Tasks were created centrally, and distributed hierarchically, according to the principles of the Mouse Army. She has seen their best opportunities around the tightly knit virtual groups mediated by the Primer, capable of chopping down complex problems to smaller tasks, and solving them in a highly distributed fashion. The Mouse Army is doing it's own thing. Over the course of the story, the Common Economic Protocol sponsors the investigation of clandestine Seed technologies in order to preserve the established order from subversion, using the justification that unrestricted access to Sources would lead to the proliferation of high tech weapons and result in anarchy. Hackworth's crime becomes known to Lord Finkle-McGraw and Dr. X, the black market engineer whose compiler Hackworth used to create the copy of the Primer, and each man attempts to exploit Hackworth to advance their opposing goals. YA scifi novel where kids escape a boarding school, in a hollowed out asteroid, What PHILOSOPHERS understand for intelligence? Where did I go wrong? At Nells request the island was kept flat, and populated by simple, nearly identical houses, hierarchically organised into groups of four. Time was taken for soul seeking both individually, and as a community. Judy Blume Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. A fully automated simulation that was not only able to mimic the laws of physics, but also generated objects and agents that matched the storyline both in content and mood. Hackworth did put confusion values in the chinese version of the primer. The top row is the blue wire, the second row is the yellow wire, and the bottom row is the red wire. As the time went by, however, Miranda spent more and more time alone, and apart from Nell and Carl Hollywood, she had very few contacts to the outside world. Thus the hunt for Princess Nell by the mouse army. Welcome back. Up to about halfway through, I was in love with this book, but then Hackworth goes to the Drummers and we skip 10 years, and my thoughts are like this: if you as a writer didn't care about those 10 years enough to write about them, why do I care enough to read them? Why would Hackworth want the Mouse Army to seek Nell to rule them? The South African Republic (Transvaal), virtually bankrupt, had suffered military humiliation at the hands of the Pedi, and support for President Thomas F. Burgers had declined because of this. Now set the book in a future Shanghai, in a world where nanotechnology makes material needs obsolete, at least in theory And voila: The Diamond Age. A little mound with a small palace was built in the middle of the island that served both as her residence, and as the host of the central governing body. So, yeah - I'm a bit confused too. Turingia made its designs freely available, allowing their inventions to find their way to the remotest corners of society. As production rapidly centralized and mechanized, however, ownership and labour patterns were divided more starkly along racial lines. Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience. She kept a very close relationship with Nell, and revered in the success of her adopted daughter. Okay, here's what this Stephenson guy did with his novel. It's like sometimes authors TRY to be obscure in their writing in order to be "highbrow" to rise about the genre or something. When Nell enters the castle of King Coyote in the Primer's final challenge for her, she encounters an enormous computer apparently designed to think and placed in charge of the kingdom. The new possession proved difficult to administer as empty coffers and insensitivity to Afrikaner resentments led to a clash over tax payments, and, under a triumvirate of Paul Kruger, Piet Joubert, and Marthinus Wessel Pretorius, the Transvaal Boers opted to fight for independence. But it will take some time. ". Except for the fact that it lacked an ending. "At this point, John Percival Hackworth, almost without thinking about So they meet Nell in the book get turned into humans in their primers and then in real life head to where Nell is as an army of followers. Commissioned by the powerful neo-Victorian Alexander Finkle-McGraw, the Primer is supposed to teach young neo-Victorians to be subversive enough to innovate and keep their phyle dominant. Though the wedding briefly revives Vixs old feelings for Bru, whom Caitlin is marrying, Vix is soon in love with Gus, another old summer friend, and a more compatible match. I finished it with a bit of bafflement - what was what I'd just read actually about? Five years after the coronation Miranda fell ill, with chill and hot spells shaking her frail body. I feel like this book demands analysis, and I don't know enough to provide it. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. In fact I think it also predicts a lot of the future of nanotechnology and entertainment. I'm sure all the technology is masterfully crafted and is visionary, I just couldn't 100% follow it. Lacking the presence of a real person, the Han girls develop loyalty to each other (including Nell, another user of the Primer) rather than adopting the Confucian ethics that dominate in the Celestial Kingdom. Midway between these dates, in 1886, the worlds largest goldfields were discovered on the Witwatersrand. Although The Diamond Age explores the role of technology and personal relationships in child development, its deeper and darker themes also probe the relative values of cultures (which Stephenson explores in his other novels as well) and the shortcomings in communication between them. [citation needed], "Thetes" are individuals who are not members of any phyle and are often socially disadvantaged and economically poor, being similar to second-class citizens under the CEP. That leaves bureaucrats and peasants. Other phyles are less defined some intentionally, as with the CryptNet group or the mysterious hive-mind Drummers. "The old guard believe in that code because they came to it the hard way. if it pleases the court, I can also, Hackworth said, most Then, leadership given by the scholars/bureaucrat would have been meaningful. The Primer is designed to react to its owner's environment and teach them what they need to know to survive and develop. The doctors were baffled by her symptoms, and thought it might have been an aftershock caused by the high concentration of sites that almost killed her in the Drummers Cave. The Book of the Seed stayed locked for many years. Miranda grows attached to Nell, so she tries to find Nell in real space. According to a June 2009 report in Variety, Zo Green had been hired to write the series, with George Clooney and Grant Heslov of Smokehouse Productions as executive producers on the project. As Turingia became more and more prosperous, its relationship with Atlantis turned less and less friendly. An illicit copy of the book falls into the hands of an abused little girl, Nell. The protagonist in the story is Nell, a thete (or person without a tribe; equivalent to the lowest working class) living in the Leased Territories, a lowland slum built on the artificial, diamondoid island of New Chusan, located offshore from the mouth of the Yangtze River, northwest of Shanghai. The Diamond Age Envisions the next century as brilliantly as snow crash did the day after tomorrow." Newsweek "[Stephenson is] the hottest science fiction writer in America. Oh, and hold on. Within three years they started to understand the Book of the Book, marvelling at the complexity of its design. Each hut accommodated a troop of four girls, and consisted of a common bedroom with bunk beds, a small kitchen, and a study area. Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers. Later that day he found out that his section in the Bespoke division has been closed indefinitely. All of this is staggeringly inventive and meticulously detailed, but, lacking a coherent plot and set forth in an by Hanya Yanagihara I first read this ~10 years ago and just re-read it as someone reminded me that it predicts the future of reading. Stephenson's descriptions of brightly lit Nanjing Road and small, dim, alleys of hawkers was so spot on. - and it is like a roller coaster coming off the rails and crashing very, very suddenly on the last page. All I could do is count heads and make remarks about the colour and gender and fate of each major character. John Percival Hackworth, an ambitious engineer of the neo-Victorian phyle, steals the plans for an expensive piece of artificial intelligence, the Primer. Site design / logo 2023 Stack Exchange Inc; user contributions licensed under CC BY-SA. Nobody knew where they came from, or who sowed them, but they bloomed like the desert after a sudden rain, growing food, shelter, medicine, and other fundamental items. Your email address will not be published. The Source, where the Feed's stream of matter originates, is controlled by the Victorian phyle (though smaller, independent Feeds are possible). Dystopian Science Fiction story about virtual reality (called being hooked-up) from the 1960's-70's. To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers. The story of how this casual invitation turns the two girls into what they call "Summer sisters" is prefaced with a prologue in which Vix is asked by Caitlin to be her matron of honor. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. Content Warning: The source novel includes sexual abuse and violence, misogynistic slurs as characterization, and physical violence. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. The annexation of the diamond fields signaled a more progressive British policy under a Liberal ministry but fell short of the ambitious confederation policy pursued by Lord Carnarvon, the colonial secretary in Benjamin Disraelis 1874 Conservative government; he sought to unite the republics and colonies into a self-governing federation in the British Empire, a concept inspired by Theophilus Shepstone, who, as secretary for native affairs in Natal, urged a coherent regional policy with regard to African labour and administration. After tying up his loose ends Hackworth offered his services to Princes Nell. Certain parts of your experience will be much funnier if you wear it, while others will be unspeakably boring if you don't. Categories: Which, OK, is worth doing, but it's 3:42am and I've been reading since about 8pm, so forgive me if I don't open it up again just now. This is after they discover their leader in the Primer after Nell breaks the last turing machine and the land beyond disappears. The phyles coexist much like historical nation-states under a system of justice and mutual protection, known as the Common Economic Protocol (CEP). Courts, governments, and jurisdictions in The Diamond Age? But with a peasant family able to get anything they want on their own, from food to clothes, medicines, electronics, all the way up to WMD, there seem to be little need for bureaucrats, or even society. Required fields are marked *. Midway between these dates, in 1886, the world's largest goldfields were discovered on the Witwatersrand. In the extremely globalized future depicted in the novel, these cultural divisions have largely supplanted the system of nation-states that divides the world today. Now, here's your complementary CS patch. For more information, please see our Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life. There is so much that is good about this book. With the Seed, there won't be a need for artisans or merchants. Wells time machine and went forward in time and he decided to create a post cyber-punk, progressively dystopian bildungsroman novel with a strong female lead and with a fascinating glimpse of a future that expands on the world begun in. Nicole Galland, by The book of the seed is inside Nell's Primer at the end and being worked on by the drummers even as they remove Miranda from the Drummer community. Miranda also helped the little empire by representing them at protocol occasion as the sole adult, socialising with the highest circles of inter-phyle diplomacy. Good question though. . I admit ruefully that Stephenson's vocabulary is better than mine. Scribes have faithfully copied the tomes in Princess Nells possession, disseminating the Knowledge downward to the smaller and smaller groups in the hierarchy, with solutions to problems bubbling up and being summarised by the officers. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. Nell was older than all of them and therefore the leader. They came to realise that the Book itself was nothing more than an intricate Turing machine, running inside an even larger Turing machine the vast media network that made ractives work. The ending of The Diamond Age Nathan Nov 27, 2013 05:59PM 0 votes Perhaps it was the effect of the subversive aspect of the Primer on the Mouse Army. The Diamond Age was first published in 1995 by Bantam Books, as a Bantam Spectra hardcover edition. Thanks for contributing an answer to Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange! Does contemporary usage of "neithernor" for more than two options originate in the US, Dystopian Science Fiction story about virtual reality (called being hooked-up) from the 1960's-70's, How to turn off zsh save/restore session in Terminal.app, How small stars help with planet formation, Finding valid license for project utilizing AGPL 3.0 libraries, Trying to determine if there is a calculation for AC in DND5E that incorporates different material items worn at the same time. The years pass by at a fast and steamy clip in Blumes latest adult novel (Wifey, not reviewed; Smart Women, 1984) as two friends find loyalties and affections tested as they grow into young women. influencers in the know since 1933. The mass produced Primer has a real opportunity for abuse through propaganda, which is more difficult for the real Primer. Material Duties encompassed everything around the physical well-being of the individuals and their environment, such as plumbing, catering or gardening. The Bond initially represented poorer farmers and espoused an anti-British Pan-Afrikanerism in the Cape and beyond, but, after its reorganization a few years later under Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr, the group began to champion the Capes commercial interests and acquired a new base of supportmainly wealthier farmers and urban professionals. Neal Stephenson is one of my favourite authors, and I do give him credit for each of his books being based on a completely different paradigm. While Im at it, Nells adventures in the Primer wind down once Miranda leaves. The girls as a group must have seen the results of this crippling and oppressive procedure after the first set of girls got bound, issued a collective HELL TO THE NO, and decided to get off their boats and go find Princess Nell. Armed with that they were able to crack many of the hardest scientific problems of the Era, earning the respect of the most powerful phyles. What is the connection between Snow Crash and The Diamond Age? The computer is named "Wizard 0.2", a typographical allusion to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. I've read both Diamond Age and Snow Crash. and our Why is the Seed in "Diamond Age" associated with Confucianism? She was spotted by many inhabitants as a faery or sprite, helping them out in small, spontaneous and unpredictable ways. Chaos, Dr. X said regretfully, then looked up from his tea and nodded out the window. Privacy Policy. More recently, developmentalists have divided this age period into two separate stages: Emerging adulthood followed by early adulthood. (Oh, god, so many of my reviews seem to start this way.) What is the connection between Snow Crash and The Diamond Age? Victoria, or more commonly Vix, lives in a small house; her brother has muscular dystrophy; her mother is unhappy, and money is scarce. The part that is confusing me is as . Although some white diggers continued to work as overseers or skilled labourers, from the mid-1880s the workforce consisted mainly of Black migrant workers housed in closed compounds by the companies (a method that had previously been used in Brazil). The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer is a science fiction novel by American writer Neal Stephenson. Children were laughing, parents were smiling, and grandparents were crying of joy, as they saw their hard work bearing fruit. Stack Exchange network consists of 181 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow, the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers. They're a bunch of self-actualizing badasses, not following the sort of simplistic ideology of the Fists. The story follows Nell's development under the tutelage of the Primer, and to a lesser degree, the lives of Elizabeth Finkle-McGraw and Fiona Hackworth, Neo-Victorian girls who receive other copies. Has Dynabook inspired Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age? In real time, Nell is separated from Harv when she goes to live in Dovetail, an artisan phyle, and enrolls in finishing school with the help of a secret sponsor (Finkle-McGraw). The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Ladys Illustrated Primer is a 1995 science-fiction coming-of-age novel by Neal Stephenson. As Dr. X was a scholar-bureaucrat, elevating farmers to the top of the hierarchy might just be self-effacing. ("The Diamond Age - Setting") To be fair, inventions like lighter-than-air buildings and bacteria-size cameras seem plausible even back in 1995. As Black farmers became more prosperous and as more Blacks became literate clerks and teachers, many individuals qualified to vote. But The Diamond Age can be read as a cautionary tale, revealing the excesses of postmodern culturalism, and the dangers of denying history its role in shaping revolutionary and liberating subjectivities in the face of a global techno-power that has marshaled geography in its conquest of history. Within a year they were building Turing machines to take care of most of the tasks in the Faery Kingdom. I find it strange to paint the Seed as a Chinese/Confuscianist ideal. Diamonds, gold, and imperialist intervention (18701902), Afrikaner and African politics in the Cape, Reconstruction, union, and segregation (190229), Black, Coloured, and Indian political responses, The intensification of apartheid in the 1930s, Corruption charges against deputy president Zuma, Economic problems, social discontent, Nkandla scandal, and the death of Mandela, Controversy: the Gupta family, Nkandla, and corruption charges revisited, Which Country Is Larger By Population? Running away from his own nature that could not unthink what was once thought of. "The provisional commanders of her divisions stood foremost, as did Judy Blume. British defeats, especially at Majuba in 1881, ended British insistence on the concept of confederation. After Nell graduates, she goes to Pudong, Shanghai, to work as a writer. I did feel that some parts lagged and I did flick forward a bit midway. [citation needed]. I loved this book, especially the Neo-Victorian culture. Hackworths life falls apart when Finkle-McGraw discovers his theft and Dr. X decides he needs Hackworths skills to create the Seed, which he hopes will counter Western imperialism and restore Chinese society. Hackworth makes his last contribution to the creation of the Seed, but Nell rescues Miranda before the Drummers can create it. 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