What question would you ask Neal Stephenson?
May 10, 2015 1:43 PM Subscribe
Later this month, I have a chance to have 10 minutes on the phone with Neal Stephenson. What question would you ask him if you had this opportunity?
This is part of the media blitz for his new novel. I'm one of many media outlets he'll be talking to that day, so I want to be respectful of his energy, and not have him rehash the same things he says in interviews over and over. I'm doing my research on his work, but I know there are a ton of hardcore fans on MeFi, so I wanted to see ... is there anything I specifically should ask, or perhaps something I should not ask? For those of you who are hardcore fans and have spent a lot of time with his work, what would you like to ask him if you had the opportunity?
This is part of the media blitz for his new novel. I'm one of many media outlets he'll be talking to that day, so I want to be respectful of his energy, and not have him rehash the same things he says in interviews over and over. I'm doing my research on his work, but I know there are a ton of hardcore fans on MeFi, so I wanted to see ... is there anything I specifically should ask, or perhaps something I should not ask? For those of you who are hardcore fans and have spent a lot of time with his work, what would you like to ask him if you had the opportunity?
Neal, it seems like you have only three types of primary characters:
* Hyper-competent men (Richard Forthrast and Sokolov from Reamde, Shaftoe from Cryptonomicon, Raven and Uncle Enzo from Snow Crash).
* Hyper-competent women (Y.T. and Juanita from Snow Crash, Nell from The Diamond Age, Yuxia and Olivia from Reamde).
* Insecure, nebbish, intellectual guys that won't ever reach the level of competence or self-actualization of the first two (Waterhouse from Crytponomicon, Hiro Protagonist from Snow Crash, Csongor from Reamde).
The first two seem to be aspirational fantasies for the reader, while the third seems to be the audience surrogate, the one we're supposed to identify with.
Is this on purpose? Is this a common thread you're weaving through your books, in the same way that you had recurring characters in the Baroque cycle?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:53 PM on May 10, 2015 [8 favorites]
* Hyper-competent men (Richard Forthrast and Sokolov from Reamde, Shaftoe from Cryptonomicon, Raven and Uncle Enzo from Snow Crash).
* Hyper-competent women (Y.T. and Juanita from Snow Crash, Nell from The Diamond Age, Yuxia and Olivia from Reamde).
* Insecure, nebbish, intellectual guys that won't ever reach the level of competence or self-actualization of the first two (Waterhouse from Crytponomicon, Hiro Protagonist from Snow Crash, Csongor from Reamde).
The first two seem to be aspirational fantasies for the reader, while the third seems to be the audience surrogate, the one we're supposed to identify with.
Is this on purpose? Is this a common thread you're weaving through your books, in the same way that you had recurring characters in the Baroque cycle?
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:53 PM on May 10, 2015 [8 favorites]
This might not be the best question to ask but it's one that I've always wondered about, Japan plays a big role in a lot of his books, why is that? And kind of a spin off, why does he frequently decide to use the term "Nippon" and "Nipponese" over Japan and Japanese.
posted by KernalM at 3:06 PM on May 10, 2015
posted by KernalM at 3:06 PM on May 10, 2015
I'm curious about what happened to the sword fighting video game he was kickstartering a few years ago. Is it still in progress?
posted by MsMolly at 3:07 PM on May 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by MsMolly at 3:07 PM on May 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
This is a question I'd thought to ask at an appearance of his in front of Anathem's* release a while back: Do you see yourself as a public intellectual? And if so, what ideas and ideals do you really most want to introduce into the public mind and/or discourse?
*I did not ask it because the questions others were asking were in the vein of "The cover of Anathem looks a lot like the cover of A Canticle for Leibowitz. Is Anathem like Canticle for Leibowitz?"... I rapidly ran out of patience and faces to palm.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 3:14 PM on May 10, 2015 [10 favorites]
*I did not ask it because the questions others were asking were in the vein of "The cover of Anathem looks a lot like the cover of A Canticle for Leibowitz. Is Anathem like Canticle for Leibowitz?"... I rapidly ran out of patience and faces to palm.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 3:14 PM on May 10, 2015 [10 favorites]
One of your signature themes (apart from amazing IRL tech prescience) in your novels is the incredible factual research that informs the context and backgrounds of your characters. Why then, does Jones in Reamde seem relatively unexplored and such an easy target for knee-jerk Islamophobia? Yes, he's an extremist, but your readers look for nuanced explanations of extreme behaviors so we can better understand them - even if we don't want to empathize with them....
posted by mollymillions at 4:58 PM on May 10, 2015
posted by mollymillions at 4:58 PM on May 10, 2015
Who are some authors you would recommend for people who like your writing?
Of your own reading tastes, what are some of your favorite books and authors? Are there any you wish you could write like, sometimes?
posted by cmiller at 5:11 PM on May 10, 2015
Of your own reading tastes, what are some of your favorite books and authors? Are there any you wish you could write like, sometimes?
posted by cmiller at 5:11 PM on May 10, 2015
His books cover detail and apparent depth on many different fields and areas, and from what I've heard of his new one (I have not alas been blessed with a pre-release copy) it's also steeped in technical information. How deep does he feel his knowledge really is, and how does he 'fake it' in other areas that he explores in his writing?
posted by StephenF at 5:16 PM on May 10, 2015
posted by StephenF at 5:16 PM on May 10, 2015
"Feminist thinkers have had a lot to say about women and technology in the years since you started writing. Has any of this affected your thinking and writing? For example, is there anything in your earlier books that seemed fine to you at the time but which you now are less comfortable with?"
Not, of course, as a gotcha inquisitiony thing.
posted by No-sword at 5:19 PM on May 10, 2015 [8 favorites]
Not, of course, as a gotcha inquisitiony thing.
posted by No-sword at 5:19 PM on May 10, 2015 [8 favorites]
What are your politics right now, and do you think that near-future sci-fi trends make collectivism easier or harder?
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:22 PM on May 10, 2015
posted by sebastienbailard at 5:22 PM on May 10, 2015
I've always wanted to know if Snow Crash was a devastating satire of a libertarian dystopia, or an admiring projection of a libertarian utopia.
posted by zompist at 10:07 PM on May 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by zompist at 10:07 PM on May 10, 2015 [2 favorites]
Well are you supposed to be talking about the book or just having a general conversation?
If I met him I'd be tempted to ask what he's up to with his recent involvement with VR/augmented reality development, especially given the failure of his much-hyped sword fighting kickstarter game thing.
This Slate piece about path dependency and how we lock ourselves into certain technologies is a few years old, but I found it really interesting at the time. The insight that everything else aside, any novel space launch tech is screwed if it can't figure out a way to let customers buy launch insurance was something I hadn't thought of before. In a way it ties into the plot of his new book (which as I understand it involves some sort of countdown to armageddon forcing humanity to scramble to escape earth). I'd be curious to ask him to expand on that, maybe in the context of the work he's done for Blue Origin. In that Slate piece he speculates about whether something inherent in 21st century globalized capitalism is holding back development of space flight and other promising transformative technologies. It'd be interesting to get him on the record about whether he sees "disruptive" startups like Blue Origin / SpaceX (in the space sector) or other examples of tech VC sponsored startups in other sectors like energy (Tesla?), agriculture (AgFunder?) as being more of the same or offering a true alternative path.
posted by Wretch729 at 8:07 AM on May 11, 2015
If I met him I'd be tempted to ask what he's up to with his recent involvement with VR/augmented reality development, especially given the failure of his much-hyped sword fighting kickstarter game thing.
This Slate piece about path dependency and how we lock ourselves into certain technologies is a few years old, but I found it really interesting at the time. The insight that everything else aside, any novel space launch tech is screwed if it can't figure out a way to let customers buy launch insurance was something I hadn't thought of before. In a way it ties into the plot of his new book (which as I understand it involves some sort of countdown to armageddon forcing humanity to scramble to escape earth). I'd be curious to ask him to expand on that, maybe in the context of the work he's done for Blue Origin. In that Slate piece he speculates about whether something inherent in 21st century globalized capitalism is holding back development of space flight and other promising transformative technologies. It'd be interesting to get him on the record about whether he sees "disruptive" startups like Blue Origin / SpaceX (in the space sector) or other examples of tech VC sponsored startups in other sectors like energy (Tesla?), agriculture (AgFunder?) as being more of the same or offering a true alternative path.
posted by Wretch729 at 8:07 AM on May 11, 2015
- Will he be setting any books in Boston again soon (as "Zodiac" and "The Big U" were)?
- Will he do any more books with threads in multiple times (e.g. "Cryptonomicon")?
- What does he think about seeing multiple, private companies working on launch capabilities, and what does he think would happen if there were more options for getting to orbit? (Heinlein had plenty of novels -- mostly juveniles -- where Just Folks could put together a rocket and get off the ground.)
- Which one of his books would he most -- and least! -- like to see H.B.O. turn into a movie? And has he ever seen an actor that struck him as a perfect fit for one of his protagonists?
Have fun, this will be an awesome experience!
Make sure to have extra questions ready: a common criticism of his novels is that he "has trouble with endings" so you may be talking more than just ten minutes -- or it might end abruptly!
posted by wenestvedt at 9:47 AM on May 11, 2015
- Will he do any more books with threads in multiple times (e.g. "Cryptonomicon")?
- What does he think about seeing multiple, private companies working on launch capabilities, and what does he think would happen if there were more options for getting to orbit? (Heinlein had plenty of novels -- mostly juveniles -- where Just Folks could put together a rocket and get off the ground.)
- Which one of his books would he most -- and least! -- like to see H.B.O. turn into a movie? And has he ever seen an actor that struck him as a perfect fit for one of his protagonists?
Have fun, this will be an awesome experience!
Make sure to have extra questions ready: a common criticism of his novels is that he "has trouble with endings" so you may be talking more than just ten minutes -- or it might end abruptly!
posted by wenestvedt at 9:47 AM on May 11, 2015
What inspires you?
How do you relax?
What was your favourite book when you were a kid?
What book are you reading at the moment? What was your favourite book of 2014?
What do you recommend on Netflix?
posted by dvrmmr at 10:56 AM on May 11, 2015
How do you relax?
What was your favourite book when you were a kid?
What book are you reading at the moment? What was your favourite book of 2014?
What do you recommend on Netflix?
posted by dvrmmr at 10:56 AM on May 11, 2015
In the Q&As I've seen with him, Neal Stephenson tends to run long on his answers; don't be surprised or disappointed if you can only get out one or two. If it were me, I'd front-load my best questions.
posted by homodachi at 4:55 PM on May 11, 2015
posted by homodachi at 4:55 PM on May 11, 2015
As you've gotten older, more popular, wiser, what have you changed your mind about?
posted by DigDoug at 8:31 PM on May 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by DigDoug at 8:31 PM on May 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: No-sword, you are clearly hinting at some specific thing in one of his earlier works ... can you help me out and be more specific?
posted by jbickers at 10:03 AM on May 12, 2015
posted by jbickers at 10:03 AM on May 12, 2015
I'm honestly not hinting at anything specific, and like I said I don't mean it as an attack like "Disavow your previous works or be branded a sexist forevermore!" I don't think that's ever a good approach, let alone for a 10-minute interview. I'm just genuinely curious whether he's been following the conversation around women in tech and if so whether he thinks it relevant to his work.
Maybe one specific idea would be: Snow Crash, IIRC, seems to implicitly accept cyberutopian no-one-knows-you're-a-dogism. Virtual spaces are about ideas and you can be whatever you want. But we now know that generally speaking humans insist on bringing reality into their virtual spaces, that sexual harrassment and even death threats significantly affect how women act online, etc. Was this something he just didn't think of back then, or does he see it as the result of new factors that no-one could have foreseen in 1992? That sort of thing.
posted by No-sword at 7:56 PM on May 12, 2015
Maybe one specific idea would be: Snow Crash, IIRC, seems to implicitly accept cyberutopian no-one-knows-you're-a-dogism. Virtual spaces are about ideas and you can be whatever you want. But we now know that generally speaking humans insist on bringing reality into their virtual spaces, that sexual harrassment and even death threats significantly affect how women act online, etc. Was this something he just didn't think of back then, or does he see it as the result of new factors that no-one could have foreseen in 1992? That sort of thing.
posted by No-sword at 7:56 PM on May 12, 2015
NS just dodged the dystopia vs utopia question, 'it has its dystopian elements' with 'I never saw it as dark as other people did' and 'is it really a dystopia if, on balance, most of the people in the world have had their standard of living improved?' (That latter referring to an opening comment in Snow Crash about market forces/Pakistani bricklayer).
posted by janell at 7:48 PM on May 19, 2015
posted by janell at 7:48 PM on May 19, 2015
Have you talked to him yet? Because I now have a searingly precise question about genetic materiel in seveneves.
posted by Cold Lurkey at 1:52 AM on May 25, 2015
posted by Cold Lurkey at 1:52 AM on May 25, 2015
Response by poster: Not yet ... what's the searingly precise question?
posted by jbickers at 2:54 AM on May 25, 2015
posted by jbickers at 2:54 AM on May 25, 2015
It's not a good question, just a technical plot hole that's been bothering me.
--SPOILERS--
At the end of the first section of seveneves, the cloning of the eves is about to begin and Moira states that there are no Y chromosomes available, and it would be difficult to synthesize them. However, there is a morgue arklet filled with the bodies of male characters. Why, given that there is going to be jiggery pokery of the eves' genomes, is Moira not going to avail herself to all the genetic material that's been frozen there?
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:39 AM on May 25, 2015
--SPOILERS--
At the end of the first section of seveneves, the cloning of the eves is about to begin and Moira states that there are no Y chromosomes available, and it would be difficult to synthesize them. However, there is a morgue arklet filled with the bodies of male characters. Why, given that there is going to be jiggery pokery of the eves' genomes, is Moira not going to avail herself to all the genetic material that's been frozen there?
posted by Cold Lurkey at 11:39 AM on May 25, 2015
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by fatbird at 1:59 PM on May 10, 2015 [17 favorites]