Anathem

Additional Anathem Information

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 and complex rituals. Over the centuries, cities and governments have risen and fallen beyond the concent¹s walls, yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe.

Now, in celebration of the week-long, once-in-a-decade rite of Apert, the fraas and suurs prepare to venture beyond the concent. During his first Apert as a fraa, Erasmas eagerly anticipates reconnecting with the landmarks and family he hasn't seen since he was "collected." But before the week is out, both the existence he abandoned and the one he embraced will stand on the brink of cataclysmic change.

Powerful unforeseen forces jeopardize the peaceful stability of mathic life and the established ennui of the Extramuros. Erasmas and his colleagues, teachers, and friends are summoned forth from the safety of the concent in hopes of warding off global disaster. Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world‹as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet . . . and beyond.

A multi-cast recording, this program also features a cameo by the author and original music inspired by the story. Composer David Stutz says of the writing process, "I was excited by the creative possibilities opened up by Neal's imagination. These ideas, realized, are the music that you hear on this audiobook."

What Customers Say About Anathem:

Anathema is slightly more comprehensible but barely. It's a monster read with tons of mind candy and that's what drove me on. A comparison to Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow seems like the closest but that doesn't do it justice. it's hard work to read. Wow, not what I expected at all. Practice explaining it in front of mirror before trying to explain it yourself. In my circle, that's not too many folks. I have no idea who would be the target audience in retrospect except the reader that enjoys a thoroughly unique, hybrid and complex story with unknown meaning.

I have had the strangest time explaining it to others. If you're a philosopher at heart it's an interesting read. Everything's a miniature puzzle created by the author; the language, the charcters, the theme, the plot, the whole thing. I could have tossed it after 200 pages as unintelligible. If you're technically minded, it's a deep and interesting read. If you have a theological bone, it's interesting. I think I must sound like an idiot actually. Unless you're satisfied with what the mirror tells you, I'd skip trying to explain it and simply smile at the mention of the book with a courteous `Yes, I've read it.' Let someone else make a fool of themselves.

The CD version of Anathem was just wonderful, such care taken in making this recording. I usually don't like books with so many new terms but since they were read so naturally, it was seamless -- I could just enjoy the story. This is an amazing book.

I would like to finish by adding that the book brought me to tears on two occasions. Having been made distraught by the sex scenes in Snow Crash and The Diamond Age, here I was relieved to find a very different story.My favourite character of all was Fraa Lodoghir because his character was fascinating and strange.

It had a wonderful pastoral beginning which introduces to the world without having to explain too much. This was an excellent book that kept me reading and wanting to know more.

The narrator is a complex, likable character whose one discreet sex scene is fantastic - you are cheering them on - it's love. The new words that Stephenson invents are used to name objects in the character's world may appear strange, but are often derived from if not other English, German, or French words, which made them very quick to become familiar with.

These new words also contribute to the sense of being in a completely different world.The strongest aspect of Anathem was the characters. Perhaps that's why he seemed so real.Overall a highly enjoyable book, and one that concludes in a way that makes me want to reread it, now that I understand the character's motivations.

This has not happened for a long time.

Entertaining, and willing to explore some huge ideas. Probably about as far as fiction can go into physics and still be readable.

Sorry, but this is bothering me. Also, his analogy of quantum mechanics to a computer program that looks for the shortest path to A and B by examining many possible paths at once is incorrect. If Jules' atoms are in essence chemically incompatible with those on other Cosmi (i.e., he can't digest food from Arbe because his enzymes cannot chemically interact with the nutrients) than of course the molecules in the air he breathes from another Cosmi would also be chemically incompatible with his own. So he could not carry out any respiratory metabolism at all (we can assume all the characters need oxygen to convert nutrients into usable energy, and aren't anaerobic organisms) and would die very quickly on Arbe.I know this seems stupid to point out, but when an author spends pages and pages to describe the logic of the science and math behind items that are at most anecdotal to the plot, this seems like a major error. Quantum mechanics is not multi-tasking, but is better thought of as a smear of probability prior to settling on an allowed outcome. Much different than how he portrays it.Not a bad book, and I enjoyed much of the discussions, but as a novel is overlong and short on plot.