Facebook IconMy Neal Stephenson fandom/fanhood goes back a long long time. Back in the middle of the 1980s I found a paperback novel: The Big U. It had a girl sitting on a bed reading a book called the Big U, with a girl on the cover reading a book called the Big U. . . It was a funny little satire on college life.
Decades later, I would find out that my little book was sought after by Stephenson’s growing cadre of fans. Stephenson kept it out of print for many years while the few remaining copies circulated for astronomical prices on E-bay.
Every now and then, I’d find a new Neal Stephenson book. The Diamond Age was my favorite science fiction title. Young girls all had little hand-held computers that obsessed them..The upper classes in this near-future world affected Victorian style home furnishings and clothing. There is also Zodiac, an environmental novel, and Snow Crash, about the internet future..Early in this century, I was flabbergasted to see a New Yorker ad for Neal Stephenson's New York Times Bestseller.
Wow! That was a far cry from paperback sci fi land. You bet I eagerly, sought out the book, Cryptonomicon. The book took place partly in WWII and partly in the present. It had marines, miners, geeks, code-breakers, Nazis, Japanese Generals, code-breakers, and nerds with IPOs. It was big and smart fun.
Neal Stephenson went on to publish his wildly successful geeky history series, called the Baroque Cycle: Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World.
In this sprawling novel set in the 17th Century, Stephenson describes the invention of the modern financial world, the development of scientific research, Isaac Newton, the Invisible College, animal experimentation, cutting for the Stone, the courts of James I, Charles I, Charles II, and James II, spies, philosophers, goldsmiths, speculators, colonists, explorers, pirates, executioners, forgers, mathematicians, and royalty. And Smallpox and war. And gold.
The MSSSuch a big wide open series has room for three main characters.
Daniel Waterhouse is a scientist who travels from his haven in the British colonies to England to deal with Isaac Newton. Through Daniel’s eyes, we observe the scientific community when Newton was discovering Optics, he or Leibnitz was inventing calculus, Wren was re-building London after the fire, and surgery was a dreaded word.
Alchemist Jack Shaftoe is a scoundrel who had his penis truncated during a syphilis treatment, who travels through a world of death, pirates, disease, finance, spying, warring, and developing a crew that can travel the world bringing mayhem to sundry parties. He and his brother grew up being paid by criminals about to be hung to grab onto their legs and help break their necks quickly. Jack’s brother becomes a soldier who pursues his lost love through war and invasions.
Eliza is 18 or so when she meets up with Jack. She was born and grew up on an obscure British/French isle. She and her mother were kidnapped by Barbary Pirates and sold as sex slaves. With Jack, Eliza escapes her harem having wrapped herself in silk and ostrich feathers. Her loot becomes the basis for her fortune. Eliza is a financial genius at a time when being able to look at markets and trade is a near-mystical power.
She has lovers, friends, children, husbands. She catches smallpox and survives. Her son becomes a queen’s lover. She deals with spies, mathematicians, kings, scientists, and financial titans. She and Jack have an on-again, off-again love affair, adding the small bit of romance that Stephenson allows into this sprawling book. Eliza is equal to all the men in her world, and superior to most.
Stephenson includes some really funny anachronisms and catch-phrases (e.g., Phantasy or going off Half-Cocked). These are big books, but he manages to pack in enough action and suspense. Stephenson also eschews the traditional white-boy-only world of science fiction and historical fiction and includes a wide array of characters. Jack’s crew is diverse—and funnier for it.
Neal Stephenson changed the way I read books. At the end of Quicksilver, there are notes on the characters (which are real and which are wholly made up). I didn't find this until I was half-way through the book--forgetting that librarians should read all books backwards, from the author note to the index to the bibliography to the expository prose. Stephensondirects the interested reader to Wikipedia.
Now you’ve all heard of Wikipedia, but back then, it was small and new and mysterious. I was hooked immediately. When I read anything anymore—newspapers, novels, non-fiction, memoirs, magazine reviews-- I often end up at Wikipedia doing a little "background check."
Well, if you want something to read this summer that will be educational and a lot of fun—you could do much worse than reading anything by Neal Stephenson. If you start now, you can read the Baroque Cycle this summer. I plan on reading Anathem—Stephenson’s most recent work..By the way, I read these 15 lb suckers in hardback—until my wrists and neck ached. You can probably get them on Kindle or in paperback.
Apparently the publisher divided up the trilogy even further with paperback releases--3 became 8 titles--here's a little cheatsheet courtesy of a helpful Amazon reviewer from Chicago.
Quicksilver, Vol. I of the Baroque Cycle
Book 1 - Quicksilver
Book 2 - The King of the Vagabonds
Book 3 - Odalisque
The Confusion, Vol. II of the Baroque Cycle
Book 4 - Bonanza
Book 5 - The Juncto
The System of the World, Vol. III of the Baroque Cycle
Book 6 - Solomon's Gold
Book 7 - Currency
Book 8 - The System of the World
Isaac in one of his many portraitsHere’s an interview with Neal Stephenson from 2004 Salon.com:
http://dir.salon.com/books/int/2004/04/21/stephenson/index.html
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Comments
You have proven yourself a kindred soul. faved and rated!
Thanks ONL!
Rated for 15lb suckers.
Thanks for the recommendation...his books sound very interesting.
But maybe I will stop at the gym first to prepare myself for such "heavy" reading.
R
But maybe I will stop at the gym first to prepare myself for such "heavy" reading.
R
I've never heard of this guy, but I'll check the library. Thanks. I like to check Wikipedia too, but only after the fact. :)
I don't even have time to read the other books you've convinced me to read. How many hours in the day do you think we have?
(As he dutifully adds Neal Stephenson to his list.)
(As he dutifully adds Neal Stephenson to his list.)
With all this writing, thank goodness we have you for us to lead the way!
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