Recently finished reading The Cobweb by Neal Stephenson and J. Frederick George. My thoughts:
-Really interesting to read a book from Stephenson set entirely in a time frame I experienced.
-Carl Banks ranks among the most kickass of Stephenson characters, those being Nell, Y.T., and Bobby Shaftoe.
-Stephenson is an amazing author when it comes to mixing intellectual thought with action. The story is well thought out and involving.
Where does this rank among my favorite Stephenson books? I would say it was better or on par with Snow Crash but still not as good as Diamond Age or Cryptonomicon. However among all the books of his that I have ever read this one strikes me as the easiest to make the transition to film/TV.
This is super relevant because of this article that makes me all happy on the insides.
Overall, this book is fun and smart. The characters feel very real and I felt sincere concern for their well-being. I give it one thumbstar out of zero.
Favorite part: Stephenson's exposition on a grad student having to write grants and include specific language that doesn't mean anything (buzzwords) to get more money. Terms like "negative body count." That kind of nonsense was very familiar.
-Really interesting to read a book from Stephenson set entirely in a time frame I experienced.
-Carl Banks ranks among the most kickass of Stephenson characters, those being Nell, Y.T., and Bobby Shaftoe.
-Stephenson is an amazing author when it comes to mixing intellectual thought with action. The story is well thought out and involving.
Where does this rank among my favorite Stephenson books? I would say it was better or on par with Snow Crash but still not as good as Diamond Age or Cryptonomicon. However among all the books of his that I have ever read this one strikes me as the easiest to make the transition to film/TV.
This is super relevant because of this article that makes me all happy on the insides.
Overall, this book is fun and smart. The characters feel very real and I felt sincere concern for their well-being. I give it one thumbstar out of zero.
Favorite part: Stephenson's exposition on a grad student having to write grants and include specific language that doesn't mean anything (buzzwords) to get more money. Terms like "negative body count." That kind of nonsense was very familiar.
3 comments:
"overall this book was fun and smart" for some reason makes me think of a really upbeat book report from middle school. . . .e.g. "I really related to the character of Holden, because I also hate phonies"
I'll have to check out this latest from Mr. Stephenson. I hear he is a good author.
What I mean by "fun and smart" is that there is a lot of action (i.e. brawling and gunfights) but it is also an intellectually stimulating political thriller that doesn't dumb it down for the audience. Stephenson's prose is educated without seeming pretentious, which to me indicates he respects his audience. This is one of the things that I love about him.
My recommended order of reading for Stephenson:
Snow Crash
The Diamond Age
The Cobweb
Cryptonomicon
That book review was so totally unnecessary!
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