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Salon Interviews Neal Stephenson
edibleplastic writes "Salon has a great interview with Neal Stephenson, author of such science fiction favorites as Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and Quicksilver. He discusses his views on the scientific community (both past and present), the world of science fiction, and writing in general. "I think there are common threads between writing and programming... All I'm saying is that the thing you're making -- the novel or the computer program -- has got a very complicated and finely wrought hierarchical structure to it. The structure has to work right or the whole thing fails. But the only way you can work on it is by hitting one character at a time...""
And the mind of the reader will crash if you make a small mistake?
and I don't like to read.
Does he say when the second book in the Baroque series is coming out? Quicksilver seemed to end a little flat but left me wanting more.
...Is the bane of too many crap writers.
Maybe he writes "choose your own ending" books under a pseudonym.
Kinetic stupidity has a new brand leader: Allen Zadr.
Why do people treat fiction authors liek gurus?
I dunno, maybe people like you find their spelling godlike compared to your own abilities.
"All I'm saying is that the thing you're making -- the novel or the computer program -- has got a very complicated and finely wrought hierarchical structure to it. The structure has to work right or the whole thing fails. But the only way you can work on it is by hitting one character at a time..."
...
Or to put a Tao spin on it
"The finest program begins with a single keystroke."
One character at a time. Does that mean writing and programming are both O(n)?
.sig error: carrier signal lost.
(for first_book=SUCCESS; current_book!=FAILURE; current_book=rehash(prior_book)}
if someone assures me that is has a @$^@$%&$ ending!
a) C is twice as heavy at least, so in a free for all wrestling match it will win
b) C is funnier than S
c) S has the best shaggy dog story (the fight in the mall)
d) C has the best sidebars. The breakfast cereal one, in particular.
e) S is a bit, well, dull. Software hackers (or pizza delivery people) might be very interesting to themselves, but entrepeneurs are more exciting to read about for the rest of us.
I make that 4:1 in favour of the current heavyweight, Mr Cryptonomicon.
Fix! fix!
I think it's hilarious that the article includes an edited version of Stephenson's comments comparing programming the writing. He was led into that question by the interviewer and he heavily qualified his answer, to the point where it basically boiled down to "both involve typing". Yet we Slashdotters are ready to jump all over it -- "OMG Neal and I are exactly the same we'll be best friends 4EVER!!!"
Stephenson's awesome: an entertaining writer and a geek to boot. Let's not forget which one comes first.
"Hi, I'm Douglas Coupland. You may remember me from such books as Generation X, Microserfs and All Families are Psychotic" ;-)
</troy mcclure>
The Coupland File, for more info.
"It is dark. You are likely to be eaten by a grue." -- Zork
Why do people treat fiction authors liek gurus? I saw a robotics aritcleon here the other day where people were seriously talking about Asimov's 3 laws of robotics like they were actually applicable to real life.
:)
Maybe because they can spell and punctuate properly?
Mark
--
In accordance with all spelling/grammar flames, this posting contains one (1) error.
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...Neal Stephenson is a key contributor to the Linux kernel...
You mean the Finux kernel (read at the end of the article)
This is not my opinion. Actually, it's not even an opinion. And I'm nowhere to be seen near it
If Cryptonomicon was "merely good" I'm seriously scared of Quicksilver.
...he swiped his credit card like an assassin swiping a razor across his victims neck. ...the sailors let out a collective sigh like the entire ship had just ejaculated.
Cryptonomicon was the first (and so far only) Stephenson book I've tried and I just found it to bad to be able to read. It seem like ever other page had either a metaphor or simile that was borrowed from one of those deliberately bad writing contest.
It's been a few years, but I remember a few of them like:
The story was almost interesting, but the delivery was so bad I gave up about 1/5 of the way thru.
What is it I'm missing that folks like about Stephenson? Is it just that he hits on geek subject matter?
Maybe I just don't get it.
"Karma can only be portioned out by the cosmos." -- Homer Simpson
Or ham fists...
He does that. It just looks like }}}}}}}}.
You correct your LaTeX.
Lisa: Can you tell me what happens at the end of the series?
J.K. Rowling, increasingly annoyed: He grows up and marries you. Is that what you want to hear?
Lisa, dreamily: Yes.
Then you call the book 'Finnegan's Wake'.
You basically have to call them "Science Fiction" because there's no section in the store for "Natural Philosophy Fiction".
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
this is like Darth Vader hunting for the Holy Grail!
Quiet, fool! You don't want to give George Lucas any ideas.
I woke my wife up while reading in bed last night and giggling at his description of the spoon.
Now there you go. That's the kind of person that identifies with the nerdy kinds of obsessive/compulsive behavior and intense attention to minutiae that Stephenson can imbue his characters with, as well as the geeky aspects of the characters and overall story. I think people who are nerds will appreciate the highly detailed and circumlocutive descriptions and sequences. Geeks will enjoy the technical descriptions of concepts that they are not familiar with (and perhaps of those which they are). Those of us who are nerds and geeks will really get it, and see ourselves in both the instructor and the instructed when Stephenson exposits through alluding dialogue. We've been the expert, we've been the novice. We will be thankful for being made to follow these often a-mazing intimations and actually think, rather than being force-fed the point like viewers of most TV sitcoms.