Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle) Reviews
Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle)
- ISBN13: 9781441874962
- Condition: New
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Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker & conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, & where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.
In Quicksilver, the first volume of the “Baroque Cycle,” Neal Stephenson launches his most ambitious work into date. The novel, divided into three books, opens in 1
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(out of 340 reviews)
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Tags: Baroque, Cycle, Quicksilver, Reviews
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:41 am
Review by Customer for Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle)
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I had a fantastic time reading Stephenson’s latest book. Yes, I found it an extremely long read, but every page contained a wonderful nugget which made the journey worth the effort. Here are two examples of Stephenson’s unique ability to whip up a powerful brew of humor, science, and history:”Penn did not take his gaze away from the window, but squinted as if trying to hold back a mighty volume of flatulence, and shifted his focal point to a thousand miles in the distance. But this was coastal Holland and there was nothing out that window save the Curvature of the World”and…”… I am seated near a window that looks out over a canal, and two gondoliers, who nearly collided a minute ago, are screaming murderous threats at each other… The Venetians have even given it a name: ‘Canal Rage’.”Which isn’t to say that the book doesn’t have its share of flaws – I’ll talk about the two major ones here. First, if you’ve read Stephenson before, you are undoubtedly aware of his tendency to use 1000 words to do where 100 would have worked just fine. So, sometimes you begin to think “where was the editor?”, but most of the time he is able to pull all the threads (long as they are) together into a cohesive, compelling whole. But overall, the extreme length ends up being a plus.The other major flaw stems from Stephenson’s seemingly bottomless reservoir of creativity: this book contains not one, not two, but three lead characters. But, you say, you can’t have more than one lead character, no? Exactly! All three main characters are compelling in their own way, and you want to keep watching each one grow and change. As was the case with Cryptonomicon, Stephenson could easily have written an entire book just about the character Shaftoe.The Big Question: should you invest the time to read this book (don’t worry about the dollar cost – it’s inconsequential relative the number of hours you’ll invest reading it)? If your answer to any of the following questions is “yes”, give it a try:1) You’ve read a work by Umberto Ecco and liked it
2) You enjoyed physics class in high school or college
3) You can code
4) You dig binary
5) You always wondered who Newton, Hooke, and Leibniz really were
6) You see tangents as but the arcs of greater circlesGo ahead, take the plunge into QuickSilver!
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:48 am
Review by Molly Johnson for Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle)
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I thoroughly enjoyed the book once I accepted that it is primarily about systems and concepts, not people and events. I call it “math fiction” (as opposed to science fiction). Some of the systems he writes about are: the logic behind all those beheadings and imprisonments, the reasons for seemingly pointless invasions and alliances, Dutch vs. French business practices and why Amsterdam businessmen were so rich, the difference between different religious factions in England, motivations behind French court etiquette, why fashion exists, how to make hangings less painful, etc. He continually asks why and how rather than who what when, and in that sense he gives a math perspective to history.Nowhere else have I read such careful (and enlightening) descriptions of capitalist systems such as money-minting, banks, stock exchanges, and the selling and transport of goods. Stephenson shares with us not just the intrigues and excesses of the nobility of 17th century Europe but also his analysis of the systems that made all that wealth (and war) possible.More importantly, he reveals the day-to-day work of Royal Society scientists. In describing the failed experiments, fires, smells, persecutions, and other dramas of their quest for knowledge he gives a human face to the development of science. And he shows how one might think mathematically and scientifically to solve problems in the real world.Is it great fiction? No. Stephenson needs editing, but no one is capable of quite keeping up with him enough to dare shorten what he has to say. Is he an interesting author? Absolutely! Think of the book as an extended, wide-ranging dinner conversation. You won’t get a word in edgewise, but exhausted as you are at the end, you’ll be up all night thinking.
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:49 am
Review by David M. Maymudes for Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle)
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Beware, this edition only contains one third of the original first volume of the Baroque Cycle. Spend an extra few dollars and get three times as many words!
September 2nd, 2010 at 10:33 am
Review by for Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle)
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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.
September 2nd, 2010 at 11:07 am
Review by John in Tokyo for Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle)
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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 of London; the sprouts of such ideas as freedom of religion, speech, commerce and consciousness. The continued colonization of the Americas and the exploration of the world’s oceans. Amidst all of these (mostly) positive developments that we think of as “progress,” Stephenson is keen to remind us of the hard reality of the wide-spread slave trade, the forced labor, the constant brutality of religious and political oppression, witch-hunts, hangings, burnings, inquisitions, pirates, banditry, the ever present scourge of disease – bubonic plague, smallpox, syphilis and a ghastly array of other medical conditions and the equally horrific primitive medicine; as well as the warfare, pillage and famine. The cast of characters, real and fictional, is a rainbow of the most prominent scientists and philosophers of the age, the most powerful Kings, Queens, Dukes, Courtiers, as well as simple tradesmen, actresses, students, farmers, sailors, pirates, landless-peasants (vagabonds), slaves, British, Dutch, French, Germans, Swiss, Italians, Russians, Turks, Africans, Jews, Armenians, Gypsies and more. Delightful cameos from real historical persons such as Newton, Ben Franklin, Blackbeard, Louis the 14th, Jan Sobieski, William of Orange, Oliver Cromwell’s decapitated head, Samuel Pepys, Spinoza, John Churchill – Duke of Marlborough, ancestor of Winston, and countless more. The story sails and gallops around the globe from colonial Boston to London to Paris to Amsterdam to Vienna to Venice to Morrocco to Algieria from palace to castle to salon to saloon to inn to village to church to market to fair to ship to canal to river to ocean to city to mountain to mine. There are battles, sword fights, conspiracies, chases (on horse, on ship) as well as long discourses on the origins of calculus and cryptography as well as the era’s revolutionary advances in physics, astronomy, biology, etc. It’s just plain cool.If I have one complaint, it is that this book is too big and heavy to carry around so I have no chance to read on the train to work or during lunch or coffee breaks (the origins of the global coffee trade and the start of cafe society are duly – and humorously recorded in Quicksilver). Many other reviewers found it long-winded but even the slowest parts and longest descriptions are full of little nuggets of humor and historical insight. Judging from earlier reviews, many of Stephenson’s computer geek devotees are mad that Neal wrote a book with no passages on coding or futuristic techie concepts. They don’t seem to share Stephenson’s fascination with this period of history. Pay no attention to their fan-boy belly-aching. They sound like Trekkies outraged about some minor plot inconsistency. To switch metaphors and fan-bases, Stephenson is no George Lucas and Quicksilver is no prequel disappointment. He is on top of his game, picking up where Cryptonomicon left off. Those who appreciated his talent and brilliance in his earlier books should love Quicksilver and look forward with baited breath to the release of the next two books in the series. I encourage first timers to ignore the loud complaints of self-proclaimed Neal Stephenson purists (or, more aptly, Puritans denouncing this cyber-punk heresy) and go give it a read.