"...and know that you're never going to se a tree again..."
—Neal Stephenson
It's fun talking to Neal Stephenson about his books because he puts so much clear-headed cogitation into them – and he's able to discuss not just what he says, but how he came to say it the way he says it. 'Seveneves' is a big book that reads like a gripping 300-page thriller. But it is first and foremost a science fiction novel of what Joe R. Lansdale called 'big thinks." In other words, get ready to have your mind boggled. If Stanley Kubrick was around, we could only hope that he'd take up this one as a bookend for 2001.
I had a lot of very specific questions about this particular book. The doomsday scenario that Stephenson devises is just totally delicious, and I definitely wanted to explore the how and why of that piece of invention. Stephenson is a refreshingly pragmatic writer, really down-to-earth for a fellow who writes so much and so well about humans in space. I had to ask about orbital mechanics, which inspires some of the best techno-literature you're likely to read in this decade.
Also on the plate was Stephenson's unique take on the space ark. It was nice to know he sees it as a sub-genre, and just as nice to see him take that sub-genre in a new direction. He also has some fun with humanity at war in the future and competing schools of thought. For all the evil the science denial movement has wrought, there is this bright spot of literary compensation. It's an accomplishment that is not to be underestimated.
Neal Stephenson is still having fun, and he makes sure his readers and listeners do as well. For all his invention and imagination, when you hear him talk, he sounds very much the scientist. He has a clipped precision to his speech. If doomsday is around the corner (it's been there since 1945time immemorial, and hasn't budged), here's the man we want looking into workarounds. Stephenson and I talked about hi use of here-nd-now tech in the book, a very deliberate limitation that plays out as giddy fun for readers.
06-26-15 UPDATE:Podcast Update: Time to Read Episode 207: Neal Stephenson, 'Seveneves'
Click image for audio link.
Here's the two hundred-seventh episode of my series of podcasts, which I'm calling Time to Read. Hitting the who-the-hell-knows-how-many years mark, I'm going to make an effort to stay ahead, [AS IF] so that podcast listeners can get the same sort of "sneak preview" effect that radio listeners get each Friday morning. This week, I seem to be on top opf the game, but who knows what the hell might happen. I am hoping to stay back up and stumbling.
My hope is that in under four minutes I can offer readers a concise review and an opportunity to hear the author read from or speak about the work. I'm hoping to offer a new one every week.
The one-hundred fifty-xxx episode is a look at Neal Stephenson and 'Seveneves.'
08-21-15: Agony Column Podcast News Report : Senator Claire McCaskill is 'Plenty Ladylike' : Internalizing Determination to Overcome Sexism [Incudes Time to Read EP 211: Claire McCaskill, Plenty Ladylike, plus A 2015 Interview with Senator Claire McCaskill]
Agony Column Podcast News Report : Emily Schultz Unleashes 'The Blondes' : A Cure by Color [Incudes Time to Read EP 210: Emily Schultz, The Blondes, plus A 2015 Interview with Emily Schultz]
07-05-15: Commentary : Dr. Michael Gazzaniga Tells Tales from Both Sides of the Brain : A Life in Neuroscience Reveals the Life of Science
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Michael Gazzaniga : "We made the first observation and BAM there was the disconnection effect..."
04-21-15: Commentary : Kazuo Ishiguro Unearths 'The Buried Giant' : The Mist of Myth and Memory
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro : ".... by the time I was writing this novel, the lines between what was fantasy and what was real had blurred for me..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report : A 2015 Interview with Marc Goodman : "...every physical object around us is being transformed, one way or another, into an information technology..."
Agony Column Podcast News Report UPDATE: Time to Read Episode 199: Marc Goodman : Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can Do About It
