Week Six of the 2013 Book Challenge

Week Six started yesterday; I've finished the sample of The Diamond Age, downloaded the full book, and hope to have time to finish the rest this week.  If I have time, I hope to read more from Empire of the Mind and watch more lectures on The Persian Empire.

Update 2/9/13; I finished The Diamond Age in good time, and started Clouds of Witness (Dorothy L. Sayers).  There were too many other things going on to get back to The Persian Empire and Empire of the Mind. Maybe next week!

The Diamond Age is one I'll have to read again to fully appreciate.  I enjoyed the book, but had trouble integrating the Primer with the rest of the narrative. I spent too much time following the rabbit trails suggested by Stephenson's coined terms, but that's no fault of the author.  The allusions  to Neuromancer that I found make me wonder how many more I missed. 

From my notes and bookmarks:

"One of the great virtues of Confucianism was its suppleness.  Western political thought tended to be rather brittle; as soon as the state became corrupt, everything ceased to make sense.  Confucianism always retained its equilibrium, like a cork that could float as well in spring water or raw sewage." ~ Judge Fang's ruminations on the corruption of the Coastal Republic during the interrogation of PhyrePhox  

~~~

"He ordered a big pot of his favorite green tea, the most expensive kind, picked in April when the leaves were tender and young, and spread out his sheets of foolscap across the table.  This teahouse was fully integrated into the worldwide media network, and so the pages automatically jacked themselves in."  ~ Carl Hollywood's search for Miranda

From Clouds of Witness where the principal characters are discussing the events of the fatal night:  [The Dowager Duchess has most of the best lines but it does take time to untangle them.]

"Quite right," said Peter, "when I hear people movin' about the house at night, I'm much to delicate-minded to think anything at all."
"Of Course," interposed the Duchess, "particularly in England, where it is so oddly improper to think.  I will say for Peter that, if he can put a continental interpretation on anything, he will--so considerate of you dear, as soon as you took to doing it in silence and not mentioning it, as you so intelligently did as a child.  You were really a very observant little boy, dear."