"..while people were not genetically different, they were culturally as different as they could possibly be, and that some cultures were simply better than others. This was not a subjective value judgment, merely an observation that some cultures thrived and expanded while others failed. It was a view implicity shared by nearly everyone, but in those days, never voiced," (15).

This struck me when i began to read The Diamond Age and (i'm not far enough along to fully explore its manifestations throughout the novel) certainly it is clear that there are many divides of class, race, and belief in the book. This is an attitude that is prevelant throughout history and can be encoutnered even in today's society--that somehow the 'better' prevail. Failure of a culture is evidenced in it's lack of failing and thriving. This implies that if a culture is dominant in force, finances, resources, or technology and overtakes a more 'primitive' culture, they are 'better.'

That's great Meg. Now that I'm done editing the page, you should add your quote to the list above.

Meg: Another quote that relates to that one is when Hackworth is writing about why some people succeed and other fail and concludes that "the difference lay in personality, not in native intellilgence" (81). The idea of differences and similarities is a reoccuring theme in this story. While cultural differences, and phyles are stressed, the ability of people to transcend their circumstances to achieve greatness is also suggested, which I think is interesting. Obviously there are elements/differences that distinguish people from one and other, but humanity is inevitably connected.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book, ones that I think are very significant, are those that deal with the separation of the social classes. When deciding on the matter of Harv and Nell, and the stolen Primer, Judge Fang concludes that “in teaching there should be no distinction of classes” (105). Basically, he is advocating for equal opportunity education, an idea that seems very progressive in this society, which has reverted back to Victorian ideals. In another section, Miranda is reflecting on life and her evolving relationship with Nell, and concludes that “rich parents were just as capable of fucking up their children’s minds as anyone else” (136). I think this perspective was incredibly important, specifically in this story, as readers are given disturbing information about Nell’s family’s social status and the incapability of her mother to care for her and Harv,
but readers are also provided with a similar perspective about the rich. Thus, they aren’t esteemed, but are also indicted as being problematic to society and future generations of productive children as well.

I'm only on page 50 right now, but so far so good. How about this little exchange:

"What are letters?"
"Kinda like mediaglyphics except they're all black, and they're tiny, they don't move, they're old and boring and really hard to read. But you can use 'em to make short words for long words" (46)

This could be a current American teenager talking...I mean, texting.

"There are only the wise of the highest class, and the stupid of the lowest class, who cannot be changed," (85).

i love this book and its numerous idiosyncrasies. i'm only about 90 pages in, but so far i get teh overall impression of this society that is so developed in some ways and so primitive in others.

It's already appearing to me that my book doesn't have the same page numbers as everyone else...uhoh! Anyway...I liked this quote:

"This implies, does it not, that in order to raise a generation of children who can reach their full potential, we must find a way to make their lives interesting. And the question I have for you, Mr. Hackworth, is this: Do you think that our schools accomplish that? Or are they like the schools that Wordsworth complained of?" (24).



I liked this quote because it's much like my job right now. As a teacher, I really try to hard to tap into my students' interests. For example, I try to bring in random newspaper clippings and discuss them with the students as often as possible. When I do this, I try to think about the kids in my classes and the things they say they do for fun outside of class (I try to get to know them as much as possible early on). They really appreciate this and it helps me to have an excellent rapport with them. I also feel that the better rapport I have with classes as a whole, the better they usually do on assignments because they say they like my classes and such. So...I think Stephenson might have been onto something by adding this into the mix.

Judge Fang is often associated with the symbol of the unicorn.... but my favorite is the first time....
"The red cloth had gold threads woven through it to make a design: a unicorn or a dragon or some shit like that. Bud had trouble discriminating among mythical beasts." (33)
There are several funny quotes that show Bud's total lack of culture, but I'll move on.

"I love how Harv explains things to Nell:

I love the complete awe that Harv and Nell have over a real piece of fabric.
" The way it's made--so digital-- each thread going over and under other threads, and those ones going over and under all the other threads---" Harv stopped for a moment, his mind overloaded by the inhuman audacity of the thing, the promiscuous reference frames. "It had to be mites, Nell, nothing else could do it." (48)
What a different world!

"Don't bother looking. you can't see 'em. They don't look like priates, with teh big hats and swords and all. They just look like normal people. but they're pirates on the inside, and the like to grab kids and tie 'em up." (59)
"Nell was astonished; she had not understood just how tricky pirates were until this moment." (61)

Other quotes I liked (half the ones above I had underlined in my book while reading it, so it was funny to me when I was going back to see what to add to this page)

"The Victorian system used Darwinian techniques to create killers adapted to their prey, which was elegant and effective but led to the creation of killers that were simply too bizarre to have been thought up by humans, Just as humans designing a world never would have thought up the naked mole rat." (66)

"To the Equity Lords, the idea had been worth billions; to Hackworth, another week's paycheck. That was the difference between the classes, right there." (71)

"Confucianism always retained its equilibrium,like a cork that could float as well in spring water or raw sewage." (129)
"If the Coastal Republic had believed in the existence of virtue, it could at least have aspired to hypocrisy." (129)

I'm tired of typing exact quotes.... page 141 the different views by the King of the Birds, King of the Shrews, and the Queen of the Ants as to what makes a good leader.

"But mom broke up with Brad; she didn't like craftsmen, she said, because the were too much like actual Victorians, always spouting all kinds of crap about how one thing was better then another thing, which eventually led, she explained, to the belief that some people were better than others." (168)

"The internal, and external, struggle, between our base impulses and the rigorous demands of our won moral system is quintessentially human. It is how we conduct ourselves in the struggle that determines how we may in time bye judged by a higher power." (174)

Mrs. Hackworth to Finckle-McGraw:
"I am inclined to believe that, in this case, keeping her in ignorance is a very wise policy." (291 in my book).

That quote stuck out to me because it seemed like something parents would say about their children believing in Santa Clause.




"One of four personages who accompanies and advises Princess Nell. Duck embodies domestic, maternal virtues. Actually, Peter and Dinosaur are now gone--both male figures who embodied survival skills." (my page 285)

Why are Peter and Dinosaur gone? Is it because Harv and her father are gone? Interesting...

I think that Stephenson does a really good job creating images. He uses analogies throughout the book that help the reader visualize what is happening. For example:

"When he stared into the pocket of air thus formed, he saw the darkness filled with coruscating light - something like staring into a cavern filled with fireflie, except that these lights came in all colors, and all of the colors were as pure and clear as jewels." (pg. 111)

or

"It was shaped like a flattened ice-cream cone, a domed ceiling above a gently sloping conical floor." (pg. 251)

"The caryatids were supposed to be role models, and despite subtle racial differences, each body fir the current ideal: twenty-two-inch waist, no more than 17% body fat" (35).

I thought this quote was funny and kind of interesting because once again there is the idea of stickly thin women portrayed as beautiful, perfect, and "ideal" as Stephenson states.

Here are a few quotes that I found interesting because of the technological advancement:

"and a golden pen that made a little chime whenever he recieved mail" (37).
"she had been using something called the Freedom Machine -- a mite that lived in your womb and caught eggs and ate them" (53). FREAKY!
"Then he turned on the bicylce's power assist and began chasing him" (85).

I also found that the following quote caught my attention right in the beginning of the book:

"Bud said to the banker, who merely lowered his eyelids one click and jutted his goatee..." (10).

This quote shows how all of the technological advancements like the ones mentioned above are moving in on humans and they are even described as having robot or machine like features.

"This implies, does it not, that in order to raise a generation of children who can reach their full potential, we must find a way to make their lives interesting. And the question I have for you, Mr. Hackworth, is this: Do you think that our schools accomplish that? Or are they like the schools that Wordsworth complained of?" (24).
This quote that you already mentioned is my favorite so far. I just wrote about it in my blog (although I didn't quote it). People are far more interesting when the lives go off the beaten path, when the eschew tradition for something a little forbidden or dangerous.
This quote made me laugh:
"As hard as he tried not to pay attention, Bud absorbed more than he ever wanted to know about the Parsis, their oddball religion, their tendency to wander around, even their fucking cuisine, which looked weird but made his mouth water anyway" (10). I've read it a few times and always laugh when I get to "their tendency to wander around". I don't know why. I agree with Kelli, there are little descriptions of people that, like in Neuromancer, show how technology has influenced human vernacular. It's definitely not as much as in Gibson's novel, though.
I, like some previous posters mentioned, also like the many quotes on race, and how the classes and groups are divided.

As I have been writing my book review and reflecting on this book, I wanted to share some more of my thoughts. I think it is ironic that this is a futuristic story about a futuristic world, yet the society contains very clear connections to historical times, like the Victorian era, and even to the ancient cultural Chinese traditions of abandoning baby girls. Stephenson writes that there is nothing to emulate in the 20th century, so societies reverted back to the 19th century norms. I guess I find this ironic because all centuries have their pros and cons and I don’t think one era, in and of itself, can be valued more highly over another. Certainly the Victorians weren’t ideal, as they believed in torture and rigid social rites and standards. Although our era has it’s downfalls, I like to think that our century isn’t that awful, that there are characteristics of it that could be emulated. I think the bottom line is that all times are marked by challenges that simply go hand in hand with being a human being.

"the internal, and eternal, struggle, between our base impulses and the rigorous demands of our own moral system is quintessentially human. It is how we conduct our-selves in that struggle that determines how we may in time be judged by a higher power" pg 191

"yes. but not a very probable one. You see, maybe it's possible to beat probabilit, when the heart as well as the mind is involved." pg 302

"but laws of physics and mathematics are like a coordinate system that runs in only one dimension. Perhaps there is another dimension perpendicular to it, invisible to those laws of physics, describing the same things with different rules, and those rules are written in our hearts, in a deep place where we cannot go and read them except in oru dreams." pg 304