Quicksilver: Volume One of the Baroque Cycle [Paperback]

After _Cryptonomicon_ my expectations were high. Early on in
_Quicksilver_ I realized that there was no way this book could be as
good as the earlier one, so I adjusted my hopes downward
accordingly...and even then, I was disappointed.

The flaws are numerous.

The one thing that everyone knows about the book is that it contains a
frantic pile of trivia. I was actually looking forward to this aspect
of the book, given that I enjoy random learning opportunities as much
as the next geek, and given that this is one part of _Cryptonomicon_
that I was enthused about. _QS_ disappoints in this regard. To my
mind there are two main bins that trivia are sorted in to: (1) those
random items that are capable of clicking in an interesting way into
the knowledge structure I already have; and (2) utterly random
tidbits. NS delivered a few of the former, and a few truck-loads of
the latter. In so far as the trivia was interesting, I already knew
it (Germanic witch trials, etymology of the word "dollar", the broad
outlines and purposes of the various 16th century political
structures), and in so far as the trivia was not something I already
knew, I found it dreadfully boring (hail-storms of random names of
royalty, many of them playing minimal roles in the plot, etc.).

Ah. I used the word "plot", so I've segued onto the next region of
disappointment. _QS_ does not have a plot, in the conventional sense.
Sure, in a 900 page novel (or a 2,700 page novel, really), one
wouldn't expect the broad sweep of the action to be clear by page 50,
or 100...but by page 500 or so, one would hope to have an idea of
where things might be going. The book has Theme aplenty.

The Theme, however ("Things Really Changed a Whole Lot, Religiously,
Economically, Politically, and Scientifically"), is big, but too

insubstantial and too vague to construct a huge novel like this on.
_A Winter's Tale_ managed to work very well with out a real plot - it
could hang off of the Theme that "New York changes a lot, and is
magical through the ages". Then again, _A Winter's Tale_ was about
1/9th the length of Stephenson's Inflated Series.

Speaking of inflation, this book needed an editor, badly. Dialogue
and exposition are clunky in many many places. For that matter,
dialogue and exposition are poorly differentiated. There's a joke about
1950's science fiction that 3/4 of the plot and background information
are revealed in "As you know, Bob" asides. The same is true of _QS_.
There's some minor variation on a theme: there's "As you know", there
is "I need not mention the fact that X ...<1,000 words
elided>...because you already know that", and there is "as everyone in
the town knew...".

There's a persistent and pernicious meme in the art world that to
truly convey some situations you need to recreate those situations for
the audience. Thus, the only way to convey tedium is through a four
hour movie, etc. NS seemed to be held by this meme: to convey the
intellectual ferment and vast scope of the 17th century he felt the
need write a book that was adrift in a ferment and vast in scope.
Certainly he could not have conveyed these things in a novella, but
that does not mean that he could not have pruned perhaps a third of
what he wrote.

The book is large enough that there's a Dramatis Personae at the end,
which was somewhat useful...but it didn't work wonderfully well for
me, because the entries were fairly short and defined the characters
(well, historical figures) mostly in terms of descriptors and events
that did not take place inside the book. If I come across a character
who I know was present 500 pages earlier, but I'm trying to remember
whether that character was a alchemist or a merchant, it helps little
to learn that the character was a friend of the Duke of Wessex (or
what have you). This is not a huge departure from how Dramatis
Personae are usually implemented, so this is not a failing unique to
NS, but in a long, meandering, and yawn-inducing book the author
should be at particular pains to provide aids to the reader.

Finally, I found it difficult to read the book at points because of
several incidents of barbarous cruelty to animals. I understand that
the moral code of the time was different, and that these actions are
historically accurate, and even that some reference should be made in
the book, so as not to commit the sin of omission, and thus render the
book less of its time...but NS went further than that and introduced
the cruelty repeatedly. If it was required to advance the plot, he'd
have an out. I would wince (and more) at a book that had explicit
scenes of child rape or brutality, but would accept it if the book was
about the pursuit and capture of a child abuser...but I would find it
hard to read a novel that threw in a random scene of a child being
scalded as punishment just, because, you know...these things happen.

Yeah.

Yay verisimilitude.

The book was not with out wondrous scenes. Jack Shaftoe steps onto
center stage in an audacious scene at the siege of Vienna, which
matched the very best action scenes of _Cryptonomicon_. Daniel
Waterhouse meets up with danger at sea, and the intellectual faint and
bluff of the ensuing engagement is wonderful, as is the nonchalance of
the captain of the ship that Daniel is on. However, the scenes are
all too rare and far between, and concentrated disproportionately in
the first half of the novel.

I suppose I'll end up reading the remaining two volumes to see if NS
manages to pull a rabbit out of a very battered and pathetic looking
hat...but I've got to say, I'm not particularly looking forward to
another 1,800 pages of lying back and thinking of Enlightenment
England.

You love European history: +3 points
You love lots of details in what you read: +3 points
You're into Newton/Leibniz and things scientific: +2 points
You think Neal Stephenson is bloody smart: +2 points
You loved Cryptonomicon for its detail: +1 point
You loved Cryptonomicon for its style: +1 point
You loved Cryptonomicon for its wit: -1 point
You get bored by endless detail: -2 point
You like a strong plot in the novels you read:~~ -1 point
You like a plot, however strong, at least clearly stated: -1 point
You are turned off by graphic descriptions: -1 point
You like a lot science in your science-based novel: -1 point
You like an easy read that flows well: -2 point

Score: >=10 You'll love this book!. 6-9 You'll like the book but find some of it tedious. 1-5 You'll like minor parts, but wonder if it was worth it. -1 to -5 You'll dislike this book. <-5 You'll hate this book.

I usually read trilogies after all the~~ books are published. But I made an exception here because I love Stephenson and because I am also coincidentally reading Isaac Newton's PRINCIPIA (translation by Cohen). Sadly, we see Newton and Leibniz in glimpses only in this book, and instead are treated to Daniel Waterhouse, the ancestor of Cryptonomicon's Lawrence Waterhouse; Jack Shaftoe, the ancestory of his Cryptonomicon counterpart; and Eliza, a former Turkish harem sex slave. As in Cryptonomicon, we see a great genius through the~~ more limited eyes of a very bright, but not brilliant protagonist (in Quicksilver we are treated to Waterhouse's interactions with I. Newton, W. Leibniz, R. Hooke, and others of that era; in Cryptonomicon it was Alan Turing).

Shaftoe is initially almost just to tie plot elements together and supply some much-needed comic relief. Eliza gives us eyes into the political machinations of Louis XIV, William of Orange, and various changing English monarchs. You can read more about plot in other~~ reviews, and I do not wish to spoil it here, suffice to say that particularly early in this book, it seems that we are just getting a slightly humorous lecture on European history.

Given that I have some background knowledge on Newton, the era, the controversies involved in his theories, etc., I can honestly say that I am astonished by N.S.'s detail and accuracy. He captures the theory, the socio-political circumstances, the religious conflicts, even I.Newton's personal issues with a~~ clarity that boggles my mind. He even goes so far as to project somewhat on why Newton uses geometry in his Principia, rather than calculus, to prove his theories-- and it seems consistent to what I have read in Cohen's excellent book. I can only assume that the detail regarding the other issues, and the projections N.S. makes regardng them-- revolutions galore, religious conflicts, economic issues-- is likewise as clear. It is certainly immensely and profusely detailed. The scenes with~~ these great minds are truly to be relished-- N.S. captures the essences of these great historical characters into believable dialogue and interactions. How penetrating N.S. must be to make such characters real from the dry library research he must have spent thousands of hours doing!

But some of the detail is too profuse. The endless political shenanigans and counter-shenanigans motivating each and every noble are a bit much for all but the true fan of European history. Fortunately, it~~ does not all need to be understood in such detail to follow a fairly simplistic plot overall.

This first novel of the trilogy is scene-setting, some plot, character building, for 600 pages. In some places it is tedious. Some of the dialogue is entertaining, some of the character's thinking processes amusing, but N.S. does not hit his stride until after 600 pages. The final 300 are amusing, entertaining, even thrilling. N.S. somehow turns the delivery of a baby scene into a triumph of~~ spirit, ingenuity, and tension, for example. In Cryptonomicon, I was laughing every other page from page one. In Quicksilver, I chuckled a few times, and was entertained about a third of the time.

I am hoping that future volumes are more direct, briskly paced, and less endless detail and trivia. Some of it is excellent for scene-setting and mood building. I am truly grateful I do not live in 1690s England after reading this book. But others are just tiresome and exasperating.

OTOH,~~ N.S. has a unique, unmatched talent. His characters breath like real people. You come to understand their motivations, their emotions-- like a real-life friend. This may come about by his endless, detail-driven meandering style, and so changing one destroys the magic of the other. But I would think he could manage with just a little less narrative.

Still, all in all, you must experience N.S. at the peak of his powers. He has evolved from Snow Crash to Cryptonomicon to this, a splendid~~ insight into a revolutionary, chaotic time in our world history. You might be deluged with detail, but then you swim through it and get to meet major characters that changed the world, and it is almost like you met them for real.~

It did however take me about 50 or 70 pages to get in to the novel. At first I found the plot to be very slow moving, with lots of confusing names and not a lot happening. Dull and boring are two words that come to mind. But if you can get past the first 70 pages, the novel slowly starts to develop a story line that by the time the book is finished has left you eagerly looking forward to the next book.

I do not want to give away too much of the novel and spoil it for any of the readers out there. But I will say this. Don't be discouraged by the size of the novel (900+ pages). Do stick it out, and read the whole novel, as you will be rewarded for it. And finally, if any of the history that took place in England in the 1600s is of interest to you, then this book should definitely make it on to your reading list.