Different rates of development on different continents, from 11,000 B.C. Although by this time some two-thirds of the settler population spoke Dutch or Afrikaans, political power rested largely with an English-speaking elite of merchants, lawyers, and landholders. 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. And it does - what I love about Stephenson is his high level of prescient-ness. ("The Diamond Age - Setting") To be fair, inventions like lighter-than-air buildings and bacteria-size cameras seem plausible even back in 1995. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. The result has been centuries of chaos.". Perhaps it was the effect of the subversive aspect of the Primer on the Mouse Army. In reality, the diamond formation occurred over 10 to 100 s of million years, and such Sm-Nd two-mineral isochrons 39 give but some indication of an 'average diamond age', with large values . In the novel, the material needs of nearly all thetes are satisfied by freely-available food and clothing, albeit of low quality; thetes without the political connections of a phyle are entitled to similarly low-quality "free justice.". Carnarvon commissioned Shepstone to annex the Transvaal, and, after encountering only token resistance at the beginning of 1877, he proclaimed it a British colony a few months later. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? 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). So, yeah - I'm a bit confused too. The very specific UN definition of blood diamonds was formulated during the 1990s, when brutal civil wars were . As Turingia became more and more prosperous, its relationship with Atlantis turned less and less friendly. Is it possible to feel nostalgia for a place in the future? Certain parts of your experience will be much funnier if you wear it, while others will be unspeakably boring if you don't. I'm abandoning this book at 50% - one star because I think I deserve the credit for slogging through it, though. Thankfully we never get to find out whether he's wrong. Dr. X didn't know this; also, toward the end of the book, he explicitly says he regrets educating all the girls via the book, presumably because they are not cooperating. blood diamond, also called conflict diamond, as defined by the United Nations (UN), any diamond that is mined in areas controlled by forces opposed to the legitimate, internationally recognized government of a country and that is sold to fund military action against that government. It has taken me a while to figure out what I think of this book, and I'm still not entirely sure. But it will take some time. ". 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. Alternative ways to code something like a table within a table? rev2023.4.17.43393. if it pleases the court, I can also, Hackworth said, most First half of the book gets 4 stars; the second half gets 2 stars. Categories: What is the etymology of the term space-time? Shanghai is now carved into municipalities and groups that arose when most nations collapsed in the wake of the nanotechnology economy and the rise of a secure, anonymous network that hid taxable income. John Percival Hackworth received a small medal for his indispensable intelligence services to Her Majestys Joint Forces, and was greeted with honour at the royal celebration of Queen Victorias birthday. I think the issue is the Primer. Together, they represent a new era . The computer is named "Wizard 0.2", a typographical allusion to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. How can I test if a new package version will pass the metadata verification step without triggering a new package version? The rules of the CEP are intended to provide for the co-existence of, and peaceful economic activity between, phyles with potentially very different values. Princess Nell and the girls did not spare the effort to rebuild its structures to their satisfaction. But then other stories come into play and confusion sets in - at least in my head it did! In similar fashion, Wizard 0.2 creates an impressive light show as it apparently processes data, but it is then revealed that the computer's decisions are in fact made by King Coyote himself. 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. Neal Stephenson To quote Dr. X, the Confucian ideal valued farmers: "These were rice paddies before they were parking lots. Judy Blume 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. Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who dont share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and Judes race was undetermineddeserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood thats revealed slowly over the course of the book. [4] The protagonist's name points directly to Little Nell from Dickens' 1840 novel The Old Curiosity Shop. by The ending of The Diamond Age. After high school, Caitlin travels the world and cant understand why Vix, by now at Harvard on a scholarship and determined to have a better life than her mother has had, wont drop out and join her. (NOT interested in AI answers, please). Indeed, just as we named the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Steel Age after the materials that humans could make, we might call the new technological epoch we are entering the Diamond Age". Carnarvon concentrated at first on persuading the Cape and the Free State to accept federation, but a conference in London in August 1876 revealed how unreceptive these parties were to the proposal. That's right, it's very similar, except instead of nicotine, this will imbue you with knowledge equivalent to a bachelor's degree in computer science. What sort of contractor retrofits kitchen exhaust ducts in the US? Average = 3 stars. On top of this, the networked Primers form a sort of communication network for the Mouse Army (similar to the Drummer network). An illicit copy of the book falls into the hands of an abused little girl, Nell. I did feel that some parts lagged and I did flick forward a bit midway. Why was Seed being developed instead of iterative building on an existing solution? 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? The novel deals with themes of education, social class, ethnicity, and the nature of artificial intelligence. The part that is confusing me is as . What is the connection between Snow Crash and The Diamond Age? 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. The Diamond Age or A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer (1995) is a postcyberpunk novel by Neal Stephenson. Dr. X has an idea to replace China's economic need for The Feed, by inventing a new more advanced nanotechnology called The Seed. The process will kill Miranda, however. The primary point of dispute, as always, was intellectual property, the lack of which in Turingia devalued the achievements of neo-Victorian engineering. A third storyline follows actress ("ractor") Miranda Redpath, who voices most of the Primer characters who interact with Nell and essentially becomes Nell's surrogate mother. ", These were rice paddies before they were parking lots. In that book, the Wizard puts on a grand appearance but is later revealed to be merely a man hiding behind a curtain. possessed necessary skills. Remember that a key part of the Primer - kept secret by Finkle-McGraw - was that the book was intended to be "subversive." 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. All Rights Reserved. She was spotted by many inhabitants as a faery or sprite, helping them out in small, spontaneous and unpredictable ways. The years in between are related in brief segments by numerous characters, but mostly by Vix. Harv, a thete, steals the bootleg Primer and gives it to Nell, his little sister, instead. Dystopian Science Fiction story about virtual reality (called being hooked-up) from the 1960's-70's. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each others affection. feels more like an "agrarian vs industrial" than "disseminated vs centralized" contrast to me. Hanya Yanagihara. Required fields are marked *. While Im at it, The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Ladys Illustrated Primer is a 1995 science-fiction coming-of-age novel by Neal Stephenson. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. So, how is giving full control and independence to everyone through the Seed something Mr. X would want? The part that is confusing me is as follows: Both the Fists and the Mouse Army come from the Celestial Kingdom yet they seem opposed - surely Dr X would have wanted the Mouse Army to support the Fists. You're going to have a great time. Wait, sir? The Primer is designed to react to its owner's environment and teach them what they need to know to survive and develop. He's talking about the necessity of focus and attention, the dedication required to trick your brain into thinking these characters and places are real, without which you cannot become emotionally and intellectually enmeshed in the narrative, without which the novel has no bite, no pathos, no transformative power. The dark and light sides of friendship breathlessly explored in a novel best saved for summer beachside reading. 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.

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