Relationships with books

This is something that I feel is clearly understood but I'll just reiterate it just in case. There are at least two distinct relationships with a book - the author and the reader / critic. I know that Stephenson has come out saying that his books are not political but the reader may read politics into some of Cryptonomicon or the Baroque Cycle. Its an issue that I'll come back to at some point, I hope in some depth.