Quicksilver: Volume One of the Baroque Cycle

Here's the complete list to help people avoid buying something they already have: Quicksilver, Vol. I of the Baroque Cycle Book 1 - Quicksilver Book 2 - The King of the Vagabonds Book 3 - Odalisque The Confusion, Vol. II of the Baroque Cycle Book 4 - Bonanza Book 5 - The Juncto The System of the World, Vol. III of the Baroque Cycle Book 6 - Solomon's Gold Book 7 - Currency Book 8 - The System of the World

Please be advised that this review is being written with the added perspective of having already read the second installment of the Baroque Cycle. As a novel standing on its own I would not give Quicksilver 5 stars, for some of the same reasons that other reviewers have not given it five stars (lack of firm plot, etc.). I think many of those reviewers will be ultimately proven wrong. The Baroque Cycle, in reality, is one 2500-2700 page book. The plot and the intent of the author in undertaking the project become more and more evident as you continue reading. How many books do you have all figured out by the time you are a third through them anyway? and on top of that, why would you want to read a book that you could have all figured out in the first few chapters? That said, Quicksilver in specific, and The Baroque Cycle in general, is brilliant writing. I'm lucky that there is a Neal Stephenson out there to write like this because otherwise I would have to do it myself... and I wouldn't be good at it. Stephenson writes the kind of books that I want to read. Quicksilver successfully mixes politics, science, romance, travel, intrigue and any number of other genres and in the mix gives us an exciting view into 16th century life, both for the upper classes and the lower. Like all of Stephenson's work, I laughed out loud at the absurdity of certain events in the story while reluctantly admitting that, yes, that could have actually happened. It bogs down in places with what you might take as a bit too much detail, but by now that is an intrinsic element of Stephenson's style and this book would be incomplete without it. I hated my history classes in school, but I love reading this sort of historical fiction. Why? It's written from a modern perspective and filled with wit and humor. I realized in reading Quicksilver that people 500 years ago were pretty much the same as people now, and that I can learn a lot from their lives and the triumphs and mistakes they made. On top of all that, in Quicksilver you get a fun retrospective on what was happening in the world of science, the great fire of London, the state of political affairs in Europe, etc., etc. One of the things that I really enjoy about Neal Stephenson's work is that it takes some effort on my part to get the most out of his books. They are not just sit-back-and-read-it books. They are long enough and complex enough to warrant reading carefully and slowly, with frequent pauses for thought, and frequent re-reading. It's unfortunate that some people aren't willing to put forth the effort. If you are willing to put forth that amount of effort, you will be greatly rewarded!

An adequate appreciation of "QS" cannot be achieved in lieu of finishing (at least) "The Confusion". Don't get me wrong, it's a heck of a read on its own (more on that below), but disparate characters, historical context, parallel stories and timelines, and a "break" rather than a conclusion makes for a read requiring concentration, and even dedication. Stephenson's unique style of dry wit and subcutaneous irony first experienced in "Cryptonomicon" is back with a vengeance. Names familiar to "Crypto" readers abound (presumed, in all but one case, to be protagonal ancestors). Enoch Root, first seen as a World War II plane-spotter on Guadalcanal, has a chance encounter with an adolescent Ben Franklin in the opening vignette. Mssrs. Waterhouse, Shaftoe, von Heckleheber, Comstock, Bolstrood, and the vowel-challenged island of Qwghlm are pre-incarnated in various roles. This in no way implies that "Crypto" is a requisite down-time prequel, but fans of Stephenson's approach to historical fiction will not be disappointed by QS. Dr. Daniel Waterhouse, the early 18th century founder of MIT, is recalled to Europe by a mysterious letter delivered by the time-unstuck Enoch Root. Who sent the letter (we are given a hint 1700 pages later in "Confusion"), and why is Waterhouse so reluctant to go? Slide back with Stephenson to 1655 where young Waterhouse begins his complex interactions with Newton, Pepys, Leibnitz, Hooke, nobility and villains. ("Something is happening", remarks the 1655 Root, referring to the first stirrings of the Enlightenment.) The story does not devolve into a Kathleen Neville-style where we are supposed to be amazed as a character wanders aimlessly, encountering historical figures. The warp and woof of QS is complex, with just enough of a pattern emerging to keep the pages turning. A (seemingly, at first) disjunct storyline concerns the "King of the Vagabonds", Quicksilver himself, Jack Shaftoe. See the dark side of London (and various other English and Continental locales) as Stephenson lays down the adventures of this mudlark turned captain of commerce. During a foray through caves under Vienna, Jack rescues Eliza of Qwghlm from a Turkish harem, and their affair and ascent through Continental society begins to intertwine with Waterhouse's story. When you feel your eyes drooping a bit during a long discourse on European dynastical complexities or royal court intrigues, watch out. This is when Stephenson delivers a hilarious jab at our smug "modern" society. As hinted earlier, do not look for a satisfying conclusion from QS. Run, do not walk, to your nearest bookseller and pick up "Confusion" and continue the journey.

Neal Stephenson's understanding and creativity are simply mind-blowing and in Quicksilver he has crafted another masterpiece. This book rocks! Like Umberto Eco's famous book (and movie) about a medieval monestary "The Name of the Rose," Quicksilver attempts to get inside of the history of ideas, as well as the history of religions, empires, culture and people, with a multi-genre story highlighting the major events and trends, as well as the tiny, every-day details of the historical period in which it is set. This is all accomplished within the framework of a compelling story/drama/adventure. (Actually, Eco's book the "Island of the Day Before" is probably a better comparison since the period in which it is set, the early 17th Century is closer to Quicksilver which is set in the late 17th and early 18th Century.) Stephenson's literary pretentions are fairly minimal, and as a result, his work may lack some of the stylistic richness of Eco, or some of the other famous writers of historical fiction. But he makes up for this and more with the awe-inspiring historical breadth and conceptual scope, the complexity of the plot, the action, the humor and, most of all, the insight. He possesses the rare skill to create an adventure tale tying together the ideological and religious schisms of the age, the ambitions of the leading persons, the politics and court intrigues, the geneology of European royalty and their struggles for succession and power, the economics, the trade, the industry, the social relations, the architecture, the infrastructure, the travel, the transportation, the geography, the warfare, the legal systems, the culture, the theater, the literature, the agriculture, the hygene, the sanitation (the smell), the medical practices, the social mores, sexual practices and of course, since this is Neal Stephenson, the SCIENCE, ENGINEERING and TECHNOLOGY of the era. While most prominent writers are competent stylists and many can claim historical knowledge, few can boast an ability to really understand the mathematical and scientific content and the significance of such important figures as Newton, Leibniz, Descartes, Huygens, Hooke, and many others. Among the few writers that share Stepheson's ability to grasp such eclectic but important matters as the mathematics of navigation, the mechanics of sailing ships, the chemistry of early gun-powder, the basic principles of cryptography, 17th Century optics, etc., Stephenson is unique in his ability to make these ideas accessible and interesting to laymen readers and alone in his talent to weave it all into a kick-a$# roller coaster of a story. Quicksilver explores the people, ideas and advances that paved the way for our modern age of information and globalization; the beginnings of our financial, banking and currency systems, capital markets like the Amsterdam and London Stock Exchanges; the first national libraries, the first multinational corporations like the Dutch East India Company and Lloyd's

Stephenson succeeds in crafting a description of one of European history's watershed eras that encompases vast geograhies and philosphies in an equally vast number of pages. For that, unlike many other reviewers, I do not fault him. We readers are guided on a tour of the intellectual landscape in England from the time of the English Civil War through to the Glorious Revolution. Stephenson entangles us in the religious/political mayhem that ran rampant during that time. From Versailles, to Venice to the hodge-podge of flyspeck Germanic sub-principalities, we gain a feeling for the incestuous interconnectedness of the royal and noble families that were accustomed to being the only Powers That Mattered at the time. Juxtaposed against them, we are introduced to the coterie of geniuses who flourished at the time and whose scientific and philosophical endeavors reshaped the way people came to view the world. Stephenson's voluminous description of the time, and his creation of a set of fictitious peers and contemporaries of its great thinkers allows him to explore and play with the ideas that were radically new in European culture at the time, which we contemporary readers have inherited as truths we take for granted. He does not go to pains to demonstrate how radically new some of the political theories he explores were in their historical context, and unsophisticated modern readers might have the urge to think "Well, duh... everybody knows and thinks that way... its normal." This book takes us through the struggles that unseated kings and smashed the concept of divine right, as well as through the empiricist revolution that retired the antiquated aristotelian modes of understanding the world and their alchemical/mystical offspring.This is not an adventure story, though there are a few adventureous tales woven into it. This is a novel of ideas, and as such, it does a spectacular job, just like each of Stephenson's earlier books.