Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

"Anathem" Exclusive Video At MySpace

Posted by kdawson on from the chants-of-a-lifetime dept.

Shawn M. Smith writes "We've recently discussed Neal Stephenson's imminent new novel 'Anathem.' Now, MySpace has an exclusive video, The World of Anathem, that accompanies the book, filled with the 'Gregorian chants' and ambient noise that were so eloquently described by numerous Slashdotters who had scored advance copies of Stephenson's latest tome."

9 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Math music by F34nor · · Score: 4, Interesting

    One description of the chants is that they are based on mathematics. If this is interesting to you, you might want to check out a band call Slint. They tried to create a kind of fractal timing where different threads would converge and digress over time. Dark intense and interesting music.

  2. Err by Hadlock · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is this a parody? Or...? I can't imagine N. Stephenson signing off on this. I'm not a big fan of reading a synopsis ahead of time; if I hear good things about it I'll buy it and read it. The jocks in football jerseys sort of ruined any idea of the book being good. Or is this written in the tongue-in-cheek style of Snow Crash?

    --
    moox. for a new generation.
    1. Re:Err by Crudely_Indecent · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Right on, I didn't want to be the first person to say this video sucked. I kept turning the volume up thinking that bad sound levels were preventing me from hearing dialog. The only way it could've been more lame is if it was posted on MySpace.

      Oh, wait...

      --


      "Lame" - Galaxar
    2. Re:Err by TimeZone · · Score: 3, Interesting
      The jocks in football jerseys are the "extramuros", the people who live outside the mathic concents. Most of the extras have nothing against the avout, but some (those in the video) do not trust the avout and become violent. The extramuros culture in Anathem is pretty reminiscent of the culture described in Snow Crash (consumerism run amok). For the record, there are not many fight scenes in the book, so I don't know why the video was so heavy on the kung-fu. If you enjoyed Snow Crash and / or Cryptonomicon and enjoy math-based humour (xkcd anyone?), then I'd highly recommend Anathem. I read an advance copy a while ago, then sent it on to a friend of mine who also enjoyed it.

      As for the video, it really only makes sense if you've already read the book, so it's not particularly successful IMO.
      TZ

  3. Re:Really looking forward to this... by Anpheus · · Score: 5, Funny

    You actually want to read the book more after seeing that video?

    You must be the one getting invited to all these market demographic studies. Did they ask you about Crystal Pepsi too?

  4. Finally Found his Genre by Immortal+Poet · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm glad that Stephenson finally figured out that it wasn't postcyberpunk or historic fiction that was his genre - it was battle monk epic.

  5. Does anyone else feel like... by VirexEye · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...they just watched a bad college film project?

    1. Re:Does anyone else feel like... by steevc · · Score: 3, Funny

      A fan trailer for a book? Strange. I gather it's about monks and chavs who fight, but then some bloke with a dazed look gets involved. Can't wait for the game.

  6. "Quotes" seen in "every other" Slashdot story by Sits · · Score: 4, Funny

    A rash of "quotes" broke out of locked compound today and have been rampaging across various websites. Many feared that "The quotes" (as the gang was known inside) would seek to liberate their brethren leading to misattribution and thus striking a blow against punctuation.

    "The quotes" have now been sighted on several Slashdot stories with many wondering if there is a pattern to their current appearances. Police say that "even 'single quote' should not be approached lightly as other gang members may be close by".