#reamde

“‘Because we are hackers and they have seen movies.’” — Neal Stephenson; Reamde

I don't think Reamde is Neal Stephenson's best work in that it is the most gratifying or narratively sophisticated, but sometimes I think it might be his most impressive. His characterization is some of the most unilaterally complex and generous that he's ever offered, particularly given the long roster of dramatis personae, and the dude has somehow managed to make a 1000+ page novel about MMORPGs, computer viruses, terrorism, and the Russian mob go down like a beach read. Don't punch me, but I would LOVE to see Michael Mann adapt it into a television series.

“This was probably rooted in a belief that had been inculcated to him from the get-go: that there was an objective reality which all people worth talking to could observe and understand, and that there was no point in arguing about anything that could be so observed and so understood. As long as you made a point of hanging out exclusively with people who had the wit to see and to understand that objective reality, you didn’t have to waste a lot of time talking. When a thunderstorm was headed your way across the prairie, you took the washing down from the line and closed the windows. It wasn’t necessary to have a meeting about it. The sales force didn’t need to get involved.” - Neal Stephenson