DISQUS

DISQUS Hello! In Pursuit of Mysteries is using DISQUS, a powerful comment system, to manage its comments. Learn more.

Community Page

In Pursuit of Mysteries

Jump to original thread »
Author

Neal Stephenson’s Anathem and Music

Started by Al Billings · 10 months ago

My advanced reader’s copy of Neal Stephenson’s new novel, “Anathem,” arrived this afternoon. I was selected on LibraryThing to receive it in order to do a review of it on my blog and on that site. LibraryThing makes ARCs available all the time b ... Continue reading »

13 comments

  • Yvonne

    1 year ago

    Interesting. It sounds excellent. Shades of Herman Hesse's The Glass Bead Game.

    I've been reading Neal Stephenson too: Snow Crash
    reply
  • John Anealio

    1 year ago

    This is an intriguing concept. I'm a fan of Stephenson's work, particularly Quicksilver. I'd love to see more music incorporated into literature in this way. So many great fantasy works, like Lord of the Rings and Elizabeth Haydon's Rhapsody books, have great songs in them. Wouldn't it be wonderful to hear the music to go along with the lyrics? I almost always listen to music while reading, so having an album's worth of music written as a score for the book would be welcome.
    reply
  • George Agapeyev

    1 year ago

    How can I comment on a book I haven't read? I guess I just did.
    reply
  • Andy

    11 months ago

    It's also interesting to note the similarity between the name of the Novel and word Analemma (from the Latin for the pedestal of a sundial) which is the name given to the pattern which appears in the American cover art. Here's a link - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analemma.
    reply
  • Gwern

    11 months ago

    Out of curiosity, does it include CD credits? I'd bet Brian Eno appears somewhere in it, to tie in with the Long Now connection to _Anathema_.
    reply
  • Al Billings

    11 months ago

    It does have credits but Brian Eno has nothing to do with the CD. It was done by David Stutz.
    reply
  • Malla

    10 months ago

    I just finished reading Anathem this week (also got an advance copy--love working in bookstores!) and I really like it. It is dense as heck with the mathematics, though. The music does help you get into Erasmas' world and understand his aesthetics. I'm curious to read your review!
    reply
  • Al Billings

    10 months ago

    I have actually been reading a couple of other things but it is on the list for the next week.
    reply
  • Bookhling

    10 months ago

    You got the Librarything ARC? I am so jealous. Enjoy the book, and make sure to put up a review when you're done. I'm dying to know how the book turned out.

    As for the soundtrack, I wonder if they will include it with the normal prints of the books as well?
    reply
  • dan

    10 months ago

    I would love to hear some of this music - are there any preview clips on the Web before the CD comes out?

    Btw, there is some connection to Brian Eno here - Eno has also created an album which donates its proceeds to the Long Now foundation, as is the case with Stutz's CD...

    http://www.longnow.org/shop/prints-cds/bells-cd...
    reply
  • Stanley Lieber

    9 months ago

    You can stream the tracks from Neal's website, here:

    http://www.nealstephenson.com/anathem/music.htm
    reply
  • BODO

    7 months ago

    I absolutely loved Cryptonomicon and enjoyed the Trilogy, BUT this Anathem is 100% unreadable. The worst mess in print that I have every come across. I read eight pages and it was an agony.

    I hope Neal has gone totally mad. It would be the only excuse possible. Why did the editors not shut this down? Greed? One last burn of his fan base?
    reply
  • Al Billings

    7 months ago

    I'm not sure why you feel so strongly that it was bad. I quite enjoyed the book and I, personally, know a number of others who have enjoyed it as well.
    reply

Add New Comment

Returning? Login