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Quicksilver
My good friend Jeff loaned me Quicksilver, by Neal Stephenson, in November. I am pleased to announce that I have finished this Leviathan before the end of January. For those who have not read it, let me just say that it is a dense 916-page paean to the evolution of Economics, with sundry bits of math and adventure thrown in for good measure.
There are some who say that Stephenson needs an editor, and others who say that a pack of editors needs to tie him down and beat him with rubber hoses until he agrees to reduce the scope of his work; perhaps this is true. Since Quicksilver is only the first in a trilogy of books of similar length, one could easily throw one's hands in the air and walk away with no danger of ridicule. For those willing to tough it out, however, Stephenson is a kind boon-giver.
Anyway, pax. I'mn now off to read Kafka on the Shore and Iron Council before returning to the Baroque Cycle.
There are some who say that Stephenson needs an editor, and others who say that a pack of editors needs to tie him down and beat him with rubber hoses until he agrees to reduce the scope of his work; perhaps this is true. Since Quicksilver is only the first in a trilogy of books of similar length, one could easily throw one's hands in the air and walk away with no danger of ridicule. For those willing to tough it out, however, Stephenson is a kind boon-giver.
Anyway, pax. I'mn now off to read Kafka on the Shore and Iron Council before returning to the Baroque Cycle.
Stephenson..
Got 70% of the way through Diamond Age, but haven't yet finished.
1 month and maybe? 200 pages into Cryptonomicon, and I'm starting to subscribe to the rubber hose theory.
Now, that may be because i've got Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell sitting and waiting to be read, making me impatient - I really want to read that book, but know that if I put down Cryptonomicon to do so, i'll never pick it back up. Lined up behind that is Gaston Leroux, Fantome de l'Opera.
Did finish Vanity Fair last month - and now know why Victorian mammas deplored the book, even while secretly reading it. Wicked, wicked Thackeray! There's not a good character in the book, really - the ones that could be classified as such, the narrator obviously thinks are complete simps, and he's right. I loved it. ;-)
Re: Stephenson..
Darth (my brother who actually followed in your and Bjalfi's footsteps and got his Library Science Master's at Bloomington) sent me advance copies of both Kafka on the Shore and Iron Council; finishing Quicksilver put me so far behind the curve that both of those books are now heavily discounted at Amazon. Still, I'm glad I finished that one first.