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"A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

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Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#121

Post by TMWNN »

zxexz wrote: post #85
gibspaulding wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is funny, both Fall and Diamond Age are Stephenson novels I haven't managed to get through, but of the ones I've read (and enjoyed!), the endings have been as follows: Remade - massively stretched my suspension of disbelief. Cryptonomicon - pretty bad. Snow Crash - No memory, I might have blocked it out? Anthem - maybe ok? There are two though so that's cheating. Seven Eves - That one might have been ok, but it'…

>> Seven Eves - That one might have been ok, but it's possible I also blocked it out. The second half was a bit strange tbh. I found Seveneves both endings (Parts I and II being one book, Part III being another) of Seveneves to be extremely satisfying. I found the Part II ending beautiful and melancholic, and the Part III was exciting - felt like a setup for a sequel I hope gets written! [although I would love a preq…

Seveneves is a serious novel with many serious/tragic moments, but one funny moment that still sticks with me is in Part III. To avoid spoilers, I will describe it as when faction A is observing faction B making an approach to faction C, which faction A also hopes to contact. What faction B has improvised using available equipment as part of their approach is hilarious (and, really, totally makes sense).

Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#123

Post by bombcar »

hutzlibu wrote: post #117
JieJie wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think, perhaps, that the Harry Potter series and its' Horcruxes is an example of a MacGuffin that worked?

Since I read all of the books, but forgot what a Horcrux even is, I don't think so. Because I would not have had forgotten the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. A central element that gets referenced often. I don't know if Harry Potter has a MacGuffin at all, maybe the wands and magic in itself?

It had a few of them, more or less, but they're all basically just "quest items" and less "pure" MacGuffins- the philosopher's stone in the first book, for example.

Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#124

Post by aidenn0 »

craigyk wrote: post #76
jjcm wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely a Stephenson issue. It's a meme for sure, but there is some truth in it. Nowadays when I re-read any of his old works, I tend to stop after getting about 80% through. That said, I do think that these incredibly complex narratives are extremely hard to wrap up neatly. GRRM has this issue as well. That's the problem with letting characters act how they would actually act, and make decisions that make sense f…

Gene Wolfe. Somehow resolves or explains every seemingly random occurrence throughout the story, even if the first person narrator is extremely unreliable and doesn’t make the connection

And he is literally an inverted Stephenson; it can be a slog getting through the middles of his books, where Stephenson really shines. It took me a half-dozen tries to make it through The Book of the New Sun.

Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#125

Post by yongjik »

JieJie wrote: post #110
bombcar wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The best sci-fi stories are ones that you could relatively easily translate to fantasy, or even just "normal world" - because it is extremely difficult to write an engaging story that is "only the MacGuffin" - it can be done, but it is quite hard (and often appeals to a particular niche audience).

Do you think, perhaps, that the Harry Potter series and its' Horcruxes is an example of a MacGuffin that worked?

I don't think Horcruxes count - it's introduced way later in the series where we're already very deeply invested in all the characters, and instead of disappearing, it becomes the center of the attention for the rest of the series.

So, in a sense, I'd call it an anti-MacGuffin.

Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#126

Post by yongjik »

jjcm wrote: post #43
cl42 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think that's a Neal Stephenson issue? Don't get me wrong, I love his writing, but I found this to be the case with Fall too. I can see it becoming tiring if one is writing 400+ page books.

Definitely a Stephenson issue. It's a meme for sure, but there is some truth in it. Nowadays when I re-read any of his old works, I tend to stop after getting about 80% through. That said, I do think that these incredibly complex narratives are extremely hard to wrap up neatly. GRRM has this issue as well. That's the problem with letting characters act how they would actually act, and make decisions that make sense f…

The ending of the original Foundation trilogy was absolutely top-notch, down to the final reveal. Too bad the sequels kinda ruined it (for me).

Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#127

Post by hosh »

lucubratory wrote: post #88
hosh wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They may have lived, but they turned into autonomous extensions of the Primer. Nell was the only real person, so of course the Mouse Army responded to her. As the other commenter said -- the mouse army were not actualized individuals.

I don't agree with that characterisation of events. The Mouse Army grew up in extreme conditions, and the Primer tried its hardest to give them the skills and organisation they needed to get out of those conditions, because otherwise they would die. I see no reason to believe that the Primer would not continue to raise them properly now that they're out of that situation, just like the Primer returned to normal for N…

I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree then.

From my perspective, that characterization has taken on an even more interesting turn now that I have read through a history of Chinese martial arts, and its role throughout the centuries and modernization. Regardless of whether the project succeeded or failed, that subplot was very much in line with the themes and patterns of Chinese history.

Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#128

Post by forgetfreeman »

geophile wrote: post #19

I loved Diamond Age. My favorite Stephenson book, by far. But the ending, the resolution of all the action, was such a letdown. Such meh. I find that this is often a problem with cyberpunk.

That's maybe less an issue with the genre than a quirk of Stephenson's writing. His dismounts are legendarily abrupt.

Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#129

Post by cl42 »

art-not wrote: post #116
cl42 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Generated by Neal Stephenson, I believe. :)

Do you happen to know what book/story?

I believe it's from Snow Crash.

You'll notice the original commenter's nickname is 'hprotagonist' and Snow Crash's main character is Hiro Protagonist, too.

It's really the perfect comment/thread. :)

Re: "A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer" Simulated by GPT-4

#130

Post by tialaramex »

lucubratory wrote: post #83
tialaramex wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think we're told Nell's ancestry in any detail, but, she's the daughter of Tequila and Bud. Tequila appears to be a typical "white trash" uneducated young woman who is living in the LT but whose ancestors are probably American or European, the discussion of the Freedom Machine (Diamond Age contraception) strongly suggests Tequila sees herself roughly this way. Bud is deliberately your generic Cyberpunk protag…

Hmm, okay. I did remember that these were people who were culturally pretty Europeanised in terms of name choices and some other things, but I just assumed that was a Hong Kong-like situation, like you said, where there's significant Euro cultural influence on a group of Chinese people. I don't know, maybe it's just my mental block because I read it when I was young, I just can't picture her as a little white girl.

Huh. I'd always pictured Nell as a little white girl, but although there are strong hints (including when Madam Ping hires her for example) I don't think we're explicitly told that.
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