Specify Containing Books The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle #2)
| Title | : | The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle #2) |
| Author | : | Neal Stephenson |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 815 pages |
| Published | : | June 14th 2005 by William Morrow Paperbacks (first published April 13th 2004) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction. Science Fiction. Fantasy |
Neal Stephenson
Paperback | Pages: 815 pages Rating: 4.26 | 21708 Users | 685 Reviews
Commentary Toward Books The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle #2)
In the year 1689, a cabal of Barbary galley slaves -- including one Jack Shaftoe, aka King of the Vagabonds, aka Half-Cocked Jack -- devises a daring plan to win freedom and fortune. A great adventure ensues -- a perilous race for an enormous prize of silver ... nay, gold ... nay, legendary gold. In Europe, the exquisite and resourceful Eliza, Countess de la Zeur, is stripped of her immense personal fortune by France's most dashing privateer. Penniless and at risk from those who desire either her or her head (or both), she is caught up in a web of international intrigue, even as she desperately seeks the return of her most precious possession. Meanwhile, Newton and Leibniz continue to propound their grand theories as their infamous rivalry intensifies, stubborn alchemy does battle with the natural sciences, dastardly plots are set in motion ... and Daniel Waterhouse seeks passage to the Massachusetts colony in hopes of escaping the madness into which his world has descended. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
Be Specific About Books Supposing The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle #2)
| Original Title: | The Confusion |
| ISBN: | 0060733357 (ISBN13: 9780060733353) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Series: | The Baroque Cycle #2 |
| Characters: | Eliza, Jack Shaftoe, Enoch Root, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz |
Rating Containing Books The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle #2)
Ratings: 4.26 From 21708 Users | 685 ReviewsJudgment Containing Books The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle #2)
Fantastic book! As long as _Quicksilver_, this book feels shorter. There is less natural philosophy and more swashbuckling (including a complete circumnavigation of the globe). There's a bit about the alchemical properties of King Solomon's gold and some pre-Enlightenment chemical engineering. Additionally, there is a significant amount of banking, as many of the events in the book orbit the disintegration of the traditional feudal land economy of Europe and the rise to dominance of a marketI'm writing this review of Neal Stephenson's The Confusion after finishing it and the final book in his The Baroque Cycle. So you can be sure that this review is going to be full of the sort of specifics and vivid details that make book reviews interesting. And you can be sure that, if I didn't think the entire concept took away from the art of reading and writing, that last sentence would have an upside down exclamation mark at the end of it, opensarcasm.com style.My main problem with The
The Confusion is a typical second book of an atypical trilogy, and that is not at all a criticism. The second book of trilogies always bridge the gap between the first and the last with a focus on character, plot development and building the framework for the payoff. When this is done well, as with The Two Towers, the second installment can hold its own with any installment in the trilogy; when this is done very well, as with Empire Strikes Back (I apologize for the movie reference), it can
Just like the first volume, this one was immensely enjoyable, but suffered from similar faults. It's a true marvel to read the whole thing though - especially the way it adumbrates the trade and politics of the time are superb, and really does send us back. It's historical fiction with a heavy stress on the 'fiction', or perhaps better, historical fantasy. In my humble opinion Stephenson often takes too many liberties with the historical personas and inserts too many fictitious characters - but
Deeper into the wordy quagmire that is Neal Stephensons Baroque Cycle. As with Quicksilver , this volume contains a considerable dose of magical moments dissolved in a nearly impenetrable sea of overdone gibberish. Its brilliant gibberish, but not brilliant enough to make this book shine the way I typically expect from Stephenson. While enhancing the Baroque Cycles thematic strengths and moving the saga forward in promising ways, The Confusion is ultimately every bit as languorous as
Excerpt from the journal of Neal Stephenson.What have I done? I must have been out of my mind to think that I could write a trilogy set in the late 17th and early 18th century that used three main fictional characters to explore the political and religious intrigue of the time as well as the development of the first stages of modern science and economics. If that wasnt enough of a challenge, I had to incorporate a bit of science fiction by including my ageless character Enoch Root and hints that
Oh my god if I read any more tedious exposition I'm going to find you and throw this book at you. And it's big, it'll hurt. It'd be a lot smaller if you just told the story. Oh, and now you skip the part of the story with the action just so you can tell me what happened in more tedious exposition? Fuck You Neal Stephenson, I used to like you!
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