Stephenson, Neal "Anathem"

Stephenson, Neal "Anathem" - 2008

"The expression anathema
(ancient Greek ἀνάθημα or ἀνάθεμα "the devotee, cursing"),
also anathema, spell ray, spell of the church or
- in connection with a curse - spell curse,
denotes a condemnation by a church
that is associated with the exclusion from the ecclesial community
and canon law is to be equated with excommunication."

I'm not a big fan of science fiction and this is certainly a book that falls under that category. However, I love dystopian literature end I think, we can easily put it into that category, as well.

It is the year 3,000 or so on the planet Arbre. All the names they use come from some earthly words, this one meaning tree, of course. People have split up into two different kind of societies, the "avout" (probably from French "avouer", to confess) who live in monastery-like world, but definitely rational, atheist, and the Sæcular, the more worldly people. The avout are the scientists who study all sorts of different things, any science we know about - and probably more.

We get to meet one of them, Erasmas, also called Raz, after having spent a year in the "concent" when they get to meet the sæcular and we can see how they usually live. After that, everything goes pear-shaped and Raz goes on the trip of a lifetime, to different planets

I loved this book. It's not about science. Or fiction. Although, if that's your preference, you might want to read this, as well. It's about philosophy, about imagination. Arbre is similar to the Earth but has taken different steps. So, you can fantasize about how we could live, how our society might look like. I also really liked digging out all the meanings of the "foreign" words.

A lot of these kind of books have it but I really appreciated the glossary in the back of the book because I could always go back to a word I didn't remember rather than having to flip to a page before where it might have been explained. Of course, it meant I read many more than those 1,024 pages because I must have read the annex about twenty times. At least!

There's even a Wiki Fandom page that explains the correlation between Earth and Arbre, links their people to famous people in our world, their languages to ours etc. and a video/trailer on YouTube.

An interesting book. I'll read more by Neal Stephenson.

From the back cover:

"Erasmas - Raz - is a young avout living in the Concent, a sanctuary for mathematicians, scientists, and philosophers, protected from the corrupting influences of the outside world by ancient stone, honoured traditions, and complex rituals. Three times during history's darkest epochs, the cloistered community has been devastated by violence. Yet the avout have always managed to adapt in the wake of catastrophe.

Now, in celebration of a week-long, once-in-a-decade rite, the avout prepare to open the concent's gates. Before the week is out, both worlds - the inner and the outer - will stand poised on the brink of cataclysmic change. Suddenly Erasmas finds himself a major player in a drama that will determine the future of his world - as he sets out on an extraordinary odyssey that will carry him to the most dangerous, inhospitable corners of the planet... and beyond."