tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360814020056871156.post8149440749283199352..comments2024-03-03T13:55:46.243-08:00Comments on Ambling Along the Aqueduct: Why Is That So Hard?Timmi Duchamphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00673465487533328661noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360814020056871156.post-33620388962501099702009-05-10T07:02:00.000-07:002009-05-10T07:02:00.000-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Eleanorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07014586558046317266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360814020056871156.post-49424566136535595162009-05-10T07:01:00.000-07:002009-05-10T07:01:00.000-07:00I loved Snow Crash, but haven't been able to read ...I loved Snow Crash, but haven't been able to read his later books. A lot of SF written by men just doesn't interest me. It's not really about people or science, it's about large pieces of equipment or puzzles and games or violence. Doom and more Doom, with none of the charm of Mario Cart. I put Stephenson in that category.Eleanorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07014586558046317266noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360814020056871156.post-59805888701534440342009-05-08T15:30:00.000-07:002009-05-08T15:30:00.000-07:00The really sad thing is that there were some reall...The really sad thing is that there were some really strong women characters in <I>Anathem</I> that, if fully fleshed out, might have filled in some of the hole.Kristinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06129261691148239743noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360814020056871156.post-87403528530961164622009-05-08T07:17:00.000-07:002009-05-08T07:17:00.000-07:00I am reminded that when I read Cryptonomicon (I ha...I am reminded that when I read <I>Cryptonomicon</I> (I haven't read <I>Anathem</I>), I felt like someone had opened the head of the modern man (or, at least, the U.S. variety) and let me see the inner workings. Suddenly, I had a greater grasp on why men did certain things that had previously made absolutely no sense to me. I really appreciated this honest insight into how men -- or at least, some men -- think. True, the women in <I>Cryptonomicon</I> seemed to be either spectacular wonderwomen, bitches, or unimportant, but I was willing to forgive that for the amazing insight into men. <br /><br />Note that I'm speaking of insight into men as they are, warts and all, men who seem to have trouble thinking of women as full human beings and are still obsessed with them as "other." I don't think men have to be like that -- I know many men who are not. But thinking about it makes me remember a long-ago conversation with a man who also studied martial arts. He wondered why women would spend so much time on martial arts. And when my friend Sue and I told him it was for the same reasons that he did, he still didn't understand. He couldn't wrap his head around the idea that women might be just as interested as he was in the warriorship philosophy that underlies martial arts. In his mind, women are so different from men that their motivations for study, career, love -- any path in life -- must be very different. <br /><br />I would like to believe a man like Stephenson who can write so honestly about modern men might have enough insight about people in general to write about women as complete human beings. I'm sorry to hear it's not true, at least in <I>Anathem</I>.Nancy Jane Moorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01030267999537291250noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5360814020056871156.post-16260935312709753922009-05-05T22:19:00.000-07:002009-05-05T22:19:00.000-07:00don't forget that they're disappointing male reade...don't forget that they're disappointing male readers, too, even if many male readers don't realize it.clairehttp://clairelight.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.com