Anathem - Page 2

I haven't read Anathem yet (I did read Baroque Cycle though), but I would argue that he already wrote a truly Great Novel with Cryptonomicon. I re-read it back to back with DeLillo's Underworld not long ago. While the latter definitely touches upon the heart of the 20th century, I'd say Cryptonomicon does the same with the mind of the century (if you catch my drift), in a comparable way. Sure, Stephenson's style is more obviously derived from pulp & Hollywood tropes, but even that I consider quintessential for late 20th century culture. And in some way, DeLillo does the same- with the inclusion of baseball, the serial killer & Lenny Bruce).

Just wanted to add that this thread inspired me to pick up Cryptonomicon (with Anathem waiting in the wings) and it's a great read. Joseph Heller meets Tom Clancy, or something. Anyway, cool recommendation.

 

Spoilers for a long ago thread and after having JUST finished Anathem:

 

I'm taking this as that the Incanters (past changing the future, like Jad) aren't even understood by the Rhetors (Lodoghir.)  The Rhetors (Lodoghir) are able to cleanse things like the dinosaur in the parking ramp event, or Fraa Jad dying and NOT dying when they go up into space.  But the Incanters, like Jad, experience the polycosm in ways that no one else does.  The ramifications of this require them to make choices that will never make sense to those "down wick" of themselves even if they are from their own Narrative. 

 

Jad is able to see through the polycosms to instantly grasp Orolo's observations, to instantly gain the password for the Urnudan Orb 1, and even snatch himself and Erasmus from the certain shotgun doom of some of those choices.   When Jad takes himself out of the narrative, it seems to be because he is opening things up to a new future founded on the introduction of the other cosmii. I think he has had insight into this reality for, perhaps, a thousand years (he's a thousander, the 3rd sack triggered the image in the Urnadan perception that caused them to move between cosmii, even if they didn't know what they were doing at the time.)  He says that "the answer is not known to me" when asked if he/the Incanters sent a message to the other cosmii.  We've also seen that he's been modified to resist radiation and also aging.  We have no idea how old Jad is, but can presume centuries.  He could be from the time of the 3rd sack which seems to be the catalyst for the Urnadan's choice to attempt time travel (which results in inter dimensional travel, which is a statement in itself.)

 

After all of this, it can't be true that some genetically-modified, thousand-year-old, genius-from-another-dimension was able to focus everything into harmony (even if he kind of did.)  It can't work for any of the narratives.  So Jad removes himself from them all while leaving Erasmus as the keeper of the truth.  From the beginning it was understood that Raz, perhaps alone, could handle this burden.  His wavering faith at the beginning, his dogmatic defense later, his expansion as events unfolded, his exposure to the greater "extra-muros world", and his development after near death experiences made him ideal (even if he wouldn't have been pegged before these events.)  That's why Orolo chose him for the Edharians and why Jad sent him "north."  Both Jad and Orolo had an "upsight" into Erasmus' importance. 

 

Something I'm struggling with, immediately after reading, is obviously the overall "Jad problem."  He seems to have known what was going to happen, he was seemingly able to deal with these things in ways no-one else could, yet at the end, his Narrative was over when he met with Gan Odru of the Urnadans (the potentially false prophet of the Hylaen Way of the Urnadans.)  Jad literally passes things on to Erasmus after not answering whether the Urnadans were called by Arbre.  "You shall have to search for it yourself."  And then he says, "I am finished here" and seemingly disapears from all realities.  Was Jad present at the 3rd sack when a kind of polycosmic-psychic-scream was sent out that reached the Urnadans?  Did Jad inherit this as part of the Thousanders, or maybe as part of the Lineage within the Thousanders?  Did he acquire a perception of all this as he developed, literally behind the scenes, as a Thousander?  Lesser question: Are all Thousanders modified people who have lived for centuries?

 

Again, I just finished the book and my head is swimming.   Goddamn Neal Stephenson!