THE DIAMOND AGE by Neal Stephenson

Narrated by Jennifer Wiltsie

     Grim Technoir Cyberpunk Fairy Tale

Interleaving elements of children’s bedtime fairy tales and cyberpunk technoir, The Diamond Age would have to be classified as “experimental.” And, like most experimental novels, it does not entirely succeed. The novel is structured with disparate sections, some focused on a young girl named Nell and the rest composed of passages related to a larger plot. At first, the sections from The Young Ladies Illustrated Primer, Nell’s sections, seem completely disassociated, but gradually Stevenson weaves these fantasy stories into the larger plot and the stark contrast between them and the more standard narrative does not feel so out of place. The world Stevenson creates is much like that of William Gibson’s Sprawl novels and, sadly, just as elusive and incomprehensible and difficult to grab onto. There are parts of this novel that are brilliant and attention grabbing. Other parts give the listener’s mind little to latch onto and require one’s full attention just to follow. I found my mind wandering repeatedly throughout much of the story, only to return when the story became more coherent. While I am appealing to William Gibson I might as well go on to say that both Neuromancer and The Diamond Age dazzle me at times with catchy street-smart prose, and glitzy technological innovations; but, at the end of the day, I would be hard pressed to relate the overarching story or to give a plot outline for either novel even if my life depended on it.

I had read the print version of this novel several years age after reading Stevenson’s Snow Crash. This novel was so different from that gonzo offering that I was greatly disappointed. My second go round, and first listen, brought out some elements that I had not noticed on my own. I feel that another listen is in my future, and I imagine that I will enjoy it more. This feeling is one that I often get with books that later become favorites. Someday I will give this one another shot.

Jennifer Wiltsie grew on me over the course of several hours of listening. At first I thought she was treating me like a little child. Then when the fairy tale storyline began to merge into the main story, I saw the wisdom of such an approach. Wiltsie handles children and adults, male and female voices with great range and clarity.