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cosmolinguistI finally finished Quicksilver tonight. I started reading it on a train, and thus have been using my train ticket as a bookmark, and it's from July 31. Even for a giant tome like this, I don't usually take three weeks.
I waited impatiently for this book to be released in paperback so I could buy it, but it never happened--even when the next volume of this Baroque Cycle came out--and I ended up meeting and then visiting someone who bought a hardcover copy (which seems a roundabout way to get to read a book, really). So perhaps it's the long anticipation that dulled the experience, but I think the book just drags. In some parts, at least. It probably didn't help that I knew I wouldn't even get the usual, bad, Neal Stephenson ending this time, as it is so ostentatiously part of a group of giant tomes.
I still like Neal Stephenson (the first impression, given by In the Beginning was the Command Line and Cryptonomicon, can't be worn away too easily), and I'm glad I read it, but I'm also glad it's over. Andrew has the next book, too (I don't even think he's gotten through all of that one) and I'll give that a shot soon, but for now I had to pick up something else instead. I found the book Andrew bought last week, a collection of "thrilling tales" written by people like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Elmore Leonard. I like short stories more than many people seem to, but I also like the idea of reading them now because it seems rather defiant. Also, I can lift the book in one hand, which is a nice change of pace. It makes it easier to read in the bathtub, too.
Speaking of reading, my friends page hasn't given me anything new to read in the last few hours. Which is odd, for the time of day when you North Americans are awake. Maybe I just need some more friends!
[Poll #337817]
I waited impatiently for this book to be released in paperback so I could buy it, but it never happened--even when the next volume of this Baroque Cycle came out--and I ended up meeting and then visiting someone who bought a hardcover copy (which seems a roundabout way to get to read a book, really). So perhaps it's the long anticipation that dulled the experience, but I think the book just drags. In some parts, at least. It probably didn't help that I knew I wouldn't even get the usual, bad, Neal Stephenson ending this time, as it is so ostentatiously part of a group of giant tomes.
I still like Neal Stephenson (the first impression, given by In the Beginning was the Command Line and Cryptonomicon, can't be worn away too easily), and I'm glad I read it, but I'm also glad it's over. Andrew has the next book, too (I don't even think he's gotten through all of that one) and I'll give that a shot soon, but for now I had to pick up something else instead. I found the book Andrew bought last week, a collection of "thrilling tales" written by people like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman and Elmore Leonard. I like short stories more than many people seem to, but I also like the idea of reading them now because it seems rather defiant. Also, I can lift the book in one hand, which is a nice change of pace. It makes it easier to read in the bathtub, too.
Speaking of reading, my friends page hasn't given me anything new to read in the last few hours. Which is odd, for the time of day when you North Americans are awake. Maybe I just need some more friends!
[Poll #337817]