[jdonaldson]

I thought that book was pretty dull, and had a terrible romance subplot. But I do have to say it pops in my head more and more often, just like Idiocracy. Someone should definitely do a movie so the illiterates know what they're missing at least.

[shagie]

It's a philosophy text with a lot of ideas masquerading as a work of fiction. The closest analogy to it that I can think of is the Symposium... which is a philosophy work that uses a plot and stories to express the ideas. Incidentally, there's a part of Anathem that feels a lot like the Symposium (complete with chatting about philosophy around a table).