Reamde

Monday, November 14, 2011Reamde by Neal StephensonI give "Reamde" about a hundred stars and ten thumbs up--i.e. I really liked it. But with one caveat: Here's the message I posted to the author's Google+ profileNovember 2nd, 2011Dear Mr. Stephenson:My name is Chris Dunn and I live in the suburbs north of NYC. During our 3-4-day power outage, your "Reamde" provided the only pleasure through the cold, TV-less nights. I thank you for this and all your books--I've loved every one.But I bought the hardcover edition from Amazon and, in case you don't already know, the book stops at page 250, repeats the preceding 32 pages (219-250), and then returns to page 283! By my count, there are 33 pages missing.I kept on reading, of course, but I felt badly that all the unfamiliar stuff that followed was a reminder that I'd missed 33 pages. I Googled this subject and I saw many postings referring to an 'incomplete e-reader edition' but no one else mentioned the hard copy.It must be frustrating to present this great, 1000+-page adventure--only to have the publishing gremlins mar the event with this customer service snafu. But don't worry--1000 pages from you (give or take thirty) is worth 10,000 from a lesser author.'Nuf Said,Chris DunnI have not heard back, but I didn't really expect to.One of my top ten favorite authors, Neal Stephenson, is one of those tricky types of authors--one thinks one is being disappointed by each successive publication, until one sees that the newness is a good thing. This awareness comes slowly to me. (Never was another so snap-judgmental.) In the case of "Zodiac" (1988) I'd read the entire book, grumbling to myself that it wasn't as hi-tech as "Snow Crash" (1992). I had just finished "Snow Crash" and was wild to find something else by the same author and so was reading "Zodiac"--a previous book that had slipped under my radar.After I'd finished the book, barely understanding the story, some of the things I'd read began to come back to me. The protagonist's rant against Chlorine, in any and every industrial form, it's dangers as a gas, as a liquid in the ground water, and it's use in laundering and cleaning products--this bit of "Zodiac" I still hear in my mind every time the word (or should I say element) arises.Also, a part of the book is a digression on the inflatable dingy--the modern day equivalent of a row-boat, but you could never squeeze a row-boat into a hiker's backpack and schlep it around single-handedly. I'm still not too sure what the plot was, though. This was the beginning of my tradition of reading all Neal Stephenson books twice--once to enjoy it, and a second time to understand it!And then came "The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" (1995). I was back in the future with Stephenson again--and no one makes the future so attractive--and the story was about a waif who accidently gains access to a digital nanny, an I-Pad of sorts that teaches the little girl about etiquette, education, and more in an AI program that is meant to help rear a young lady of privilege. It was a signal book for me--when I regretfully read the last page I felt that this book was one of the best I'd ever read. I immediately re-read it--I have read this one four times as of this writing.Then "Cryptonomicon" (1999) felt disappointing again, at first. It wasn't set in the far future, it was speculating on possibilities only a decade or so ahead, maybe even possible right then. But then the story became a sort of history lesson about mathematics, logic, cryptography, code-breaking (and how that complex but repetitive activity begat the nascent digital machines of WWII) and early electronic computers. It was fascinatingly difficult reading--but it's like I always say--if it's hard to understand, just think of how difficult it must have been to write! Authors such as Stephenson are the rebuttal to the Evelyn Wood Speed-Reading Technique--in his books, the speed limit is set by the comprehensibility of the words, not the speed with which one can scan the page. And, ask any Sci-Fi reader, a novel that doesn't challenge ones pre-conceptions and generalizations is just a Space Opera.Then (drum roll please) "The Baroque Cycle" (2003-2004) was published and I sat down, thinking I'd really got the hang of this, and I find myself reading a story set in the 16th century! Do you know, I read the first 200 or more pages of "Quicksilver" (Vol. I - 2003) before I realized that there would be no electronics or time travel or space travel or aliens--nothing! But as I got further into the book, I realized that even when writing historical fiction, Stephenson is writing Sci-Fi. As I finished that book and the subsequent ones, I grew fonder of the author's universe than my reality (the reason I love a really good book). And, perhaps more than ever before, my heart broke when the last page of "The System of the World" (Vol. III - 2004) was read and the cover closed on a beautiful vision of that part of history.I've already reviewed "Anathem" (2008) for Amazonsee: [...] so I will only add that, as ever, I was lost and a little ticked off as I began the book and, once again, found that sticking with it was richly rewarded.So, now, I'm finally reading "Reamde" (2011). I haven't even finished it yet--which is lucky for you--I'm often guilty of being a spoiler--if I get excited telling about a book I read, I'm pitiful. But I'm nearing the end and I don't need to finish reading it to tell you it is of the same quality of all its predecessors--set in China, the Pacific Northwest, and an Internet virtual MPG world with specie translatable into actual money in the real world, this is a sprawling story of tomorrow (and a lot of today). When reading Sci-Fi, I'm often seized by an urgency to learn more about the world, about astronomy, and about science and computers--about the whole universe around me. Stephenson inflicts the sharpest of such rebukes, not only by writing of so many new, fascinating things and ideas, but also by having his protagonists always win the day simply by being well-informed, `polyglot'-tal, or just plain expert in their field.To all of us with financial fears nowadays, a hero whose power is derived from intelligence and education is an uplifting character. Wealthy characters in Stephenson's books are always on the look-out for the real valuable people, creative and capable, professional and professorial.So I recommend "Reamde" to all my fellow geeks and space-cadets--another great Stephenson-world awaits.Books by Neal Stephenson:The Big U (1984)Zodiac (1988)Snow Crash (1992)The Diamond Age: or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (1995)Cryptonomicon (1999)Quicksilver (2003), volume I:The Baroque CycleThe Confusion (2004), volume II:The Baroque CycleThe System of the World (2004), volume III:The Baroque CycleAnathem (2008)The Mongoliad (2010-) [avail 4 pre-ord]Reamde (2011)===Interface (1994) with J. Frederick George, as "Stephen Bury"The Cobweb (1996) with J. Frederick George, as "Stephen Bury"

In a book as complex as it is lengthy, Reamde begins by introducing the two main protagonists, Richard Forthrast and his niece, Zula, in a scene describing a family reunion of unusual tastes. Zula, an orphan from the African country of Eritrea, has been raised by the Forthrast family in Iowa for most of her life. When she runs into her uncle Richard at the reunion, whom she hasn't seen in several years, Richard finds himself immediately protective of the brilliant and spirited young woman that Zula has become.The book moves slowly at first, mostly revolving around Richard and his past, and delving deeply into the mechanics, history, and construction of the fictional game at the heart of the story, T'Rain. It's intriguing material, and to call it a page-turner is to undersell this book. Unfortunately, the beginnings may turn off some readers, as Reamde is what seems like several different genres mixed, and the first chapters are very much about video gaming and business acumen. Those who stick with it though are rewarded as events take a turn, and the story picks up dramatically.It's been said that some stories "can't be made up", but Reamde is proof that some of them can. The smallest and seemingly innocuous plot threads end up being central to the story. For example, Zula's boyfriend, Peter, borrows a USB drive from her uncle Richard, which is unknowingly infected with the Reamde virus. Peter's use of it during a questionable business transaction causes the buyer's files to be encrypted--including the ones Peter just sold him--and being held for ransom. The buyer is understandably upset, showing up at Peter's home for an explanation. Things quickly grow more complicated, as the creator of the virus is requiring payment in the game T'Rain, which can then be extracted for real profit anonymously. As attempts are made to pay the ransom within the game, the buyer's boss arrives, demanding explanations, not liking what he's hearing. He decides to take a more direct approach, and flies everyone to China--Zula included--to find the virus creator and extract some vengeance. Things go off the rails, and Peter and Zula's lives are threatened at every turn.And that's just the beginning.Reamde hosts a cast of characters that's almost obnoxiously vast, and yet the author does an excellent job of making them not only believable, but memorable as well. Where many books might introduce a character, only to have them forgotten by the next page turn, Stephenson breaths life into each voice, and gives them their very own purpose in the story--from Richard and Zula, all the way down to the woman who offers her services in navigating them around in China. The lives of each of these characters is so true-to-life, it's hard to imagine that they're fictional characters at all. Their actions, opinions, mannerisms, and even accents all match perfectly their history, so that they're practically four-dimensional; it's rare that an author can make characters so believable, that the reader could actually imagine them stepping off the page, and holding a conversation with them.Spanning over a thousand pages, Reamde is no book for the casual reader. In a way, it's almost too long, and does have sections that drag by--kind of like a long movie with slow scenes. Yet it's still a page-turner, even in the slower chapters--a tribute to the skill of the author. The story weaves and dodges, and as the characters split up, their stories aren't yet over, as they impressively and--most importantly--believably collide into a climax that's both suspenseful, and cathartic.There's not much to complain about in this book. Yes it's long, and sometimes feels a little repetitive, but Neil Stephenson should be commended for penning a tremendously entertaining novel (and he has been). There are a couple plot threads that seem to be left aside, but aren't particularly important to the outcome of events in the book. Perhaps the only disappointment would be that there's not much of an epilogue. We're shown where the characters end up, but not much more. After spending a thousand pages with this cast, caring whether they lived or died, fell in love, or not, readers are left with a very brief glimpse of life after the pages run out. It would have been nice for a little bit more.