Matthew's Journal

I was inspired to read this by Russ' rave review, and fanf's offer to lend me a copy. It's quite a brick (the paperback is nearly 1000 pages), so I started reading to coincide with a couple of long train journeys. Anathem is an engrossing, fascinating novel, let down by a late plot twist and ending that are very unsatisfactory.

In the world of Anathem, the philosphers, mathematicians, scientists, etc. have been locked away from the rest of the world, and live monastic existences away from modern technology. Unable to reproduce, they swell their numbers by recruiting outsiders, who commit to staying for varying lengths of time. Thus, the main cast are very intelligent characters who have dedicated themselves to understanding the universe better through rational debate.

This results in a story that loves to digress, as the characters debate a point of geometry, quantum theory, philosophy or similar for pages at a time. There's a real joy of understanding something new that leaps off the page. So, it takes a long while for the plot to start going anywhere, but you don't mind because you become immersed in the world that Stephenson is constructing, and the things that he's saying about the relationship between science and society.

All that said, the ending is a let-down, both from a structural point of view (the pace shifts very suddenly from the earlier parts of the book where its very discursive to a much faster speed and then oops its over), and because it feels like the author has cheated to resolve the plot and not really bothered to even justify the cheating. Which is a great, great shame. Even with that significant complaint, though, this is a really excellent, thought-provoking read.