It was probably because The Diamond Age is unbelievably boring.
Jess, thanks! I always thought it was me that didn't "get" it.
Never goes smooth. How come it never goes smooth?
Mal ,'Safe'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
DawnK - May 14, 2010 8:15:33 am PDT #11446 of 28344
giraffe mode
-t - May 14, 2010 8:18:53 am PDT #11447 of 28344
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
I love The Diamond Age!
I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, though, because I know my love for it is not shared by many.
It's hard to recommend a follow-up to Anathem at all, since Anathem is just the best thing Stephenson's done. Snow Crash is a good choice. I'd be interested to know how it reads to someone who has read other Stephenson, actually; a big part of my enjoyment of it was how different it was from anything else I'd read up to that point.
Steph L. - May 14, 2010 8:19:42 am PDT #11448 of 28344
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
NO!!!! The youngest has left it in his locker at SCHOOL!
Truly, you have a demon child. You may want to consider leaving him out of your will.
DawnK - May 14, 2010 8:27:44 am PDT #11449 of 28344
giraffe mode
You may want to consider leaving him out of your will
I told him that I was spending his half of the inheritance on travel when I retire now!
Gudanov - May 14, 2010 8:42:08 am PDT #11450 of 28344
Coding and Sleeping
Oh, yeah, I liked Snow Crash too. Maybe I'll do a re-read one of these days.
Volans - May 14, 2010 8:50:34 am PDT #11451 of 28344
move out and draw fire
You know, if Melville was writing today, I'm betting Moby Dick would be a multi-modal book, with hyperlinks to stuff about whaling and the world of the book.
Gris - May 14, 2010 9:00:11 am PDT #11452 of 28344
Hey. New board.
The Diamond Age is my favorite Stephenson, too. Though I haven't fit Anathem into that list in my head, yet (to even enter the list, a novel must be read at least twice, and I've only read it once thus far), and it has a chance to make it to the top.
My current list is:
1) The Diamond Age
2) Cryptonomicon
3) Snow Crash
4) Zodiac
Quicksilver never made it to the list (I didn't even finish it ONE time, though I intend to someday - I was enjoying it as one enjoys a slog. Much like I'm enjoying Anna Karenina in small bits between other books.)
I would suggest reading Snow Crash next, because it is compulsively readable. Then read the others at will. I honestly couldn't tell you whether you would prefer Cryptonomicon or The Diamond Age without knowing you fairly well.
beth b - May 14, 2010 9:16:58 am PDT #11453 of 28344
oh joy! Oh Rapture ! I have a brain!
I loved The Diamond Age. but i have tons of Stephenson I haven't read -- like Anatham
Volans - May 14, 2010 9:25:26 am PDT #11454 of 28344
move out and draw fire
And there's an iPad in The Diamond Age.
Ginger - May 14, 2010 9:29:13 am PDT #11455 of 28344
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I think I need to re-read Moby Dick. Maybe skipping the infodump parts.
I found I appreciated all the whales and whaling stuff much more the second and subsequent readings of Moby Dick. It's like swimming in a grand river of words.
I haven't tackled Anathem yet. There are times in my life when I don't feel up to tackling a doorstop book. I loved Snow Crash, but I should reread it after years online. It is the book in which Stephenson posits that the U.S. does four things better than the rest of the world: movies, music, software and high-speed pizza delivery.