The Diamond Age

Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer

Hardcover, 455 pages

English language

Published Nov. 11, 1995 by Bantam Books.

ISBN:
978-0-553-09609-5
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
314194775
Goodreads:
1056946

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4 stars (32 reviews)

The story of an engineer who creates a device to raise a girl capable of thinking for herself reveals what happens when a young girl of the poor underclass obtains the device.

21 editions

reviewed The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (A Bantam spectra book)

Simultaneously better and worse than Snow Crash

4 stars

I have to say, this was a fun read. And like the author's book Snow Crash from 3 years prior, it features a young girl protagonist, nation-state world-building, a sometimes awkward treatment of Asia, and sections of excessive violence.

In some ways, the book aged a lot better than Snow Crash. The world has made VR a thing which means a lot of the computer-related predictions from Snow Crash feel laughable, but we're nowhere near the level of nanotechnology in A Diamond Age. Snow Crash is a book of the 90s. The Diamond Age feels good even today.

Where this book let me down, however, was in how the plot was woven together. There are a lot of interesting characters that never get the attention they should. I don't demand that all plot threads get tied up in a nice neat bow (I think Anathem even went a bit too …

Review of "L'Âge de diamant" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Dans ce roman, on suit sur une vingtaine d'années le destin de quelques personnages, liés de plus ou moins près aux "manuels illustrés d'éducation à l'usage des jeunes filles". Ces manuels sont des artefacts issus d'une nanotechnologie aussi présente qu'abondante, en ces années 2100 (enfin, je crois, il faut avouer que l'auteur n'est pas très temporellement précis, ce qui est dans ce cas une qualité). Trois de ces manuels seront d'abord créés, avant que des centaines de milliers d'autres ne le soient à leur tour. Et bien sûr, c'est le destin des propriétaires de ces trois romans qui nous intéresse (mais que je ne vous dévoilerai évidement pas).
J'avais lu ce roman il y a une bonne dizaine d'années, je crois, et en avais gardé le souvenir d'un ouvrage un peu abscons, mais curieusement fascinant.
Aujourd'hui, en tant que père de famille, je suis beaucoup plus touché par la dimension …

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