This is the second time that I have read THE DIAMOND AGE and cannot help thinking: "What the heck just happened?". Maybe my understanding of the book is no deep enough, but I cannot help feeling disappointed (and confused) about the ending. I am not a casual reader (ie. I've read most "good" works of classical and contemporary SF/Fantasy), but Neal Stephenson strikes me as one of the most original modern SF writers (I know that that sounds rather ambiguous, but this is a book review not an analysis). The ending of the story (in fact, the last couple of chapters), does not seem to fit with the rest of the novel (to me it does not even vaugely make sense). This is the only thing that prevents me from giving this book a heartfelt 5 stars...Please excuse any spelling/grammar errors. I usually hurry through reviews and thus do not pay attention thses details.