Okay, now that I have regrouped...
I'm not disappointed in an "opening ending;" I just did not feel that all of the connections and the characters came together in a coherent manner. Hiro's retelling of the Sumerian legends, especially the me, were easier to follow than the original exchange with the Librarian. I suppose the implication of reading the nam-shub is that all of the listeners will speak in tongues, and eventually diverge into separate languages. Or is it? Either way, the people of the Raft will be freed by words. Almost an enlightenment, of sorts. It's only through something ancient that these people can be released from their present state.
Yet...the narrative began to feel like a video game or an action movie with historical facts tossed in here and there. Is this the future that Stephenson envisions, one more focused on movement and dazzle rather than reflection and substance? Our society is indeed fixated on all that appears deadly or fascinating. We embrace both danger and comfort. But I can't imagine a lawless state rising in place of a government. How can jails exist in the novel if there are "rules" but not laws?
In the end, some things will remain fiction.
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