Some Remarks: Essays and Other Writing Audiobook

" A bit of a mixed bag. The FLAG chapter was far too technical to be interesting, although there were parts of it that I enjoyed. I liked the characterisation of life in a MACT and thought the essay on being a bad correspondent might just have effectively been titled 'Why I'm a good writer'. But there was an awful lot of geekiness. "

" In the ultimate essay of Some Remarks Neal Stephenson says the time he might spend answering e-mails could be better spent writing fiction. In my opinion the time spent compiling this volume would have been better spent writing fiction as well. With that bit of snark behind me I can also say I enjoyed reading this for the most part. The central and longest of the essays on laying cable did go on a bit though. Overall it is a fun read and Stephenson has some pretty good ideas to throw out along the way. The two pieces of short fiction are a mixed bag with "Spew"(originally titled "Hacking the Spew" I believe) superior in all respects to "The Great Simolean Caper" which read a bit too pedestrian for a Stephenson piece. I would definitely say the fan has the much better chance of enjoying these pieces than the casual reader. "

" If you are already a NS fan, you will probably like about half of this book. He's at his best when he's reflecting further on some themes that have come up in his novels - like working while walking on treadmills, the metaphysics of Leibniz, the technologically-induced ADD of society, and so on. The earlier pieces are included only for the creepy NS stalkers who are hoarding everything he's written. I don't think he really had enough built-up material to justify this collection, but, as I said, there are some interesting pieces. Borrow it if you can. "

" Informative and thought-provoking, this collection of Stephenson's non-fiction is a thoughtful snapshot of the writer and his audience. "

" This is a collection of Stephenson's essays. If you didn't already know the guy was brilliant, this will convince you. Don't miss his article "Mother Earth Motherboard", which in my opinion was the best article ever printed in Wired magazine. "

" I'll always take Stephenson's non-fiction over fiction. "

" Stephenson is my favorite author, but much of this was a snooze. Decided to move on. "

" First rate. Many interesting reflections by Stephenson and a long and fascinating article on the science and engineering of underseas cables. "

" As a true Stephenson fanatic I had read a lot of this before. Great fun. Clever guy. "

" Good, but not as good as William Gibson's "Distrust That Particular Flavor." "

" It was good in parts, OK in others. Some content overlapped over each other, and the essays weren't as strong as the fiction. But still, very very good. "

" I just really like Neal Stephenson. I know some of the other reviews take issue with the fact that this is all stuff that's been published elsewhere, that it's lightweight stuff, comparatively speaking, etc.... I don't care. I like his style, I like his curiosity, and I like what he has to say. "

" Fantastic collection of essays and short stories. Mother Earth Motherboard was a fantastic essay giving a history of the wire - from the telegraph through transatlantic fiberoptic cables. Highly recommended! "

" A non-fiction collection of Neal Stephenson's recent work/interviews/etc. I really enjoyed "Mother Earth, Mother Board," especially after a summer doing fiber optic resistance checks for a US cabling laying operation. "

" Meh -- I usually like Neal Stephenson's work. The intro to this collection says it's a hodgepodge, and I have to agree. Some I liked, and some just bored me. I suppose I prefer Stephenson geeking out on his obsessions when it's in service of a plotline. "

" Thoughtful writings that really show off Stephenson's interest in the stories behind what he finds fascinating. "

" A good survey of the thought-provoking Neal Stephenson's polemics. I always recommend his work to anyone who will listen, so I am a hard-core fan. This collection adds to the corpus of stuff that allows us to speculate about what's under the hood of this magnificent brain. "

" Mainly on the strength of the mini-book/essay "Mother Earth Mother Board", which is just awesome. "