Neal Stephenson

rowech · 10-23-2006, 07:55 PM

Since this crowd seems to be so educated, I'm taking a chance someone has read his Baroque cycle. I've started Quicksilver three times now and just can't get past about page 200. Am I missing out or is it just boring as hell?

SirFozzie · 10-23-2006, 08:05 PM

it's..er.. NOT light reading. I like it, but god it's slow.

terpkristin · 10-23-2006, 08:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowech

Since this crowd seems to be so educated, I'm taking a chance someone has read his Baroque cycle. I've started Quicksilver three times now and just can't get past about page 200. Am I missing out or is it just boring as hell?

I've read the Baroque Cycle. And Snow Crash. And The Diamond Age. And Zodiac. And Cryptonomicon.

It's been a couple years since I read Quicksilver, but I don't really remember it being all that difficult to get into. More difficult for certain than Snow Crash or The Diamond Age, but on par with Cryptonomicon. It may have "helped" that I'd read Cryptonomicon beforehand, as it involves the same families and a certain same character...I think it may have helped keep my interest piqued.

I loved the entire Cycle. The Confusion (the middle book) was the hardest for me to get through, as for a long time, I didn't have a CLUE as to what was going on or how it related. Thankfully, as I had hoped and expected, the third book, The Sytem of the World, made it all come together in a very neat picture.

Each their own, of course. There are some books for everybody I think that are just hard to get into. For me, it's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell....everybody I know says it's great, but I can't get past page 250ish. I've actually put that down for now, as I've picked up the audio book (from Audible, one of my 2 free books/month) and hope that having it read to me will be better than me reading it...

/tk

SirFozzie · 10-23-2006, 08:07 PM

Audible! One of Us! One Of Us!

Ask Josh (SackAttack) if there's any better day then Audible Day

terpkristin · 10-23-2006, 08:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Audible! One of Us! One Of Us!

Ask Josh (SackAttack) if there's any better day then Audible Day

Josh was the one who cajoled me to join in the first place.

/tk

rowech · 10-23-2006, 08:49 PM

I did read Cryptonomicon a couple years back and enjoyed so-so. It seems as if the Quicksilver book is just going to be a 900 page introduction to the other two novels in the cycle. It's sad because I know deep down I should love this book. I loved Instance of the Fingerpost and Pillars of the Earth. Throw in the math, science, and philosophy in Quicksilver and you have what should be a can't miss book for me...right now it's missing though.

Drake · 10-23-2006, 09:10 PM

Neal Stephenson is a god and I worship the ground he walks on.

path12 · 10-23-2006, 09:45 PM

The first time I tried Quicksilver I had much the same reaction. Just last month though I picked up Cryptonomicon and loved it -- has to be in my top ten books ever right now.

Got me interested in retrying Quicksilver and I'm getting through it much better this time.

Bonegavel · 10-24-2006, 08:14 AM

I picked up Cryptonomicon this summer and have tried several times to start and I keep putting it back on the shelf. Nothing has hooked me or given me the "one more page before bed" feeling. I will eventually get through it, but so far it has been false start after false start.

Drake · 10-24-2006, 08:35 AM

It took me two or three false starts to "get" Cryptonomicon, because before I read it, I'd honestly never encountered anything like it. It's almost like a meta-text.

QuikSand · 10-24-2006, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonegavel

I picked up Cryptonomicon this summer and have tried several times to start and I keep putting it back on the shelf. Nothing has hooked me or given me the "one more page before bed" feeling. I will eventually get through it, but so far it has been false start after false start.

I felt that way pretty much through the entire thing. There is certainly a group of very enthusiastic adherents, as evidenced here. On balance, I thought the book was fine, and parts were interesting to me, but I was not really inspired to go and plunge into another of his monoliths. *shurg*

Toddzilla · 10-24-2006, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rowech

Since this crowd seems to be so educated, I'm taking a chance someone has read his Baroque cycle. I've started Quicksilver three times now and just can't get past about page 200. Am I missing out or is it just boring as hell?

Join th4 club, my friend. I've been stuck between pages 300-350 for about 2 years now.

lordscarlet · 10-24-2006, 09:20 AM

I've only read Snow Crash, but I enjoyed it.

Crapshoot · 10-24-2006, 12:13 PM

Cryptonomicon is a really fun book with some non-obvious layers (Root being the best example

), but suffers from the classic Stephenson curse - the man doesn't know how to end a book (see Snow Crash). He spends 900 pages building a story, and then kills it in 15.

terpkristin · 10-24-2006, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

Cryptonomicon is a really fun book with some non-obvious layers (Root being the best example

), but suffers from the classic Stephenson curse - the man doesn't know how to end a book (see Snow Crash). He spends 900 pages building a story, and then kills it in 15.

That was my complaint, too.

Ditto for Baroque Cycle.

/tk

rowech · 10-24-2006, 05:33 PM

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with these feelings. I feel as if I don't read it, based on those who finished, I'm missing out on something great but I'm not seeing it.

SackAttack · 10-24-2006, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Josh was the one who cajoled me to join in the first place.

/tk

There is no day better than Audible Day.

rowech · 07-23-2011, 01:39 PM

Looking for something to read this summer I'm trying Quicksilver again. Anybody from this thread or even others just popping in ever get around to finishing it or the cycle besides those posted. Worth the effort?

Pumpy Tudors · 07-23-2011, 01:52 PM

try reading quicksilver. if you try to read one time and it dont click, try reading two times. if two times dont click, try four. if you cant read quicksilver after four tries, maybe quicksilver not the book for you.

jeff061 · 07-23-2011, 01:54 PM

Loved Cryptonomicon, maybe my favorite book. Have all three books in the Baroque Cycle but haven't really gotten hooked in yet. Got a couple hundred pages into Quicksilver, I thought it was interesting but I didn't much care about anything enough and my interest fizzled.

Shkspr · 07-23-2011, 04:04 PM

Interestingly, I just got an advance copy of Stephenson's Reamde, for which the selling point is that the book is his most accessible ever. The plot centers around a scheme to money launder funds through gold farming, that ends up as a gang war conducted over the Internet. Though the near future SF MacGuffin is typical Stephenson, it appears as though the relative unreadability of the Baroque cycle and Anathem might have affected the prose in this book. The positioning of the book is much more in the vein of a conventional thriller than as the mystic technomancy of the bulk of his work. It'll be interesting to see if he tones down the literary conceits that plagued Cryptonomicon, as well.

Toddzilla · 07-23-2011, 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

try reading quicksilver. if you try to read one time and it dont click, try reading two times. if two times dont click, try four. if you cant read quicksilver after four tries, maybe quicksilver not the book for you.

I see what you did there....

Uncle Briggs · 07-23-2011, 04:30 PM

I had the same problem getting into Quicksilver as you seem to. The payoff is, IMO, worth pushing through to the more engaging parts of the books. I found the Baroque Cycle better than Cryptonomicon, although I think I hold a minority opinion there.

terpkristin · 07-23-2011, 04:45 PM

I loved The Baroque Cycle books.

But I admit, I'm a nerd. I liked the sort of historical fiction with the fathers of modern math and science.

/tk

Chief Rum · 07-23-2011, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shkspr

Interestingly, I just got an advance copy of Stephenson's Reamde, for which the selling point is that the book is his most accessible ever. The plot centers around a scheme to money launder funds through gold farming, that ends up as a gang war conducted over the Internet. Though the near future SF MacGuffin is typical Stephenson, it appears as though the relative unreadability of the Baroque cycle and Anathem might have affected the prose in this book. The positioning of the book is much more in the vein of a conventional thriller than as the mystic technomancy of the bulk of his work. It'll be interesting to see if he tones down the literary conceits that plagued Cryptonomicon, as well.

It's probably just because my mind is F'd up, so I can read this stuff, but I really enjoyed both Cryptonomicon and Anathem, although, yeah, Anathem lost me several times.In reading Anathem once, I probably actually read it three times, with all the re-reading and trying to decide what just happened.

I also read Quicksilver and as others have indicated here, it didn't draw me in, and I haven't gotten the next two books in the Baroque Cycle as a result.

I still have Snow Crash to read, and just bought The Diamond Age, so I still have some Stephenson to get to.

I bought The Diamond Age yesterday, when I also bought two Alistair Reynolds books, another scifi writer who writes some very hard science fiction. I must be a glutton for mental punishment.

chesapeake · 07-25-2011, 09:25 AM

I read the whole Cycle and thought it was ok, but no better than that. Historical fiction is my preferred genre, but this one just didn't do it for me.

wade moore · 07-25-2011, 09:41 AM

I was trying to get into Quicksilver, but usually it's telling when I go a week or two without reading, like I have with Quicksilver.

So I'm going to start Dance of Dragons, we'll see if I ever get back to Quicksilver.

path12 · 07-25-2011, 07:27 PM

It took me a couple tries with the Baroque Cycle but once I got into it I thought it just wonderful.

I think Stephenson is my favorite current author, Cryptonomicon is in my top five books of all time and I really liked Anathem as well.

YMMV of course. Obviously there are a wealth of different opinions just on this thread.

10-23-2006, 08:05 PM	#2
SirFozzie Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: The State of Insanity	it's..er.. NOT light reading. I like it, but god it's slow. __________________ Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com

10-23-2006, 08:07 PM	#4
SirFozzie Hall Of Famer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: The State of Insanity	Audible! One of Us! One Of Us! Ask Josh (SackAttack) if there's any better day then Audible Day __________________ Check out Foz's New Video Game Site, An 8-bit Mind in an 8GB world! http://an8bitmind.com

10-23-2006, 09:45 PM	#8
path12 Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Seattle, WA	The first time I tried Quicksilver I had much the same reaction. Just last month though I picked up Cryptonomicon and loved it -- has to be in my top ten books ever right now. Got me interested in retrying Quicksilver and I'm getting through it much better this time. __________________ We have always been at war with Eastasia.

10-24-2006, 09:20 AM	#13
lordscarlet Pro Starter Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Washington, DC	I've only read Snow Crash, but I enjoyed it. __________________ Sixteen Colors ANSI/ASCII Art Archive "...the better half of the Moores..." -cthomer5000

07-23-2011, 01:52 PM	#19
Pumpy Tudors Bounty Hunter Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Pittsburgh, PA	try reading quicksilver. if you try to read one time and it dont click, try reading two times. if two times dont click, try four. if you cant read quicksilver after four tries, maybe quicksilver not the book for you. __________________ No, I am not Batman, and I will not repair your food processor.

10-23-2006, 08:49 PM	#6
rowech Pro Starter Join Date: Feb 2006	I did read Cryptonomicon a couple years back and enjoyed so-so. It seems as if the Quicksilver book is just going to be a 900 page introduction to the other two novels in the cycle. It's sad because I know deep down I should love this book. I loved Instance of the Fingerpost and Pillars of the Earth. Throw in the math, science, and philosophy in Quicksilver and you have what should be a can't miss book for me...right now it's missing though.

10-23-2006, 09:10 PM	#7
Drake assmaster Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bloomington, IN	Neal Stephenson is a god and I worship the ground he walks on.

10-24-2006, 08:14 AM	#9
Bonegavel Awaiting Further Instructions... Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Macungie, PA	I picked up Cryptonomicon this summer and have tried several times to start and I keep putting it back on the shelf. Nothing has hooked me or given me the "one more page before bed" feeling. I will eventually get through it, but so far it has been false start after false start.

10-24-2006, 08:35 AM	#10
Drake assmaster Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Bloomington, IN	It took me two or three false starts to "get" Cryptonomicon, because before I read it, I'd honestly never encountered anything like it. It's almost like a meta-text.

10-24-2006, 12:13 PM	#14
Crapshoot Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Dec 2003	Cryptonomicon is a really fun book with some non-obvious layers (Root being the best example ), but suffers from the classic Stephenson curse - the man doesn't know how to end a book (see Snow Crash). He spends 900 pages building a story, and then kills it in 15.

10-24-2006, 05:33 PM	#16
rowech Pro Starter Join Date: Feb 2006	I'm glad to know I'm not the only one with these feelings. I feel as if I don't read it, based on those who finished, I'm missing out on something great but I'm not seeing it.

07-23-2011, 01:39 PM	#18
rowech Pro Starter Join Date: Feb 2006	Looking for something to read this summer I'm trying Quicksilver again. Anybody from this thread or even others just popping in ever get around to finishing it or the cycle besides those posted. Worth the effort?

07-23-2011, 01:54 PM	#20
jeff061 Grizzled Veteran Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: MA	Loved Cryptonomicon, maybe my favorite book. Have all three books in the Baroque Cycle but haven't really gotten hooked in yet. Got a couple hundred pages into Quicksilver, I thought it was interesting but I didn't much care about anything enough and my interest fizzled. __________________

07-23-2011, 04:04 PM	#21
Shkspr College Benchwarmer Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: Amarillo, TX	Interestingly, I just got an advance copy of Stephenson's Reamde, for which the selling point is that the book is his most accessible ever. The plot centers around a scheme to money launder funds through gold farming, that ends up as a gang war conducted over the Internet. Though the near future SF MacGuffin is typical Stephenson, it appears as though the relative unreadability of the Baroque cycle and Anathem might have affected the prose in this book. The positioning of the book is much more in the vein of a conventional thriller than as the mystic technomancy of the bulk of his work. It'll be interesting to see if he tones down the literary conceits that plagued Cryptonomicon, as well.

07-23-2011, 04:30 PM	#23
Uncle Briggs Mascot Join Date: Nov 2006	I had the same problem getting into Quicksilver as you seem to. The payoff is, IMO, worth pushing through to the more engaging parts of the books. I found the Baroque Cycle better than Cryptonomicon, although I think I hold a minority opinion there.

07-23-2011, 04:45 PM	#24
terpkristin Grizzled Veteran Join Date: May 2003 Location: Ashburn, VA	I loved The Baroque Cycle books. But I admit, I'm a nerd. I liked the sort of historical fiction with the fathers of modern math and science. /tk __________________ GO TERPS! https://www.flickr.com/photos/terpkristin https://twitter.com/terpkristin

07-25-2011, 09:25 AM	#26
chesapeake College Starter Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Arlington, VA	I read the whole Cycle and thought it was ok, but no better than that. Historical fiction is my preferred genre, but this one just didn't do it for me.

07-25-2011, 07:27 PM	#28
path12 Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Seattle, WA	It took me a couple tries with the Baroque Cycle but once I got into it I thought it just wonderful. I think Stephenson is my favorite current author, Cryptonomicon is in my top five books of all time and I really liked Anathem as well. YMMV of course. Obviously there are a wealth of different opinions just on this thread. __________________ We have always been at war with Eastasia.

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