The System of the World

I just finished this series, and I can now safely say Neal Stephenson is my favorite writer. To give you some points of comparison, my previous favorite was Philip K. Dick. Here is a list of my other favorites: Shakespeare, C.S. Lewis, Robert Heinlein, Christopher Buckley, Robert E. Howard, and John Keegan (historian). So why is NS my favorite now? He does everything my favorite writers do--word play and dialogue like Shakespeare, philosophy like Lewis, weird distinct characters like Heinlein, truly surprising and novel ideas like PKD, wit like Chris Buckley, swashbuckling adventure like Howard, and living breathing history like Keegan. I just finished the cycle, over 2,400 pages, and I want to read it all over again from start to finish; in fact, I did just that today, at least in bits and pieces, re-reading the first meeting of Jack and Eliza, Waterhouse's first appearance as an old man, etc. The cycle shows a rich love of continuity and depth of meaning in which I stand in awe, especially as an aspring author myself. The entire cycle begins and ends with a hanging. It begins with Waterhouse being summoned on a mission we (and he) understand not for 2,000+ pages, but, just as in life, eventually we can make out some purpose to it all once we arrive. While some passages SEEM long-winded, it all matters. Every description of the streets of London, etc. have meaning to the entire book. Those who say the plot of the cycle could be told in 50 pages are correct. This is just one of the many things I love about the books--they are distinctly not about plot. Rather than discursively going on and on with plot, the cycle focuses on thematics, character, and development of an idea. Those who read the last discourse between Leibniz and Newton (arguably the whole point of the cycle itself) and think NS fumbles the ball in the scene miss the whole purpose of the cycle. Everything in the cycle is about reconciling fact with faith, science with religion. Not only does NS not fumble the ball in that later scene, he amazingly makes the point of the book real to modern readers as the princess sets the ball--er, globe on fire, pointing out that if we humans cannot settle the classic argument of L. and N., then we might as well set the world on fire and continue the pointless destruction that makes up the vast core of the plot. I love the cycle for its high-brow and low-brow moments, and everything in between. Like Shakespeare, one can see it all as swordfights and bawdy wordplay, or one can trust the writer and look deeper and see the agonizing humanity of it all. I am going to have a hard time reading anything else for awhile because this was so good.

The Baroque Cycle is an epic work, which highlights Mr. Stephenson's meticulous and exhaustive research into 17th and 18th century European, Asian, and North African cultures. That is both the strength and the weakness of this series. This is not exactly light summer reading, and much of the content, particularly with respect to the Newton-Leibniz thread, assumes a great deal of familiarity with the subject matter. That said, this series, along with the loosely-related Cryptonomicon, sets the bar very high for the genre of historical fiction. (I know, you will find it in the Sci-fi section at Barnes and Noble, but only because the publisher is afraid that fans of Mr. Stephenson will never figure out what happened if they move him over to the literary fiction section, where he belongs.) The first two novels of this series swing back and forth between the pragmatic and fantastical elements of the book, and the tension between alchemy and empirical science is a central theme throughout. Ultimately, Mr. Stephenson does a good job of bringing the two competing theories to an uneasy truce. Without spoiling the ending, I will say that this is fiction, so the truce that Mr. Stephenson reaches does not necessarily have to agree with the historical victory of pure science over alchemy. The last 150 or so pages are pure Solomonic Gold. You will want to resist the temptation to burn through them in one sitting. Rather, cherish some of Stephenson's best writing to date. I don't happen to think that this series is his best work -- it gets too bogged down in details and loses focus, particularly during the aptly named "Confusion" -- but the reader who sticks it out through the series' middle lull will be richly rewarded by this book. System of the World brings the Baroque Cycle in line with the high-octane, dense-yet-readable style that Mr. Stephenson perfected in Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon. If you liked those books and felt a little let down by the Confusion, this book is for you.

In 1714, Daniel Waterhouse finishes his long trip from America to England. He is prepared to mediate a vicious argument between Newton and Leibniz about who invented calculus first. But he is quickly caught up in diverse adventures: building a logic mill, sleuthing out a bomb maker, playing shell games with gold, and planning jailbreaks. Jack Shaftoe pops in here and there sowing mayhem and counterfeit coins. Eliza, the Countess de la Zeur by way of being "Good with Money", continues her behind-the-scenes royal intrigues and her efforts to end slavery. Conflicts galore weave together into a complex tapestry: the power struggle between the Whigs and the Tories, the battle between Newton the Minter and Jack the Coiner, the feuding calculus inventors, and the clash between alchemy and science. In the end it all boils down to this: will the new system of the world be based on free markets and science? Or feudalism and alchemy? The third and final book in the Baroque Cycle is just as weighty as the first two. It features a quick synopsis of Quicksilver and The Confusion for those who need a refresher. Even with the summary, I wouldn't advise starting with the third book. Each of the books in the series has its own character. Quicksilver was all about set-up, so while it was rich in detail and characters, it could be slow and a bit disjointed at times. The Confusion was full of madcap adventures and the pieces just flew around the board. The System of the World wraps all of the previous threads together, and strikes a nice balance between philosophy, intrigue, and action. Stephenson keeps up the expected torrent of words, but as with the other two books, he keeps your attention with an iron fist of plot in a velvet glove of delightful prose. Stephenson manages to seamlessly combine serious discussions, obscure trivia, and profound silliness. As a reader, you have to pay the same attention to all, because you never know what small detail the plot is going to hang on next. Daniel Waterhouse is the driving character for most of this book. If you loved The Confusion because it centered on Jack and Eliza, you might be disappointed in the smaller roles they play in the third book. But if you can get past that disappointment, you will find that Daniel has evolved into a more interesting and active character than he was in Quicksilver. The Baroque Cycle requires a substantial investment of time and attention, but it is well worth the effort. The System of the World is a satisfying end to a great series. With Stephenson, as in life, the journey is more important than the destination, and he definitely gives you a lot of journey in the 3000-or-so page trilogy.

My five stars are specifically for The System of the World, not the entire series. In the acknowledgements, Stephenson refers to a mid-course correction with regards to his writing approach. He does not describe what it is, but I think I know. In the first book, there are many passages that are so oblique, tangential, and orthogonal only to style that I found it difficult to stay with the program the whole way through. This tendency lessened in The Confusion and nearly disappears here in System. Good for him, good for us. My only real complaint for this book is Mr. Stephenson's need to provide painfully detailed driving directions of old London. I appreciate his descriptive powers (I really do!) but describing what street flows into which, where, and whether to turn left or right, & c. [ ;-) ] is a bit irritating. His map on the inside cover is not detailed enough for following along, assuming that you accept such embellishment is necessary for advancing the story. E.g., one of the two climaxes is at Tyburn, the streets around which are described for PARAGRAPHS. Go ahead and try to find it on the map. Why am I bitching? I have no idea. I loved the characters, loved this book, enjoyed the Confusion and had faith through Quicksilver. Maybe I'm put off because he's SO CLOSE to being a true literary genius of my generation, but he's not QUITE there yet. Hey, there seems to be a 200 year gap for him to work with now...

The System of the World is the brilliant capstone to the Baroque Cycle, a 3,000 page tome whose remarkable scope is only matched by its near limitless intrigue & implications. Where to begin? 1) this story is ultimately one of eternal hope, victory & the liberation of the "anima" (soul) of mankind. 2) this trilogy is about enduring love. 3) it is about discipline of the psyche & the reconciliation of the physical self & emotional passions with rational thought. 4) it is about political & mechanical innovation & processes, as well as political & mechanical machinations 5) this is the story which makes you want to leave a mark on the future by writing a worthy history while you are alive (in spite of the inevitability that future generations will not be able to cite you as the author). 6) this is The Sytem of a World & Universe built of pulleys & ropes, dictated by tension, torque, gravity & hard fast rules. While the heavens & Earth may appear a system of chaotic happenstance, have no doubt they were built with foresight & care... and are governed by those who built them. Stephenson is the best living author I have read in my lifetime. I feel honored to have had this comet pass through my neck of the solar system. This Baroque Cycle is the gold standard for all of Stephenson's peers. I firmly believe he will be likened in the years that come to master Tolkein himself.