Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle No. 1)

I struggled a bit with returning to the works of Neal Stephenson when I took on Anathem, whose dense philosophical discursions and epistemological debates often got in the way of a pretty engaging tale. All of that left me a bit reluctant to start into Quicksilver, the first entry in Neal Stephenson's "Baroque Cycle," especially knowing that I was looking down the barrel of another massive book (and that's only talking about book one of three!). But it didn't take me long to realize that while Quicksilver is still a dense piece of fiction - a deeply researched piece of historical fiction about Isaac Newton, the birth of calculus, the struggle between religious factions in 17th century England, political maneuvering between kings and royalty, and so much more - it's also surprisingly fun and fleet (did I mention that there's a musical number, among numerous other genre explorations?), covering all of this material in fascinating ways but never getting bogged down in it, and instead plunging into its historical world in vivid, interesting, fascinating detail. Much of that comes from Stephenson's choice of narrators, from Waterhouse (who, for all of his desires to become a great figure, was destined to live at the same time as some of the greatest minds who ever lived) to Half-Cocked Jack (who absolutely brings a gloriously new perspective to the middle third of the book) to Eliza (whose business-oriented mind and practicality with regard to handling men make her a wholly unique figure), all of whom give us accessible minds in this world while never losing us in theoreticals and calculations. Quicksilver is undeniably long (reportedly it was considered at one point as three separate novels), but it moves so much more quickly than you'd expect, and for as heady as it all is, it feels like what drew me to Stephenson in the first place - an ability to mix complex intellectual ideas with genuinely fun and engaging storytelling, done with a sense of humor (again: a musical number) and a humanity that makes it all pop. I'm taking a short break to read a couple more things before moving on to book two, but my worries are all pretty much gone, replaced by enthusiasm to see the next volume in these characters' lives.

I purchased this book almost three years ago after reading some positive reviews. I'd never read Stephenson before, but I was drawn to the idea of a cyberpunk/historical fiction novel. I read Quicksilver while I was in college, in between my regular class work. But, to my dismay, the reading experience was anything but easy. I ended up finishing the book, but the process was a long, hard slog. I quickly abandoned the idea of reading the two other novels of equal size. So, about a month ago, I decided that it was time to dust off Quicksilver and give it another go. The book is still difficult, but the book is a journey and Stephenson is an intriguing Sherpa. Quicksilver is a story about ideas. Stephenson weaves a tale about the forces and individuals that shaped the modern world. He does this by inserting fictional characters into a historical epic; we see his characters interact with famous figures, such as Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, William of Orange, et al. His fictional characters are involved in their on intrigues, but they're largely in the story to tease out information from the real-life individuals. There are three primary fictional characters that make the course of events of the book. The first and arguably most important character in the story is Daniel Waterhouse. The story is told in book one: Quicksilver; it begins in Boston in 1713,with an old Daniel Waterhouse getting a message to come back to England to help settle the great Calculus dispute between Newton and Leibniz. The story quickly shifts to a series of flash backs starting at about 1661. We follow the career of Waterhouse as he goes to Cambridge and becomes involved in the Royal Society of London. Waterhouse works with early natural philosophers, John Wilkins and Robert Hooke, as they partake in all sorts of bizarre scientific experiments. The second book, The King of the Vagabonds, sets a different tone to the story. While Stephenson earlier focused on kings and natural philosophers, the hero of this book is a vagabond called half-cocked Jack. Jack is roaming around Europe, half mad, and looking for adventures. He eventually winds up at the Siege of Vienna. Jack encounters the third important fictional character, Eliza. She was sold into slavery and became a Turkish harem. Jack rescues Eliza, and the two travel around Europe learning about finance and trade, while Eliza pursues her goal of ending slavery. If you've read this far into the review don't think that I've given much of anything away. Stephenson loads this 916-page book with all sorts of twists and turns in the story. Of course, in regards to the story, a potential reader should be warned that Stephenson is fairly lax in terms of conventional storytelling. If you're looking for a novel that carries the story from point A to point B to point C, then you're going to be disappointed. There are important twists and turns, but they can almost seem forgotten in the sheer magnitude of the larger book. While Stephenson is less concerned about the conventional story, he makes up for this by focusing on a series of important themes. Quicksilver, and I would say the Baroque Cycle, is concerned with major thematic issues and ideas rather than a conventional plot. Stephenson is trying to paint a picture of this time period, so he peppers the story with historical figures here and there, but they can easily be forgotten compared to the larger issues. The most important issues of this book are the debates between contrasting forces, such as: Reformation vs. Counter-Reformation; Feudalism vs. Nation States; the birth of science vs. religion; the birth of modern finance and commerce vs. religion. All of the characters in this story represent certain sides of these arguments. Various realms and countries represent certain sides of these arguments. France, headed by Louis XIV, is represented as being the center of all things premodern; on the other hand, England develops a complex role as the birth of modernism, while struggling internally with competing forces of reaction. If there are major flaws to Quicksilver it's that Stephenson can get too wrapped up in all of this. I say this as someone who enjoyed the book, but it can be extremely difficult to see the forest through the trees in this. As others have noted, Stephenson seems to use 50 words where 10 would do. Stephenson's writing sometimes stands in the way of some otherwise exciting action sequences. It equally can get tiresome to always have different characters launce into complex philosophical debates whenever they first start speaking. Some of the dialogue in this is just cumbersome. I wouldn't expect Isaac Newton to greet someone with, "What up dawg?", but you can imagine him acting human, sometimes. Stephenson also has fun dropping various old English words throughout the book, while also throwing in some F-bombs and other euphemisms that wouldn't have been used at the time. This isn't necessarily a negative on the book, but it does show that Stephenson could have worked in a little more humane dialogue. In general, I enjoyed the book but wish it had been a tad bit shorter. I think Stephenson could have shaved off a 100 pages to this book and largely kept the spirit intact. Overall, as stated, I didn't find this to be an easy read but it was rewarding. If you're interested in history, politics, culture, science, religion, or just a good dose of toilet humor, then you should check this book out. It may get frustrating from time to do, but keep on going! It's worth it.

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!

I feel a bit silly writing the first review (Kindle edition) of a book that has been reviewed hundreds of times for the paper edition. Therefore, to start, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Kindle edition, it's all formatted nicely, all footnotes are done well, and there are hardly any typos at all (which is impressive in a book of this size). If you want to buy this book but wonder about the quality of the Kindle edition, don't hesitate, it's fine. Now about the book itself: I don't find it easy to review this book, because you can view it from two angles, and one is brilliant, while the other is poor. One angle is that Neal Stephenson wants to make you as the reader understand what it was like to live at the end of the 1600s, with overall extremely poor living conditions, having survived one of the most brutal wars in history, and with 'modern' medicine being much more likely to kill you than to help you. I thoroughly enjoyed the way Stephenson took time to go into detail of what it was like to live in London, Versailles, as a Vagabond, as part of an army, in the New Provinces, and so on. His characters randomly have experiences in all these places, pieced together by a very loose plot. I learned more about European history reading this book than with any other historical book I've read, and the characters are interesting enough that they make 'learning' those events entertaining. Stephenson must have spent an awful amount of time researching all this, and as a reader being interested in history, I really appreciated his eye for detail. One of the highlights for me were around 10 pages (Kindle version) in which he simply enumerated the absolutely ridiculous standard experiments of the Royal Society, and I'm pretty sure they were taken from a real list... it's so shocking and naive, it makes you laugh. The other angle is plot development and characters, and I have to say that was pretty poor. You can see that Stephenson used his characters to string together interesting aspects of this time in Europe. For example, while interesting stuff happened in Versailles, London and The Hague, there was also the siege of Vienna. So he comes up with a couple of characters who happen to meet on the battlefield, and who then meander through Europe, coincidentally touching lots and lots of interesting events and places. It really felt like one of those old kids episodes on history back in the 80s, when you had a few cartoon characters who acted out important parts of history, so that kids could learn about them. Unfortunately, this spreads the plot itself paper thin, and more often than not, characters aren't developed by their own personalities, they are rather continuously pushed forward by all the interesting stuff happening around them. There were many activities these characters were part of where I went "Oh come on, you can't really think that a person in that situation would really do this!" but hey, that's why it's called fiction, right? At times, you can even feel that the author himself became aware that his story was rambling a little, so he changes the format. For example, parts of the book are written as if they were a play, for no real reason apart from giving the reader some breathing space. So in conclusion: Look, I kind of enjoyed it. I enjoyed that I was learning a lot while reading it, and I enjoyed that 'learning' wasn't tedious. I did find that I had to push myself through various passages though, and that I turned up to be disappointed with certain plot twists every now and then. If you're not interested in history for its own sake, I would advise against this book. However, if like me, you're a bit like a history nut, you might not love it, but you will appreciate it for what it does. I will buy the second book of this cycle, knowing that it will be the same style, simply for the fact that I still have a gap of about 50 years of history to fill :-)

I've read almost every other one of Neals books, and was incredibly daunted by this series. And for good reason. It does not have the same level of action, or the flowing tempo that his other books have, which made it a bit of a slog for me to get through. Yet I am extremely happy I read it, and plan to read the other books in the baroque cycle. If it was a slog, and not his most enjoyable novel, why am I recommending it? Because this could easily be the most INSIGHTFUL novel that he has written. Most of Neals other novels deal with fictional stories and people; this novel gives Neals characteristic deeply aware level-of-detail onto real-world events and people, such as Isaac Newton, Leibniz, Louis XIV, and many others. Wow. I feel that my understanding of 17th century politics, society, culture, customs, business, etc. has progressed more than all other materials I've consumed combined. The storylines he writes are the following: - Daniel Waterhouse, an English courtier that is close to Isaac Newton, and involved in the Royal Society of London - Eliza, a businesswoman who spends most of her time in Versailles, invests nobels money in the markets of Amsterdam, and communicates through lots of cryptography - Half-Cocked Jack, a poor boy from the streets of London, who gets involved in all sorts of shenanigans and mercenary type of activities around Europe I feel there could have been another storyline or two to help the tempo of the book. Some of the interesting themes that Neal goes over in the book include: - cryptography / cyphers - Alchemy - Mathematics/Physics - Fashion - Markets/Trade - Politics - Pirates I personally found the parts about mathematics and cryptography the most interesting. Neal really goes deep into Newton and Leibniz, and I found those parts thoroughly enjoyable. There are so many parallels to issues that go on nowadays. I feel like this is the 'past' version of his sci-fi novels. Theres lots of Neals characteristic humor in the book, and some parts are laugh out loud funny and ridiculous. My experience reading this book will be something I cherish for the rest of my life. Highly satisfied.

At 900+ pages, this book is not a quick read, and as it's supposed to be merely the first section of a trilogy, it may be more than many want to attempt. But... First, this book works very well as an historical novel, detailing not just all the court intrigues swirling around England, France and the Netherlands in the late 17th century, along with the associated historical characters of King Louis XIV, William of Orange, King Charles and James, Cromwell, Pepys, Jeffreys, etc., but also the incredible explosion of scientific research embodied in the persons of Newton, Hooke, Leibnitz, Wilkins, Huygens, Bernoulli, and multiple others. The depiction of the experiments performed by these men is not only educational, but takes trips over into the gross, the incredible, the fantastic, the grimly humorous, with Neal's patented brand of the sublimely ridiculous. How these things interweave with things like the Black Death of London in 1665 and the Great Fire one year later, the beginnings of modern day financial markets, the various and sundry religious factions and the important philosophical questions of the day (questions which still have great relevance today), is a tapestry that is built thread by thread by Neal. The characters that Neal dwells on may ring some bells with those who have read Cryptonomicon (and the Cryptonomicon figures as a work in progress within this book). Enoch Root makes several appearances here - perhaps the question might be if he is really the same person as in his earlier book? His major characters of Daniel Waterhouse, Jack Shaftoe, and Eliza are well drawn and engaging, though perhaps some of their actions are a little too much over-the-top to be totally believable. But be prepared for the incredibly large cast - so large that the provided list of personae in the rear of the book is not only useful, but almost mandatory to being able to keep everyone straight, especially as many people are referred to by multiple names and various titles. Also useful are the (simplified) family trees of the major royal lines, helping to place in perspective the various relationships between these people (near incestuous, in some cases). Neal takes some trips into literary lands he has not previously dwelt in - from satirical plays to poems and songs, some of which work, some of which come off as a little flat. His depictions of the hygiene and medical 'science' of the day may be off-putting to some, being gross in the extreme. There are places where his descriptions of the everyday, such as the latest high fashions in clothing, are absolutely hilarious - satire that shows by contrast just how silly some things humans engage in are, not just then but also today. London and its surrounding area is vividly described, to the point where I felt I was walking down those streets, seeing and smelling it as it really was. At the same time, I felt that Versailles was not given proper attention, a lack of detailed description of one of the most impressive palaces ever built. The plot rambles - but how could it not, with the canvas being everything happening over a space of fifty years in one of the most turbulent eras ever? My only real objection to this book is that it's obviously only a part of the story - many plot threads are not finished, probably to be picked up again in the later two books. This is not a book for everyone. But for those who have interests in both history and science, this book is a marvelous trip to a time that did much to shape the world of today. I just hope that the succeeding novels live up to the promise of this one. --- Reviewed by Patrick Shepherd (hyperpat)

This book has languished on my "to read" shelf for a couple of years and now I am angry with myself for not having started it sooner. It is a baroque masterpiece. It is baroque in that it is set in that period of European history when the arts and sciences were flourishing like never before. It is baroque in that it is complex, highly convoluted and ornamented with a myriad of frills. Not all of them add to the story line but they all add to the flavor and that flavor is exquisite. This purports to be the story of Daniel Waterhouse, a Puritan Englishman drawn to the study of natural philosophy, what we would call rational science today. He is a bright fellow but suffers from being active at the same time as such luminaries as Isaac Newton, Christian Huygens, Robert Hooke, Leibniz and others. He is also a Puritan in an England suffering under the Crypto-Catholic reign of Charles II and the open Catholic, James II. William of Orange is defending the Lowlands against the aggressions of Louis XIV, the Sun King. All of these figures and more are woven together with great artistry to tell a story. What is the Story? Well...that is the difficult part. The book opens in the early 18th century. A member of the Royal Society has been dispatched to Boston to bring Waterhouse back in an attempt to patch things up between Newton and Leibniz. Waterhouse agrees to do so and sets sail. The first third of the book alternates between the beginnings of his journey and memories of his younger years in the heydays of the 17th century. The middle third of the book drops Waterhouse altogether. It tells the story of an English Vagabond who manages to rescue a well educated female slave from the Turks at the siege of Vienna. He is able to do little about his beautiful booty because of the pox and the loss of his member. Still, the two form a relationship as they head west to the Netherlands. He is her aide and protector and she is the brains with the financial acumen. She rises in court society and gets involved with the intrigues of the French and Dutch courts. The final third brings together Waterhouse and the lovely Eliza, the rescued concubine. England is on the Eve of its "Glorious Revolution" in which the Dutch house of Orange takes over. Daniel is glad to see this and has helped to bring it about but is tired of the whole affair. He has notions of moving to Boston but does not expect to live long enough to do so since he has a bladder stone which is slowly killing him. As the book ends, he is being subjected to the surgery that might remove the stone and give him another chance at life. Never once in the second or third sections of the book do we ever learn anything about Daniel's trip back to England late in life. We are even fuzzier on the reasoning. We get the sense that the entire book has been written to set us up for what is to come. I, for one, cannot wait. This book will definitely not appeal to everyone. I suspect that the more knowledgeable one is about the history of that era, both political and scientific, the more the book will make sense. It is full of trivial facts, archaic spellings and words usages but these are not overdone. They add to the scenery, not detract from it. It is a magnificent read for those with the fortitude to attempt it.

At this point I'm only about half way through Quicksilver, so this isn't a complete review, but after reading some of the reviews below, I just gotta throw in my two cents. First, let me say that until I picked this book up, I had never heard of Neal Stevenson. Second, I thought it was going to be more fantasy than historical, in the Neil Gaiman mode, only bigger. Third, it's absolutely brilliant, fabulous stuff. It's exhausting reading, physically it weighs a ton, and after a while it's hard to concentrate on the words, and you have to read every word-- a feast of a book, the best contemporary novel I've read in close to ten years, since Corelli's Mandolin, another feast of a book, and The Bone People a decade before that--Stevenson knows his history, his math, his psychology, and how to structure something huge. I don't know where he's taking me, but I'll follow him anywhere now. I just wish I didn't have to do other things, like go to work and sleep. After 400+ pages, I keep waiting for it to flag, for a sequence to be less than terrifically written, for his sentences to become less than sparkling, for Stevenson to become didactic and showy for the sake of show. No such luck. I keep underlining sentences I want to remember; his description of London Bridge is the best architectural/sociological writing I've ever read; he makes boring stuff--calculus, shipping, mining, commerce--wonderfully interesting; he gets us inside his soldiers, we learn how guns work and why; what gunpowder does. He uses language like no one I know, keeping a historical distance from his characters while using modern idioms and attitudes to illuminate the 17th century. He doesn't turn them into 21st century hipsters, but he gives them language that, while not quite authentically 18th century (that would be a little too much, I think), illuminates their psyches in ways we can understand easily. In an age of minimalist fiction, where less is considered more (and only minimalism is prize-worthy), it's a wonderful treat to read someone who doesn't give a damn about what's stylish, and who just throws everything he's got onto the page. What a feast!

grande romanzo storico: una gradevole storia a cavallo tra 17° e 18° secolo, intrisa di cultura e di conoscenza del mondo di allora. la lettura è lenta e il continuo saltare dalla fine della storia allo svolgimento della avventura richiede all'inizio della lettura una certa attenzione (anche al titolo dei capitoli, con la data!) l'intreccio tra le storie di più personaggi rende più avvincente il romanzo, attendendo il ricongiungimento dei vari filoni verso la fine della trilogia. qualche migliaio di pagine ma io le ho apprezzate molto ("de gustibus:::")

I bought this science fiction series for a friend and he loves it.

Too lengthy, meandering, heavy style, could not go beyond 50 pages, could not return as the return date had passed.

I can do no better than to encourage you to read this 1 star review...and assume the complete opposite. The reviewer obviously had no patience for the creation of a masterpiece. 17 of 45 people found the following review helpful: 1.0 out of 5 stars Pynchon gone bad, 4 Oct 2003 By "jdkuchen3" - See all my reviews This review is from: Quicksilver (Baroque Cycle 1) (Hardcover) This book has be announced as a "publishing event." And that is exactly what it is: an event. It's neither a good novel nor an interesting one. 900 pages sounds like a lot and it even sounds like a lot more when reading "Quicksilver." There is nothing to keep you going, no storyline that is even just a little engaging, no character you care for. It reads like "Ulysses" or "Gravity's Rainbow" without their respective revolutionary narrative innovations. It drags on and on and on. I would compare it to bad Pynchon: encyclopedic, monumental, and booooring. "Quicksilver" is a postmodern deconstruction of narration gone bad: it offers no plot, flat characters and is more concerned with language than with content. Yet the novel is not some artistic trick to emphasize the artificiality of texts, or some post-structural narrative experiment, but a complete failure on part of the author. I would be surprised if only one third of the readers were actually willing to pick up the upcoming installments. Why should you, if you could stop anywhere in this text without actually missing anything...

Wonderful series of books