Quicksilver by Neil Stephenson

[zalena]

The only problem is that I will have to slog through two more volumes to see how it ends. I don't think I can take it. I hate the 18C. I think there were parts that intrigued me, but there is also way too much extraneous detail. I couldn't help but compare it to other novels of the era, or literature from the era, including Forever Amber, Moll Flanders, and endless bits of verse from Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. What shocked me most was how much of the source material for the inter-chapter epigraphs I had read. I'm not sure what else to say except that I have the faint impulse to go wash my brain.

More birthday details:

Carly took me out to dinner Friday night. We had a wonderful dinner at a fabulous Italian trattoria. I ordered something not on the menu. We drank. The only detraction was the deconstructed tiramasu. It was two cookies stuck in a cocktail glass with a dollop of marscapone cheese, some chocolate sauce, alcohol, and cream. Weird.

Yesterday was brunch with my dad and my brother. Today is dad's birthday. He gave me a Borders gift card. I'm getting him a decorative map, when I find the right one.

I think I'm finished celebrating my bday, though there will undoubtedly be a few more cards and gifts trickling in. People gave me a lot of CDs, which is weird, as I didn't ask for any, but I am appreciating them all.

I also got an Avenging Unicorn Playset which involves a plastic, poseable, unicorn with interchangable horns, and three victims, which are designed to be gored by the avenging unicorn: a mime, a hippie, a guy in a business suit.

This gift was made extra funny by the fact that some guy mentioned in a conversation several days ago how much he likes unicorns, which struck me as strange. (I used to collect them, and have definitely noticed a unicorn resurgence over the past few years.) My brother tells me that unicorns are the new way that emo-guys try to broadcast their sensitivity. He says it's not uncommon to run into a hipster guy in macho rigging who has a unicorn tattoo.

"Does that mean they're virgins?" I asked.

He ignored my question and said, "Next thing you know there will be My Little Ponies all black with sparkly skulls on their rumps."

Comments

[muphf.livejournal.com]

Neal Stephenson has really started leaning to the side of "history geek." I like that his novels are becoming so involved and rich, but it takes a lot of patience, and I can't help thinking of "Infinite Jest" ... which was marked more by an arrogant embellishment than a real geekly depth of background.

That is to say that I can appreciate and get into Stephenson's take on the overwrought work of staggering (attempt at) genius.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I thought you told me you couldn't make it through the first book!

[muphf.livejournal.com]

doesn't mean I don't appreciate it, or dislike it. It just means it's too dense and slow for my mind at the moment.

[dr-tectonic.livejournal.com]

The Avenging Unicorn Playset is AWESOME.

[zalena.livejournal.com]

I'm just hoping that the avenging unicorns have other ways of avenging besides goring. (Although as my brother pointed out the turning blood into rosepetal power would come in handy if one were set on goring people.)

[sakuratea.livejournal.com]

deconstruction sucks in dessert!