Sean Gibson’s Reviews > Anathem > Status Update

Embarking on a 7-day Disney cruise, so I will see all you lovely GR peeps in a week. If I don’t come back, please 1) avenge my death by killing Goofy and 2) make The Camelot Shadow a posthumous #1 NYT bestseller.

I really hope that if I’m ever on a suicide mission (which, let’s face it, I hope I’m not, because I’ve got stuff to do the next day), I can work a lot of academic and philosophical debate into it, because that seems like a reasonable approach.

This book is like eating a bag of pretzels that has a few chocolate-covered ones mixed in; you're munching away, and it's fine but not really remarkable, and then BAM. You bite down on some chocolate and you're like, "Whoa! What was that? Also, can I have more?" But then you just have to eat some more regular pretzels for a while.

I think I can...I think I can...I think I can...

I feel like Antonio Banderas in the 13th Warrior when he's trying to learn the language of his Viking companions--I'm gradually understanding more and more of this, but every fourth word is still unintelligible.

I think...THINK...I might be starting to figure out what the heck is going on here. But, don't quote me on that...

I feel like I'm reading this in molasses. By which I mean going slowly. And stickily. Is that a word? Stickily. Mmmm...molasses. I could go for some molasses clove cookies right about now. I like cookies. Jeez, it looks like it's going to rain. Why didn't I bring an umbrella? That was silly of me.

I have no idea what's going on right now. In this book, or in life. But I want cookies.

There's a 99.7% chance I lack the intellectual horsepower to understand 60% of what is happening in this book.