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THE BAROQUE CYCLE - KING OF THE VAGABONDS (STEPHENSON): Dorset, June 1685. Eliza, now separated from Jack and presuming him dead, has just had a surprise encounter with Jack's long-lost brother, Bob Shaftoe. This section begins with a lengthy narrative told in Bob's own voice - the POV switching to first-person for the first time in The Baroque Cycle. There is an extensive backgrounder on the Earl of Monmouth's Rebellion, the attempt by an illegitimate son of King Charles II to depose the openly Catholic King James II. Monmouth, returning from exile in the Dutch Republic, landed in south-western England on June 11, rallied thousands of local supporters to his cause, but was decisively defeated within a month and was beheaded on July 15. Merciless reprisals against his suspected followers resulted in hundreds being executed, flogged, or sold into slavery. [138]
2024-05-12
As living beings, we exist in a physical world, and we make our mark on that world. Strong fiction writing draws a vivid word picture of the two-way relationship between the individual and the environment. This is especially important in science fiction, which explores the ways man attempts to master his world, and the consequences - expected and unexpected - of those attempts. I'll refer to this as "inside/outside technique".
Neal Stephenson is absolutely amazing at inside/outside. While 'The Baroque Cycle' may not be "science fiction" in the conventional sense, it is a story about (among many other things) the history of science; and what Stephenson does really well, page after page, is to put you, the reader, in the middle of the character's world: the sights, sounds, smells, and sensory impressions of the environment as experienced by the character, and the thoughts and feelings and memories they elicit from his or her consciousness. Stephenson sees the world with a scientist's eye, and uses that insight in the service of his art.
Stephenson does not simply write: "Eliza stood on the beach in Holland. The seashells were very pretty." Nor: "Bob stood in Huygens' apartment. There were a lot of clocks. They ticked but did not chime." Instead, you get Eliza's meditations on the inscrutable motion of the waves, the chaotic distribution of shells upon the shore, and her past experiences as a captive and her wish to make a mark upon the world. You get Bob's heightened awareness, as a career soldier, of quiet noises (which might presage "enemy miners tunneling under the fortifications" or "an infantry regiment marching into position outside of town") among the suspiciously chimeless clocks (which were made to facilitate Huygens' astronomical studies). And you get each character's sense of his or her place in vast, unknowable world, in an environment shaped by forces of nature and culture from the distant past and places far away.
And so, standing on the coastline of the world's leading trading power in 1685, what Eliza sees is not simply "seashells" but:
... cockle shells in colors and patterns of such profusion and variety that they must have given the first Dutchman the idea to go out into the sea and bring back precious things from afar.
Neal Stephenson is absolutely amazing at inside/outside. While 'The Baroque Cycle' may not be "science fiction" in the conventional sense, it is a story about (among many other things) the history of science; and what Stephenson does really well, page after page, is to put you, the reader, in the middle of the character's world: the sights, sounds, smells, and sensory impressions of the environment as experienced by the character, and the thoughts and feelings and memories they elicit from his or her consciousness. Stephenson sees the world with a scientist's eye, and uses that insight in the service of his art.
Stephenson does not simply write: "Eliza stood on the beach in Holland. The seashells were very pretty." Nor: "Bob stood in Huygens' apartment. There were a lot of clocks. They ticked but did not chime." Instead, you get Eliza's meditations on the inscrutable motion of the waves, the chaotic distribution of shells upon the shore, and her past experiences as a captive and her wish to make a mark upon the world. You get Bob's heightened awareness, as a career soldier, of quiet noises (which might presage "enemy miners tunneling under the fortifications" or "an infantry regiment marching into position outside of town") among the suspiciously chimeless clocks (which were made to facilitate Huygens' astronomical studies). And you get each character's sense of his or her place in vast, unknowable world, in an environment shaped by forces of nature and culture from the distant past and places far away.
And so, standing on the coastline of the world's leading trading power in 1685, what Eliza sees is not simply "seashells" but:
... cockle shells in colors and patterns of such profusion and variety that they must have given the first Dutchman the idea to go out into the sea and bring back precious things from afar.
I had a solitary but satisfying weekend. Didn't go to shul, or to any political or social events, but I did get plenty of rest and exercise, and I got a lot of stuff done that I wanted to get done.
I've been working towards getting back to writing regularly, and setting some specific goals for what I want to produce, both fiction and non-fiction. In the non-fiction department, there's a set of ideas on moral and social matters that I want to explore, hopefully building up to a set of essays that I've provisionally titled "notes on man and society". Also I want to get back to commenting on current events and politics, and on books and culture and the Bible.
I'd like to get back to writing stories again, even if just for my own amusement. Sometimes it's fun just to tell a story, or to read one; I think we have an innate hunger for the mysterious that pushes us in that direction. Also, fiction can be a good way to explore moral and social dilemmas; I think the things that make life and people complicated and interesting are mostly the same things that make good writing complicated and interesting. [203]
I've been working towards getting back to writing regularly, and setting some specific goals for what I want to produce, both fiction and non-fiction. In the non-fiction department, there's a set of ideas on moral and social matters that I want to explore, hopefully building up to a set of essays that I've provisionally titled "notes on man and society". Also I want to get back to commenting on current events and politics, and on books and culture and the Bible.
I'd like to get back to writing stories again, even if just for my own amusement. Sometimes it's fun just to tell a story, or to read one; I think we have an innate hunger for the mysterious that pushes us in that direction. Also, fiction can be a good way to explore moral and social dilemmas; I think the things that make life and people complicated and interesting are mostly the same things that make good writing complicated and interesting. [203]
Every morning two of us had to walk to the lake to draw water, bring it back to camp, and run it through the filter. The area was mostly safe by then, but we always used the buddy system. It was best not to be out alone for any length of time.
And then one morning Zeb twisted his ankle on a rock. He was too hurt to walk, so Seth had to help him get back while another two men went to get the water. We hadn't had any trouble for months, but I guess we were overdue.
[99]
And then one morning Zeb twisted his ankle on a rock. He was too hurt to walk, so Seth had to help him get back while another two men went to get the water. We hadn't had any trouble for months, but I guess we were overdue.
[99]