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A review by rednikki
The Confusion by Neal Stephenson
3.0
Note to Neal Stephenson: just because you did the research doesn't mean you have to tell it all to us.
This is an interesting book, but it could have been at minimum 200 pages shorter without losing anything. The middle of the book drags like four hippos driving a Ford Fiesta - so much so that it took me THREE YEARS to finish the book.
And Stepehnson's choices as to what to show and what to tell us about are odd. There's a massive pirate battle, which we learn of not because we see it happen, but because the characters TELL us about it. Meanwhile, we get eight pages on how to make phosphorous. Really? Really?
On the bright side, Stephenson does not skimp on details as to how brutal and cruel life was in the 1600s. Anyone who thinks that people were kinder or more moral in the good ol' days really needs to read this book.
This is an interesting book, but it could have been at minimum 200 pages shorter without losing anything. The middle of the book drags like four hippos driving a Ford Fiesta - so much so that it took me THREE YEARS to finish the book.
And Stepehnson's choices as to what to show and what to tell us about are odd. There's a massive pirate battle, which we learn of not because we see it happen, but because the characters TELL us about it. Meanwhile, we get eight pages on how to make phosphorous. Really? Really?
On the bright side, Stephenson does not skimp on details as to how brutal and cruel life was in the 1600s. Anyone who thinks that people were kinder or more moral in the good ol' days really needs to read this book.