By some strange coincidence Oliver just posted about his fear of starting on Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. The same book I just finished. He's gonna hate me for saying this but: WOW! what a book.
My guess is a lot of people will be utterly shocked by the intense amount of stuff that is going to come the way of anyone that starts reading it. There is so much detail about every aspect of life in the late 1600s, that you need to keep taking deep breaths while reading it, so as not to suffocate. With out going away to much: yes there is a point to all of that and yes you're going to love it. Just don't pretend you get "stuck" in the beginning. That's just your brain experiencing overload.
As to whether I'm going to start on The Confusion (part II) next, the answer is no. Since Oliver will be now be forced to start reading Quicksilver, I have just started his recommendation: The Da Vinci Code.
I aim to fninsh it later this week. Then we'll start with the Confusion. That is unless I get caught up reading books like Soldier of the Great War, Tokkaido Road, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Yellow Dog, the complete works of Roald Dahl or Crusader, all of which are stack mountain high on my bedside table, waiting to be read.
I gotta catch up.
Have fun with the da vinci code then. I'll see to it that I start quicksilver fast :)
Posted by: Oliver Thylmann | July 07, 2004 at 07:18 AM
Just finished Quicksilver on the 'plane back from Spain today, and immediately embarked upon Confusion. Loved Quicksilver - would have loved it even more if it were _more_ epic, thought that wouldn't have fit inside the covers.. As to the daVinci code: yes, it was good - but I liked Eco's Foucault's Pendulum better. More weight. Happy reading, though!
Posted by: Erwin | July 18, 2004 at 11:07 PM