Rating: 
Summary: Thomas Pynchon Called...
Review: ...and he wants his novel back./Quicksilver/ is an entertaining reinvention of /Gravity's Rainbow/. Its deep theme appears to be the social upheaval surrounding a major shift in scientific and economic paradigms following a disastrous pan-European war. With, natch, the occasional comic musical interlude. Note also that the recycling of characters' names (I do like the suggestion that Enoch Root is the very *same* Enoch Root, and has indeed found the Philosopher's Stone (by the way, note the ever-so-cute pun there with regard to what resides in Waterhouse's bladder)) is Pynchonian, as witnessed by Pig/Seaman/Fender-Belly Bodine. Stephenson picked the Forty Years' War (and English Revolution) as his core conflict, rather than Pynchon's World War Two, but this book might as well be /Gravity's Rainbow/. It's often excessively clever, doing cute little postmodern tricks designed to play the reader's awareness of history against the period knowledge of the characters. Sometimes this works, and sometimes it's just jarring. I was, for instance, particularly taken with the /frisson/ of horror I felt when the plague-ridden fleas were clattering off Daniel's boots, because I, unlike the Londoners of 1666, know that it's the fleas that are the disease vector. It also does a nice job of incorporating the historical sources; I giggled when I saw the boy Newton beating the crap out of his playmate, because I knew from /Never At Rest/ that that was one of the very few things Newton regretted in his old age. On the other hand, "canal rage" left me flat. Now, this book, like /Cryptonomicon/, was apparently written with me, personally, as the target audience. I have an MA in the History of Science, specifically the History of Computing, I've done quite a bit of cryptographic work, I've actually read Wilkin's work on the Universal Character, and I've chewed my way through B.J.T. Dobbs' work on Newton's alchemical research (and have done my time with the Invisible College, read /De Re Metallica/, and know my Paracelsan medicine). All this is simply by way of saying, there's no one else who's more predisposed to like the book than I am, because Stephenson clearly loves to write about the very stuff I spent several years studying. (Another aside: there is no /Cryptonomicon/; Wilkins *did* write an early work on cryptography, which is the first such work in English. Its title? /Mercury, or the Secret and Swift Messenger/. What's quicksilver again?) I'm still only giving it four stars, for a book written specifically for *me*. That's simply because I feel like the book itself was done already, and better, by Pynchon. /Gravity's Rainbow/ is my favorite book of the Twentieth Century, period, full stop, end of transmission. Still, even I can only reread /GR/ so many times, and this book is the next best thing. If you like Pynchon, or if you like the late 17th Century and the London scientific scene around the time of the formation of the Royal Society, or if you liked Eco's /Search for the Perfect Language/, you'll like this book. If not, you're going to find it very long, very slow, and pretty pointless. Myself, I'm eagerly awaiting the next two books, but I can understand how and why other people are not. Adam
Rating: 
Summary: First time for everything
Review: I never thought I'd see the day when I thought Neal Stephenson's latest selection was boring. Now most hardcore fans will dismiss me as a dilettante, intimidated by the length or intellectual breadth of his novel. Not so. I'm the nerd who pushes Neal on all my friends and family. But with the random chuckle occurring on every, say, 20th page, and fabulous idea each, oh, 30th page, THIS IS NOT your classic Stephenson. Remember Diamond Age, folks? When you couldn't believe how each page held a cool new idea? Forget about it. If I can't do this, and I've pulled allnighters for Neal in the past, then I certainly would recommend newcomers stay far away from this. I know, I know, you old time fans will read it regardless of this review. But maybe I can save you a shred of money and dignity by suggesting you check it out at the library. Don't worry, you're not missing anything by having to wait another 2 months.
Rating: 
Summary: Neal Stephenson's genre-busting historical fiction
Review: If you've been meaning to check out that cyberpunk guy Neal Stephenson, start with his books "Diamond Age" or "Snow Crash". If you're curious about the 17th century and like your historical fiction to come spiced with plenty of irony and hubris, you might want to give "Quicksilver" a try. If you're a long-time Stephenson fan, be prepared for some ambivalent feelings. Stephenson's latest is the first in a three book cycle. It takes place during the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment. Stephenson has declared "Quicksilver" to be a sort of prequel to "Cryptonomicon": the books share ideas, family trees and symbolic motifs, providing ample material for geek fans to ferret out occult meanings and connections. The most prominent connection is the mystery of Enoch Root - Angel? Alien? Time Traveler? - who may be Stephenson's last link to the traditionally fantasy-based sci-fi genre. It's tempting to compare "Quicksilver" to the works of Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Kurt Vonnegut or Joseph Heller. Its frequent comical anachronisms - Leibnitz writing that Venetian gondoliers worry about "canal rage", not road rage - notify you that rather than a faithful historical piece, the book may be more like the present dressed up in fancy costumes. But Stephenson does not have the same political commitments as these novelists: the intrepid scientists, cocky entrepreneurs or self-reliant warriors - collectively the libertarian X-Men that populate all of Stephenson's novels - ultimately make him a different kind of monkey than novelists who like to point out that objective history is a sham benefiting only power. So what is Stephenson trying to say about history? His point is more basic and more abstractly formal than political, even if two-thirds of "Quicksilver" is full of intricate court plots and intrigue: Stephenson causes us to recognize the technologies and ideas of the present in the past. On the other hand, he includes enough clumsy surgery and revolting hygiene to make the past seem like an alien barbarism Europe is lucky to have survived. "Quicksilver" swings between these two poles: continuity and change. Cryptography and the mathematics of Newton and Leibnitz represent a continuity, an essential ancestral likeness that produces the present. But such continuity is not just the inevitable outcome of a long process of gradual human evolution: it begins with rapid, obvious change - revolution - as fast as elemental quicksilver. Stephenson's characters ponder historical sameness and epochal difference; they try to lead readers into these same contemplations. This review was originally published by NadaMucho.com.
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous Indulgence
Review: Utterly mesmerizing. Some have criticized the thinness of this book's plot, but I never for a moment felt the lack, mainly because this book is so excessive in every other way. It is enormous, messy, appalling, exciting, self-indulgent, digressive, joyous, horrific, zany, pedantic, crude, sublime, and simply way too much fun. Stephenson's punning allusions to our own time repeatedly had me groaning, but it was more like suffering the zingers of a best friend. The Lloyd Bentsen paraphrase is shameless, but pure Stephenson. One of this book's best features is its characterizations. Historical figures like Newton, Hooke, Pepys, William III of Orange, Judge Jeffreys and others are given fleshy, breathing presence; Stephenson takes audacious liberties in his portrayals. But this is all part of the fun. There are many 'pointless' digressions which sometimes seem contrived to show off the author's research, but once I had a feel for the sprawling cadence of the writing, and its appropriately baroque excesses, I just relaxed and went along for the ride. However, with all its over-the-top flourishes, this book does focus on a central theme: how the role and significance of Intellectual Knowledge is shaped by the messy goings-on of human beings, the reprehensible and the transcendent, and the importance that Information has in being the locus of both Power and Thought. This book was over much too quickly for me, and I usually hate historical novels.
Rating:
Summary: Waiting for Godot (actually Enoch the Red)...
Review: O.K., so I waded through 919 pages of character development waiting for Stephenson to hit D Major vis-a-vis plot. No plot (well, not much), other than to provide a framework for us to get to know the characters...sort of. The interesting thing (teaser, I guess) is that the most mysterious and intriguing character, Enoch Root, is nearly absent. I hope that this is intentional, and that Root will grow to dominate the future story line. After all, we already know what happens to Newton, Leibniz, William of Orange, Louis XIV, and the rest of the crew. What we *don't* know is "has Enoch the Red actually discovered the Philosopher's Stone, and become immortal? Could he possibly have founded (or be a member of) an occult society that moves behind the scenes of power throughout history? Is Enoch 'the Adept'? Who might the other player's be? And most important: What is behind the final veil of the Cryptonomicon?" Could be quite a story here after all. One can only hope, and wait for April.
Rating: 
Summary: Where have all the editors gone???
Review: I should have read more reviews on Amazon.com before Costco got my money. I took the book back, which as we all know is a huge commitment of time at Costco because I wasn't about to keep this tome or even donate it to the Library, thereby filling up future used booksale shelfspace. Boring, tendentious, patronizing, and somewhat silly, I agree with the reviewer who suggested Neal take a year off and go watch waves and backpack. Save your money.
Rating:
Summary: A self-indulgent piece of ponderous junk
Review: Neal Stephenson seems to have escaped the bonds of courtesy to his readers with "Quicksilver", which is a sprawling, thoroughly uninteresting and undisciplined waste of paper. The book is simply four or five times too long for what happens in it. Alas, if it were compressed to a quarter of its size, the fact that nothing interesting actually happens would be all too clear. Although Stephenson has always put plot in second place to amusing and exciting set pieces, the set pieces are staggeringly long-winded in "Quicksilver", and there's no plot to speak of, beyond "wow, a lot of stuff happened during the Enlightenment". This book is awful beyond words. It deserves to be a failure, and with any luck, Stephenson will accept the advice of an editor next time out.
Rating:
Summary: A little faith, a little perspective
Review: Five Stars!!! Someone gave this book five stars. Life is full of surprises. Like most here, I had hoped to like this book as much as Cryptonomicon, and like most, I didn't. I would love to be able to sit over a warm beverage and discuss what the five-star folks saw here. I would also like to take a minute to help the folks who complain of the absense of a plot, defined as "the story or sequence of events in a narrated or presented work such as a novel, play, or movie" Thank you, Mr. Encarta. Folks, there is narrative all over the place, and I do mean all over the place. Neal has ALWAYS taken the long way home. If he ever has written a page-turner, it was Snow Crash, and he spent 40% of the book telling us everything he had ever learned about ancient religions, Summerians, Enki, etc. and somehow we both kept coming home to Hiro and YT. This book is no different, but his long way home was a very long way indeed, and at times, it seemed we had both forgotten why we were there. While I was (am) disappointed, this was just the start of the story, and I know that this guy can really cook when he gets it going. Hence: a call for faith. Next: Perspective. During the reading of this book we moved, and we somehow let the Doubleday "do not send" email get past us. I am now the proud owner of books by Nicholas Sparks and Iris Johansen. I have nothing bad to say about these fine human beings; I trust their families and pets love them, but these books are like Belgian Waffles compared to Quicksilver - mostly air. Perhaps Stephenson tried too hard, perhaps he wandered six inches too far into the deep end, but at least there appears to have been something ventured, even if some would argue nothing gained.
Rating:
Summary: 300+ pages--just didn't care (& no, I'm not a lazy reader)
Review: I hadn't planned on reviewing this since who needs another bad review? I changed my mind after reading a few of the other reviews. While I can respect those who enjoyed this book, I think many of the positive reviews are a bit smug, self-righteous, and self-congratulatory in their dismissal of the bad reviews. Describing those who didn't care for Quicksilver as people looking for a car chase or a Grisham thriller or who prefer television to "stretching their minds" or who would rather read the newest "pap" etc. are far too dismissive, as well as insulting and arrogant in their assumption that disliking this book is somehow due a a want of intelligence or literacy. Please. The length of the book did not daunt me--I reread the entire Wheel of Time series every other book as they come out and before you dismiss me as just a fantasy reader as some have in the reviews, I've also read all of Proust's long work and Bleak House is one of my all-time favorite novels. The slow pace did not bother me in principle--Proust has never been accused of being a roller-coaster thrill ride. The language did not bother me--I've read and enjoyed Chaucer in the original Middle English. The historical details did not bother me. In the past year I've read (lengthy) bios of Adams, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson and several analyses of the origins of the Constitution--for pleasure not for an assignment. The science did not bother me--I'm a regular reader of non-fiction science books and essays and Andrea Barret who regularly mixes science in with her work is one of my favorites. The character choices did not bother me--I've recently read two bios of Newton. So if I tell you that I gave this book over three hundred pages and simpy could not justify putting in the two or three days to finish it, and then another week or two over the next two years to complete the entire work, perhaps you should consider that it is not my inability as a reader but weaknesses in the text that led me to that decision. I found neither the plot nor the characters at all compelling. In fact, I found them, quite simply, to be dull which came as quite the surprise since I am quite interested in the time period and have never found this author dull. I found the introduction of historical facts all too often clumsily handled and at times simply gratuitous. I found the dialogue uneven both in terms of historical accuracy and in simply relating normal speech. I have enjoyed almost all of his other works, as I've said I find the time period and subject matter interesting, and I gave this book more than the benefit of the doubt. Some of you may have found the plot (which I found thin) or the characters (also thin) more interesting. Obviously some of you did. But please don't pat yourself on the back because you were just better able to "handle" the slow pace or "difficult" vocabulary than the more dim-witted of us who simply didn't like the book. I would tell anyone interested in this book to try and take it out of the library or sit down in a bookstore for an hour or so and see if they find themselves pulled along before dropping some twenty dollars on it. And I say that sadly. With that, I'm now off to continue my latest Danielle Steele book while I finish watching my tape of "Best of Jerry Springer."
Rating:
Summary: The Compleat Alchemyst sez...
Review: While it is not really up to "Cryptonomicon" standards, "Quicksilver" is a fine piece of work and a very interesting and stimulating novel. Mr. Stephenson has evidently done a huge amount of research and is not shy of including virtually everything he has found in his book; in that sense, the historical background sometimes overwhelms the plot, but at other times, like a chapter written as the Proceedings of the Royal Society, it greatly enhances it and leads to some fine writing. This book likely holds more interest for Stephenson fans than for others, since many characters and plot situation are analogous to those of "Cryptonomicon", but the sheer scope and imagination present in the writing make it worth reading. Also, the characteristic humor and the funny locutions from certain vaguely dodgy characters make for good entertainment. On the whole, with rounding, a four.
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