shannahc's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book, particularly for its historical setting, but it is extremely dense. Took me a very long time to plow through.
ajmaybe's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book itself, but I find myself unable to review it separately from the rest of Baroque Cycle. The four-star rating is for Quicksilver. The full Baroque Cycle gets five stars. Yes, I'm telling you to read all three-thousand-plus pages. Or rather, I'm telling you that this thousand-page book alone is interesting and probably worth reading, but it may or may not permanently alter your brain and enrich your perceptions and experiences of the world. In contrast, the three-book cycle is definitely worth reading and, if you can get through it, *will* permanently alter your brain and enrich your perceptions and experiences of the world (that's my primary criterion for a five-star rating).
boring_samizdat's review against another edition
Plodding, meandering start that I just couldn't crack through.
billyhopscotch's review against another edition
4.0
Quicksilver isn't my favorite Stephenson book, but it is still amazing. His attention to detail in the historical context is incredible. I felt like I had taken a whole class on the Baroque period after reading the book.
trailofmonkeys's review against another edition
4.0
Although the scene is not as well drawn as Wolf Hall, it's a fun ride that makes for slow but comfortable reading. Looking forward to the sequels.
jammasterjamie's review
4.0
Insanely over-described throughout, but also really witty, educational, and a really cool take on an era when the world was in flux and the economy was mutating as wealth became more attainable by the masses. Yes, it absolutely drags in some parts, but I was kept mostly engaged and that’s an accomplishment with a behemoth like this one, especially on a re-read.
caedocyon's review against another edition
2.0
I woke up early on Sunday and finally finished it. Hallelujah.
I happened to start reading this around the same time I started listening to the Revolutions podcast series on the English Revolution (-ish... thing.... whatever the hell it was), so I had two sources on approximately the same time period going at the same time. This helped, but I still don't remember all the goddamn names, much less the titles and what they did and what they believed and who they supported and why.
Quicksilver seems exhaustively researched, but apparently a lot of it is also made up out of whole cloth. Confusing as hell. I can't remember if Stephenson's vocabulary is usually this out of control, but if anything the historical setting exacerbates this tendency. If I hadn't been reading it as an ebook I would have glossed over it; instead, I looked up a word every few pages and got a thorough vocabulary lesson on archaic words I will never use because I'm not that much of an asshole.
Being somewhat constrained by actual history keeps the plot from reaching Stephenson's usual extreme screwball ending. But then again, this is the first of three. (Someone told me recently that it was originally written as nine books, then combined. Augh.) If I do go on to the second one, it's only going to be after a long recovery period.
Update, June 2017: It's been 3.5 years since I read this book and I have no good memories of it. (When I do recall something about it, it's generally the sheep's intestine condom scene. Only-female-character (forgot her name) was such a Cool Girl.) There is absolutely no way I'm reading another 1,723 pages of this.
I happened to start reading this around the same time I started listening to the Revolutions podcast series on the English Revolution (-ish... thing.... whatever the hell it was), so I had two sources on approximately the same time period going at the same time. This helped, but I still don't remember all the goddamn names, much less the titles and what they did and what they believed and who they supported and why.
Quicksilver seems exhaustively researched, but apparently a lot of it is also made up out of whole cloth. Confusing as hell. I can't remember if Stephenson's vocabulary is usually this out of control, but if anything the historical setting exacerbates this tendency. If I hadn't been reading it as an ebook I would have glossed over it; instead, I looked up a word every few pages and got a thorough vocabulary lesson on archaic words I will never use because I'm not that much of an asshole.
Being somewhat constrained by actual history keeps the plot from reaching Stephenson's usual extreme screwball ending. But then again, this is the first of three. (Someone told me recently that it was originally written as nine books, then combined. Augh.) If I do go on to the second one, it's only going to be after a long recovery period.
Update, June 2017: It's been 3.5 years since I read this book and I have no good memories of it. (When I do recall something about it, it's generally the sheep's intestine condom scene. Only-female-character (forgot her name) was such a Cool Girl.) There is absolutely no way I'm reading another 1,723 pages of this.
maitrey_d's review against another edition
5.0
This isn't a book. It's something you can move into and raise a family.
It took me a long while to finish this book, especially since I decided I would read(?) it only as an audio book. Even-though I had an ebook version, this book lends itself to an exciting audio book, as the various letters, dispatches, monologues, not to mention pirate-sea-chants are brought alive by a skilled ensemble of artists.
Here's what I thought of this book:
1. This is not a history book, it's historical fiction/fantasy. But that doesn't mean you don't learn a lot of history from it. Louis XIV, William of Orange, James II are some of the characters who appear throughout the book, not to mention (arguably) more important figures such as Leibniz, Robert Hook and Newton. You also get to read about events such as the Fire of London, the Siege of Vienna, and the Glorious Revolution in Stephenson's classic style.
2. You need not have read the [b:Cryptonomicon|816|Cryptonomicon|Neal Stephenson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327931476s/816.jpg|1166797] to enjoy Quicksilver, but some of Quicksilver's (QS) characters are ancestors of the ones that appear in Cryptonomicon, which was published earlier. Stephenson eases you into his style in Crypto, while in QS, it's more of a headlong jump (not that I'm complaining).
3. Boy, have I become a fan of Stephenson's writing style. Whether it's his descriptions of the 17th Century Amsterdam Stock Market, or the conic-sections made by a ship observed by Daniel Waterhouse. Or the dry irreverent wit (sometimes in the middle of the didactic discourse), usually spouted by Jack Shaftoe, is as good as it gets.
4. Stephenson tries to use a variety of scenarios and characters to explore 17th/18th Century life, whether it's a bunch of mudlark boys who help convicts about to be hanged, or the silver mining process in Central Europe, or an epic professor versus pirates battle in the Atlantic Ocean; something no historian will speculate about in such juicy detail.
5. The only criticism I can think of is that the book is slightly lacking in the plot department. You don't know if Stephenson has a grand vision of something he wants to impart, or some event he is driving at. It can get a little galling, especially if you are in the habit of reading books that neatly tie everything up. If you don't expect that in your books, this behemoth is just the thing.
6. Just read this book for the joy of reading. If you really want, you can stop for a while and pick it up again, especially if you stop at the sub-books.
It took me a long while to finish this book, especially since I decided I would read(?) it only as an audio book. Even-though I had an ebook version, this book lends itself to an exciting audio book, as the various letters, dispatches, monologues, not to mention pirate-sea-chants are brought alive by a skilled ensemble of artists.
Here's what I thought of this book:
1. This is not a history book, it's historical fiction/fantasy. But that doesn't mean you don't learn a lot of history from it. Louis XIV, William of Orange, James II are some of the characters who appear throughout the book, not to mention (arguably) more important figures such as Leibniz, Robert Hook and Newton. You also get to read about events such as the Fire of London, the Siege of Vienna, and the Glorious Revolution in Stephenson's classic style.
2. You need not have read the [b:Cryptonomicon|816|Cryptonomicon|Neal Stephenson|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327931476s/816.jpg|1166797] to enjoy Quicksilver, but some of Quicksilver's (QS) characters are ancestors of the ones that appear in Cryptonomicon, which was published earlier. Stephenson eases you into his style in Crypto, while in QS, it's more of a headlong jump (not that I'm complaining).
3. Boy, have I become a fan of Stephenson's writing style. Whether it's his descriptions of the 17th Century Amsterdam Stock Market, or the conic-sections made by a ship observed by Daniel Waterhouse. Or the dry irreverent wit (sometimes in the middle of the didactic discourse), usually spouted by Jack Shaftoe, is as good as it gets.
4. Stephenson tries to use a variety of scenarios and characters to explore 17th/18th Century life, whether it's a bunch of mudlark boys who help convicts about to be hanged, or the silver mining process in Central Europe, or an epic professor versus pirates battle in the Atlantic Ocean; something no historian will speculate about in such juicy detail.
5. The only criticism I can think of is that the book is slightly lacking in the plot department. You don't know if Stephenson has a grand vision of something he wants to impart, or some event he is driving at. It can get a little galling, especially if you are in the habit of reading books that neatly tie everything up. If you don't expect that in your books, this behemoth is just the thing.
6. Just read this book for the joy of reading. If you really want, you can stop for a while and pick it up again, especially if you stop at the sub-books.
elasalisbury's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5