need to read ~

[lookingland]

so this weekend i got this wild hair that i wanted to read dalquist's Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (check out a review here), but then i remembered that i haven't finished reading stephenson's Baroque Cycle. so i sat down with Quicksilver last night and turned a few chapters (it's been a year since i started the thing, so my goal is to finish the first book before 2008 ~ it may be the last thing i read this year ~ or ever. the thing may yet kill me).

but once again i was struck by the intricacy of stephenson's world ~ his writing is so detailed, so specific to the period, and his characters so alive and lively (envy envy envy). and yet, 300 pages later i still can't tell you what the hell this book is about. money and science (but i can get that much from the amazon review). i enjoy his portrayal of isaac newton and the goings-on of the royal society, but a "plot" escapes me and the bouncing back and forth in time hasn't helped clarify anything. well, there are pirates on the horizon, so i am hoping maybe something will happen shortly.



stephenson's original manuscript for the Cycle:
ye gods and golliwogs!
i keep coming back to stephenson, thinking: gee, i could do that. sure. but who on earth would read such a monstrosity? lots of people have braved the Baroque Cycle, but perhaps it's not exactly got the sort of following one might hope.

and why would i, who loves a little book more than anything, write something i would be daunted to read?

: o p

in other reading: i had started mitchell's When all the Woods are Green, but didn't get past the first ten pages. he's not the sort of writer who employs an effective hook. his longer novels take about 30 pages to get going. i did order John Sherwood, Ironmaster (found a first edition for a couple bucks online). i think i have everything i want by mitchell. i wish i had an earlier edition of In War Time, but i have a readable copy at least (it's a hard one to find for a reasonable price). i didn't buy any of his Washington books (maybe i will read them later when all of the ones i have are read). i don't think i have ever faithfully read an entire collection by anyone. not even dickens or dumas. but i have a feeling there are a few of mitchell's i won't read (like Dr. North and his Friends and Circumstances, both of which seem like chatty parlor devils and not to my tastes).

Comments

[ironichles.livejournal.com]

Yeah you're right, I've read one book of the Cycle and I couldn't tell you what it's about. Right now I'm reading The Pillars of the Earth and it has a similar feeling to it. With that book Ken Follet is cleverly using the building of a cathedral as the center piece, even though it's not actually about that. Like the Cycle it's all about the struggle of the characters to exist and get by. And same here: envy envy envy :)

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

I love a dense, rich story, but sometimes the framework so overwhelms the plot (or attempts to conceal the fact that there is none), and that can be rather trying. I understand that the Baroque Cycle is best if you actually read the whole thing (that it gets better, etc.), but I can definitely see that it's an investment of time some people are (justifiably) not willing to make.

i feel like i committed myself to reading stephenson, so i'm gonna do it ~ may take me years, but i'll get them all read eventually.

: D

[la-vita-nuova.livejournal.com]

oy....where to start with the Baroque Cycle...in some ways I feel it is a trip through some of the dynamics that Henry Adams speaks to. The Cryptonomicon is sort of a bridge between the Baroque Cycle and Stephenson's futuristic novels, and a lot easier going than Baroque Cycle.

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

i never considered reading the Crypto book ~ for whatever reason it just didn't appeal to me (i'm such a luddite and it seemed so technology-driven, plot-wise). the Baroque Cycle had its historical setting to rope me in. but yeah, it's a bit of an unruly booger.

: D

[la-vita-nuova.livejournal.com]

you may enjoy cryptonomicon - large parts of it are set during WWII