Anatham, Neal Stephenson, science fiction
In Fiction, Read, authors on April 27, 2009 at 3:04 pm
I will start by saying that Neal Stephenson’s Anathemis a really long book. The hardcover was 890 pages of novel, plus nearly another hundred worth of appendix content. Now a book being long isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing, it just means it is long, and if you are the kind of person who does not like devoting a lot of time to a single book then something like Anathem probably isn’t for you. I actually don’t usually mind long books, but I also haven’t been reading as much or as fast as I used to so it can be a little difficult when it takes over two months to read a single novel.
That being said I found Anatheman overall enjoyable story. I think that Mr. Stephenson did a great job at creating a interesting social structure and hierarchy as well as a truly original story in a science fiction genre that often has too many variations on the same theme. All and all I liked it. I thought the characters, especially the narrator Erasmus, were all interesting and relatively believable people. I was interested by the various plot developments and curious as to how everything was going to work out, which strikes me as an all around success in any novel.
My main detractor though goes back to the great length of the book. Upon finishing it, and at several times in the story, I felt that really it was just over stretching. I don’t think Anathem needed to be nearly 900 pages long. I don’t think that it even needed to be 500 pages long. yes there was a lot of interesting moments and a lot of characters and obviously Mr. Stephenson felt the need to fully develop the society in this world which is quite different than anything that we know, but there just seemed to be a lot of stuff that seemed to drag forever unnecessarily. And while I don’t know for sure, I imagine that the original draft was significantly longer than the published book because there were some parts that read as if Mr. Stephenson had more that he wanted to write but didn’t include.
My personal conclusion to this is that the book should have just trimmed down and focused more on exact plot points, or Mr. Stephenson should have opted to write a couple books, like a trilogy. Now sure, you can ask how a trilogy where each book is about 300 pages long would be that different than a 900 page book, but I think that it definitely would. It would create a bit more of a differentiation in the story arks, and possibly have allowed Stephenson to add that bit more that at times seemed missing. It is kind of a tough call but, that is my overall feeling.
I will give Anathem an A for overall plot and concept and a B for overall reading enjoyment and experience. Probably not for everybody, but I think some people will really like it.
absurdism, acting, drama, Edward Albee, Endgame, John-Paul Sartre, Julius Caeser, literature, No Exit, performance, Plays, playwrite, Reading, Samuel Beckett, Shakespeare, The Zoo Story, theater, theater of the absurd, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, writing
In Plays, Reading, literature on April 18, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I’ve be reading/rereading a number of plays this week that are often lumped in a classification of “Theater of the Absurd.” So far I have read/reread Samuel Beckett’s “Endgame,” Edward Albee’s “The Zoo Story,” and John-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit.” Besides these three plays, I also watched the film version of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf,” which is likely Albee’s best known work. All of these rank as some of my favorite pieces of literature, and part of my purpose of reading them is that I intent to revamp, if not rewrite entirely, a paper dealing with these plays. I won’t go into much detail (that is what the paper will be for), beyond saying that it will probably be about the relation of interpersonal relationships within the plays as well as the effects such relationships are intended to solicite in a captive audience. I’ve also got a number of other Albee plays on my list to read, and Beckett’s masterpiece “Waiting for Godot.”
Truth is I love reading plays. I am not sure when I really realized this, but it is something of which I am unashamed to admit. Back in college I picked up a number of pieces of drama for mere pleasure, specifically a couple of Shakespeare works that I had wanted to reread and get a better understanding of (such as “Julius Caeser” which may be one of my favorite plays of all time). I assume a part of my enjoyment of reading a play has to do with the fact that I used to enjoy performing in theater myself. I saw “No Exit” as a live performance several years prior to my first reading the actual play. The thing that find interesting is that drama is written entirely with the intention of it being performed. It is this fact that I think makes it an interesting area of literary inspection. How does writing change when it is made for a performance in front of an audience. Really fascinating if you think about it, the fact that the majority of people who are apt to interact with the text do so not as readers, but as either audience or actors (which I suppose an actor/actress counts as a reader in some sense, but I could argue, in another sense, that they are still not).
If you have never read a play before, I challenge you to. I won’t claim that they are always easy. I’ve known a number of people who find it hard to read them. My best advice, would be while reading a play, try to imagine it performed. Depending on the playwrite’s decisions there may be a lot or very little stage direction in the actual text. As you read try and visualize how the characters move, what the set is like, etc. I find that this really helps bring into focus some of what the writer is attempting to portray. Then, if you feel like it, or are fortunate to get an opportunity, try and see the play performed live. I can almost guarentee that it will help solidify an understanding of what you have read. Really, try it out, it can be fun.
By the way, while probably not quite the same as watching the liver performance, the film version of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” is really a wonderful work of art, and the acting is magnificent. It is a strange, uncomfortable, all around disturbing story, but ultimately I think it presents one of the most thought provoking looks at mid-20th century American life. Quite a good comparison and contrast can be drawn between it and Albee’s other play “American Dream.”
award, Bone, books, comics, David Berona, graphic novels, Lamson Library, Maus, Plymouth State University, The Dark Knight Returns
In General, Read on April 2, 2009 at 7:32 am
I would like to extend a congratulation to David Berona, the Director of Lamson Library at Plymouth State University, on recieving The New York Book Show award for first place Special Trade/Adult Graphic Novel. During the four years that I attended my undergrad studies at Plymouth I worked at Lamson Library. My junior and senior years were the first two years that Mr. Berona was director of the library. While I didn’t work terribly close with Mr. Berona (I was at the circulation desk) I did have the occasion of conversing with him on a number of occasions. I recall having a very good discussion with him on Art Spiegelman’s great Maus graphic novels. In fact I will extend some credit to Mr. Berona for helping me come to appreciation of graphic novels and comics. In my last two years working at Lamson, Mr. Berona greatly increased the number of graphic novels and comics available in the library, several of which I read and rate highly, including Bone and The Dark Knight Returns.
So anyways, always glad to hear of the successes of former Professors or people I worked with back in college.
