Until a man is twenty-five, he still thinks, every so often, that under the right circumstances he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world. If I moved to a martialarts monastery in China and studied real hard for ten years. If my family was wiped out by Colombian drug dealers and I swore myself to revenge. If I got a fatal disease, had one year to live, devoted it to wiping out street crime. If I just dropped out and devoted my life to being bad.
Hiro used to feel that way, too, but then he ran into Raven. In a way, this is liberating. He no longer has to worry about trying to be the baddest motherfucker in the world. The position is taken.
I won’t quote the whole passage, because it’s far too long.
In ‘Cryptonomicon’ the protagonist has a metaphor for how his lady love broke through all his barriers.
It involves him needing his wisdom teeth removed, but no dentist will take the job because the teeth are so badly situated. It takes him years to find a Brave Young Dentist who will accept the challenge.
My favorite quote from the book:
I won’t quote the whole passage, because it’s far too long.
In ‘Cryptonomicon’ the protagonist has a metaphor for how his lady love broke through all his barriers.
It involves him needing his wisdom teeth removed, but no dentist will take the job because the teeth are so badly situated. It takes him years to find a Brave Young Dentist who will accept the challenge.
BTW, avoid Stephenson’s latest book, ‘Polostan’ it’s unreadable