Baroque Summer
Reposting with its own entry:
I want to read Neal Stephenson’s The Baroque Cycle this summer. Quicksilver, The Confusion and System of the World are about 900 pages each.
With an average of 20 pages a day, we could get through the first two. With thirty pages a day, we’d get through them all from June to August. But 30 pp a day plus other reading is a big commitment, I know.
I had a great time reading Infinite Jest with a group last summer, and enjoyed the accomplishment of tackling such a big project. But that was only 74 pp a week plus footnotes, not 210, so it’s a big difference, though my husband G. Grod assures me the BC is a much faster read than IJ (unsurprising, right?)
What do you think?
April 14th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
I loved the Baroque Cycle and even convinced my boyfriend to read it. A word of caution though, the first 400 or so pages of System of the World are a trying time. For some reason, it just doesn’t pick up as quickly as the other two. I loved the Cryptonomicon too, if you’re looking to just get your Neal Stephenson feet wet. Learned a lot about the Pacific Theater in WWII. I’d recommend Snow Crash if we were 15 years ago.
April 14th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
I’ve read and loved Snow Crash, Diamond Age, and Cryptonomicon, so which is why I feel fairly certain the Baroque Cycle is in my wheelhouse.