Polostan
by Neal Stephenson · first published 2020
6mentions
3recommended by
6HN commenters
2024–2026first – last mentioned
50% recommend33% neutral17% critical
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I just finished Polostan, and I think Doctorow's review is spot-on, nice to see another writer I like quite a bit so enthusiastic about both the strengths and quirks of the novel. I hadn't thought about it, but he and Stephenson…
on “Neal Stephenson's "Polostan"” ↗Neal Stephenson has a brand new book out this month called Polostan. It's my favorite Stephenson book in a while. It's historical fiction in the Cryptonmicon genre.
on “Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?” ↗Polostan went down very easy. only read Anathem, Snow Crash, Reamde, Fall;, and Cryptonomicon. Plolostan was a novella compared to those. finished in a day or two on vacation and im a sorta slow reader i like…
on “Neal Stephenson responds with wit and humor (2004)” ↗…to learn enough about the man to write his obituary. It was hard work. > When was the last time you read a full length chapter book for fun? I have about 25 on the go currently. Most recent start was Polostan by Neal Stephenson. I also have 1 print magazine subscription on top of that, but mostly, I read online now, several tens of thousands of words a day every day. I think it is far to say I am a big and…
on “I beg you to follow Crocker's Rules, even if you will be rude to me” ↗…tangent in his books, I assume it's because he just recently learned a lot about it and feels compelled to put that info somewhere. Stephenson discussed this a bit in the Long Now launch event[0] for "Polostan" and more or less confirmed what you suspect. He also went on to say that he has learned to reel that in and avoid those "rabbit holes". He avoids such digressions in Polostan, in my opinion to the detriment…
on “Facebook building subsea cable that will encompass the world” ↗Neal Stephenson just dropped Polostan, I’m deeply into it right now :) Regarding scrolling, well, it does serve a certain purpose, too. Our brains evolved to be in the standby mode as much as possible, and without some serious gene splicing…
on “Ask HN: Practical Tips to Stay Productive?” ↗