Diary (February 22, 2020)

Online diary of Karl Jones for February 22, 2020.

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Diary

Anathem

I sometimes wonder if Stephenson wrote Anathem specifically for bright young people.

The tip-off is the lack of obscenity. (Stephenson, of course, has a certain gift, or at least penchant, for obscenity.)

True, lack of obscenity is appropriate, given the protagonist’s character.

But then, none of the characters use obscenity anywhere in the novel, to speak of, nor does the narrative voice. (Several instances obscenity are handled in mild or clinical terms. These exceptions highlight the general rule.)

Furthermore, Stephenson chose to write in the Erasmasian mode. He could easily have slipped in plenty of funny dirty phrases and still given us Arbre. (The Slines should have belched obscenities non-stop, for starters.) But he didn’t. He scrubbed the dirt for this one.

So I’ll renew my surmise: Anathem was written for gifted young adults.

• https://bbs.boingboing.net/t/kevin-kelly-discusses-fall-or-dodge-in-hell-with-author-neal-stephenson/163102/18

Continued: Diary (February 23, 2020)

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

Nonfiction cross-reference

• Karl Jones (nonfiction)