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A review by loont
The Confusion by Neal Stephenson
3.0
Alternates between ridiculously over the top adventuring, weirdly fascinating explanations of economics and politics in the late 17th century, and the most boring drivel imaginable.
This is a book that will skip around between adventures in pirating and hilarious intonations on sultans; and then spend page after page on the entire family history of no character in particular with no importance to the plot whatsoever. It can be filled with wonderfully weird anecdotes of history, the kind of thing historical fiction fans might strive for. And then the next page do to a letter describing how a main character spent 3 months wandering around a garden with her child and explaining that the palace of Versaille is big.
I strove onward through some of the driest, most boring drivel I've ever read to go to the often exciting or interesting or both portions of the novel. But strove is the right word, because for the love of all no one cares about ten damnable generations of who married who.
This is a book that will skip around between adventures in pirating and hilarious intonations on sultans; and then spend page after page on the entire family history of no character in particular with no importance to the plot whatsoever. It can be filled with wonderfully weird anecdotes of history, the kind of thing historical fiction fans might strive for. And then the next page do to a letter describing how a main character spent 3 months wandering around a garden with her child and explaining that the palace of Versaille is big.
I strove onward through some of the driest, most boring drivel I've ever read to go to the often exciting or interesting or both portions of the novel. But strove is the right word, because for the love of all no one cares about ten damnable generations of who married who.