of the ending didn't really do much for me either. I just remember confusion. I enjoyed the book because it had interesting ideas, but I agree about the ending and am convinced that this book gave Stephenson his reputation for bad endings. (Cryptonomicon has a rushed ending too, but both the Baroque Cycle and Anathem have, like, entire chapters devoted to epilogue.)<br /><br /><br />At this point, I'm not sure how you'd take Cryptonomicon. For one thing, there's even less of a female presence in the book. There is one female character in the present day portions of the book who I think is pretty awesome, but she's more of a side character and she's as much defined by her family (and most of the ones we see are men) as she is by herself. She's also the romantic interest of one of the 3 main characters and is kinda portrayed as being too cool for school. Or something. There's some weird sex stuff, but as I recall, not much in the way of rape (I think there might be some general mentions of Japanese war atrocities, etc...)<br /><br />Heh, did a quick google search and found this: "I stopped reading Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon around the point where it was revealed that the protagonist's evil feminist academic ex-girlfriend hated beards because she considered them a manifestation of the patriarchy." This is, of course, a really minor part of the book, but if you find that sort of thing off-putting...<br /><br />So I'm kinda rambling now and I'll stop. I'm mildly disappointed that you didn't enjoy the books, but I'm not entirely surprised. Stephenson seems to have a limited appeal, even in a general sense. When it comes to feminism, well, I don't think his books really address those sorts of issues (it's not something I've ever really examined in his books though - perhaps worth further examination).Markhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07223822521762072612noreply@blogger.com