The Confusion
The Confusion (The Baroque Cycle, Vol. 2)
by Neal Stephenson
"The Confusion" is the second volume in Neal Stephenson’s The Baroque Cycle trilogy. I found this to be a much more straightforward tale than Quicksilver, but I’m not sure if that was really the case or if I just got over the initial learning curve with the first book. I think there are fewer characters to keep track of, and the intrigues aren’t quite so twisted. And, as a bonus, it took me less than three months to finish it!
Anyway, this is volume is really the entwining of two books ("Juncto" and "Bonanza") with tenuous ongoing links: it’s like each the two storylines emit and absorb photons from the other throughout the 17-year span this episode covers.
I found the Jack Shaftoe storyline to be the most entertaining: a swashbuckling tale that spans the globe. He truly is the King of the Vagabonds. He acquires quite an interesting band of cohorts (the Cabal), and their adventures are varied and bizarre.
There isn’t as much Natural Philosophy in this book as there was in Quicksilver, but we do get to take a look at the birth of modern financial institutions.
On the whole, I enjoyed this tale, and I’ve got the final volume ("The System of the World") already on order to ship later this month. I might not jump right into it, though … maybe give it a little time.
Original Entry from June 27, 2004:
Kicking off summer by starting the next book in The Baroque Cycle: "The Confusion". I had a mixed experience with "Quicksilver", but I think I'm a better man for having read it. Let's see how this one goes. Still too bulky to take on the train with me, though, so this will be my poolside, take-on-vacation, read-before-bed summer book. Here we go!