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Loading... The Diamond Age (original 1995; edition 2003)by Neal Stephenson (Author)
Work InformationThe Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (1995)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This is a very enjoyable book, which displays similar strengths and weaknesses to the other Stephenson books I have read (admittedly limited to the Baroque trilogy). In the pros column: it is hugely gripping; he creates convincing worlds extremely well; and he is exceptionally good at communicating complicated ideas. The castles in King Coyote's kingdom were a clever and concise description of the underpinnings and development of Computer Science (and is much better than the equivalent explanation of the workings of the emerging financial markets, in the Baroque Trilogy). He is less good at communicating who is doing what, when and on behalf of whom, and so the plot, while dragging you along at a breakneck pace, is not always entirely coherent. Additionally, his characterisations wander a little, and, in short, his writing isn't as good as it could be. Unlike The Baroque Trilogy, this is set in the future, on an Earth where nanotechnology has transformed people's lives, and the West has declined in influence in favour of the Far East economies. Without giving a plot synopsis easily found elsewhere, the book frequently employs a story-within-a-story device, which I found reminiscent of Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. I'd recommend the bravura performances of the Baroque Trilogy over this, but it's still a fascinating book, interesting and engaging on many levels, and a great read. no reviews | add a review
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Fiction.
Literature.
Science Fiction.
HTML:Vividly imagined, stunningly prophetic, and epic in scope, The Diamond Age is a major novel from one of the most visionary writers of our time Decades into our future, a stoneâ??s throw from the ancient city of Shanghai, a brilliant nanotechnologist named John Percival Hackworth has just broken the rigorous moral code of his tribe, the powerful neo-Victorians. He's made an illicit copy of a state-of-the-art interactive device called A Young Ladys Illustrated Primer Commissioned by an eccentric duke for his grandchild, stolen for Hackworth's own daughter, the Primerâ??s purpose is to educate and raise a girl capable of thinking for herself. It performs its function superbly. Unfortunately for Hackworth, his smuggled copy has fallen into the wrong hands. Young Nell and her brother Harv are thetesâ??members of the poor, tribeless class. Neglected by their mother, Harv looks after Nell. When he and his gang waylay a certain neo-Victorianâ??John Percival Hackworthâ??in the seamy streets of their neighborhood, Harv brings Nell something special: the Primer. Following the discovery of his crime, Hackworth begins an odyssey of his own. Expelled from the neo-Victorian paradise, squeezed by agents of Protocol Enforcement on one side and a Mandarin underworld crime lord on the other, he searches for an elusive figure known as the Alchemist. His quest and Nellâ??s will ultimately lead them to another seeker whose fate is bound up with the Primerâ??a woman who holds the key to a vast, subversive information network that is destined to decode and reprogram th No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. Penguin Australia2 editions of this book were published by Penguin Australia. Editions: 014027037X, 0241953197 Hachette Book GroupAn edition of this book was published by Hachette Book Group. |
I was going to add that reading Snow Crash first might have helped my comprehension - but according to my library, I have read Snow Crash! Apparently Stephenson never makes any sense and my brain blocks the experience out afterwards. ( )