I’m in the middle of a Neal Stephenson reading festival that may take up all of 2023. Seriously I have only read three Stephenson books and they touch all three of my modes of reaction: One is utterly forgettable, one is okay but so self-consciously cute I’m distracted by actually being able to hear the author preening in the background, and one (Cryptonomicon) is one of my all-time favorite books. But I never really wondered what else Stephenson may have written in his career until my recent houseguest showed up with a literal paperbox filled with – often ponderous – tomes. So that’s been keeping me busy through the recent winter weather.
Of course when Uncle Joel is reading he spends hours and hours in a chair a whole room away from Tobie, and very obviously paying as little attention to him as is conceivably possible while still being awake. And my big brown kibble-eating puppy is only going to put up with so much of that at one time.
So at some point in the morning – and again at some point in the afternoon – I know I’m going to get a visit from The Toy.
Tobie posing prettily with The Toy
And Uncle Joel will get absolutely no peace until we’ve dealt with the Case of the Bored Puppy. Humans have certain responsibilities.
It’s actually good, in its way. By the time Tobie breaks out The Toy, the batteries are nearly charged so it’s time to get actual chores done. Without something that can’t be ignored to get my out of my chair I might not notice the day has gone till twilight – and the floor isn’t going to vacuum itself. But it’ll have to wait till we’re done with The Toy.
I agree with your assessment, Cryptonomicon is fantastic but most of his other stuff is so/so.
Cryptonomicon is among the all-time greats of fiction. I’m a big fan of Stephenson’s earlier works, but I haven’t gotten into the later stuff. Snow Crash is great fun, Zodiac is also good.
But the big challenge, for some anyway, is the Baroque Cycle. I enjoyed those 3 books immensely. Some find them tedious, but I don’t agree.
It could be worse. If Tobie were to have a “gas attack”, that cabin is rather small.
Cryptonomicon is good, but I love Snow Crash. Any book that has the balls to name the main character Hiro Protagonist gets an immediate thumbs up. It’s also the one book of his that I recommend to new readers. It’s odd and meanders quite a bit, but is still pretty accessible.
Baroque is a tough read to get through all three massive tomes, but it has some really good moments.
I’ve mostly been disappointed with his newer stuff, but I did really like Seveneves. It is epic, but not as bloated as some of his more recent books. He really needs an editor.