If the publishing industry placed a moratorium on new books, there would in my mind still be an endless number of books worth reading. Yet, time is not endless and other more worthy responsibilities abound.
A more sane man might give up on the endeavor, but I am no sane man. I frequently entertain grand plans to read them all. I think to myself regularly, 'I must remember this title for that spare moment when [insert fantasy].' Unfortunately, the equation of my life renders spare moments equal to something like n + 1, where n stands for some actual time in the future and spare moments are always just beyond reach.
And time is only the first problem faced by my grand schemes. The other is remembering the titles themselves. Left to my own devices, that is becoming increasingly difficult as more and more books are stored in my feeble memory.
That's where this new series of posts come in. As books are recommended to me, I will recommend them to you. In so doing, I have a searchable database of recommended books which (theoretically) will always be available. I have some other nmenonic devices in mind, but this will do until those are in place.
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This first book is a perfect inaugural post for this series. Anathem by Neal Stephenson (William Morrow, 937 pages, $29.95, reviewed more thoroughly here) is a fantasy set on a very earth-like planet with earth-like people in the earth-like future. In the face of an increasingly technologized culture, a group of people form a monastic society which separates itself from modern comforts. They spend all their time reading and studying and learning. Geeky, I know.
Those outside are called slines. Here is how they are described by the narrator Erasmus, "I was struck by their intelligence, their polish, and how much stuff they owned. But there was nothing underneath. They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain they were right."
Every now then the cult must war, because anti-intellectualism revolts against the monastery and disperses its followers. This story, though, centers around a period when the slines faced a problem so tough they appeal to the monks for help.
After I finished my English undergraduate degree, I almost exclusively read non-fiction. I have such great memories of escaping into a book and would like to try it again. I've often thought I would like fantasy or science fiction books for this reason. Maybe this will be a good start.
Tell me what you think if you pick it up.
Those outside are called slines. Here is how they are described by the narrator Erasmus, "I was struck by their intelligence, their polish, and how much stuff they owned. But there was nothing underneath. They knew many things but had no idea why. And strangely this made them more, rather than less, certain they were right."
Every now then the cult must war, because anti-intellectualism revolts against the monastery and disperses its followers. This story, though, centers around a period when the slines faced a problem so tough they appeal to the monks for help.
After I finished my English undergraduate degree, I almost exclusively read non-fiction. I have such great memories of escaping into a book and would like to try it again. I've often thought I would like fantasy or science fiction books for this reason. Maybe this will be a good start.
Tell me what you think if you pick it up.
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