Neal Stephenson - Anathem

As mentioned in my previous post I am currently reading the new Neal Stephenson novel Anathem. I have to say with all of the 'theorics' and surprising story elements I am finding that from a shaky start I am getting more and more drawn in, desperate to know what will happen next. In parts it reminds me of Umberto Eco's novel Foucault's Pendulum in the way it brings together various theories and tries to introduce new ones of it's own. I do not want to give any of the story away, but suffice to say if you are a fan either author already you will love this book. 

Now I just need to get to the end!

What the hell is wrong with reading books?

Ok this is somewhat of a rant. As you can tell from very old posts on this blog I am a big fan of Neal Stephenson's novels, especially the Baroque Trilogy. So I am now reading his new work called Anathem. I have to say I was initially unsure about how this was written when I started but am over half way through now and finding it hard to put it down... which is not good when I am supposed to be working! I'd even say this is now my absolute favourite author - which is Umberto Eco's fault for writing such dross as The Eternal Flame of Queen Loana which should only be used as a tool when you are having difficulty sleeping... it is that dull!

Anyway the reason this was called a rant is that over the past week, at least half a dozen people have commented (with intonated surprise) what a large book I was reading and how long they thought I would need to finish it! Does nobody read books anymore or is there a new rule that if it isn't less than 100 pages or on Wikipedia it no longer counts in our 5 second generation. YES I read books, YES I sometimes read very large books, YES it even takes me a while to get to the end... but so what? I enjoy reading - more people should try it, you might even learn something.

Now please go away as I am trying to read.