The Confusion (novel)
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''The Confusion'' is a novel by Neal Stephenson. It is the second volume in ''
The Baroque Cycle ''The Baroque Cycle'' is a series of novels by American writer Neal Stephenson. It was published in three volumes containing eight books in 2003 and 2004. The story follows the adventures of a sizable cast of characters living amidst some of th ...
'' and consists of two sections or books, ''Bonanza'' and ''The Juncto''. In 2005, ''The Confusion'' won the
Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...
, together with ''The System of the World'', also by Stephenson.


Background

Like the other volumes in the series, ''Confusion'' was written as multiple novels. However, unlike in the other two volumes of the Series, the two novels are set in concurrent periods. In the publication of the two novels as a single volume, Stephenson chose to publish the volume as alternating sections between ''Bonanza'' and ''The Juncto'', book 4 and 5 respectively."Author's Note" Harper's Collins 2005 ed.


Plot

Though the first publication of the Series in three volumes combined the two novels ''Bonanza'' and ''The Juncto'', here the plots will be dealt with as separate entities, true to the author's original intention.


Bonanza

The beginning of ''Bonanza'' finds Jack Shaftoe awakened from a syphilitic blackout of nearly three years. During this time he was a pirate
galley slave A galley slave was a slave rowing in a galley, either a convicted criminal sentenced to work at the oar (''French'': galérien), or a kind of human chattel, often a prisoner of war, assigned to the duty of rowing. In the ancient Mediterranean ...
. The other members of his bench, a motley crew who call themselves "The Cabal" and who include men from Africa, the Far East and Europe, create a plot to capture silver illegally shipped from Central America by a Spanish Viceroy; they convince the Pasha of Algiers and their owner to sponsor this endeavor and negotiate for their freedom and a cut in the profit. They capture the ship, but upon boarding it, they find it full, not of silver as they had expected, but of gold. Fleeing the Spanish they are followed by a frigate in the employ of the duc d'Arcachon, an investor in their plan and a man who wishes to kill Jack for ruining a party in '' The King of the Vagabonds''. Believing the Duke plans to cheat the Cabal in the investment, they sail to Egypt and transport the gold over land to Cairo. In Cairo the Cabal negotiates with d'Arcachon's men for a meeting with the duc himself; as an inducement for this meeting they offer to hand over Jack. Jack cuts off the head of the duc to avenge Eliza, whom the duc had enslaved over a decade earlier. Fighting ensues between the Cabal and d'Arcachon's musketeers. The Cabal manages to escape (short several of its members and a good portion of the gold), fleeing toward Mocha. Realizing that they are no longer welcome in any European port, they carry the gold to India, where they are captured by a pirate queen who takes the gold. The Cabal is left penniless and its members are dispersed. Some are recruited in the army of a local king. Jack ends up working in an animal hospital in Ahmedabad. A year later, Jack reunites with a few members of the Cabal and conceives a plan to carry goods through a route that no traders can use because it is controlled by armies of plunderers. Jack shows the Cabal how to produce phosphorus from urine, and they use it to fight their way through. For this role in opening up the trade route, Jack is rewarded with a temporary, three-year kingship over an impoverished part of India. During his reign, Jack directs the construction of a ship made of durable
teak wood Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...
, using funds invested by the pirate queen who had seized the Cabal's gold, and Sophie, Electress of Hanover. Jack contemplates naming the ship directly after Eliza, with whom he is desperate to be reunited, but on the alchemist Enoch's advice that this could create political complications for the Duchess, Jack ultimately christens the vessel ''Minerva'' instead. The Cabal carries watered steel and other valuable items from India to Japan, and trades them for mercury. Mercury fetches a high price in the Americas, which need it for use in silver mines. A
Spanish galleon Galleons were large, multi-decked sailing ships first used as armed cargo carriers by European states from the 16th to 18th centuries during the age of sail and were the principal vessels drafted for use as warships until the Anglo-Dutch Wa ...
secretly agrees to show ''Minerva'' the way across the Pacific and help them establish trade in the Americas. The galleon sinks, and ''Minerva'' takes on its two survivors, one of whom is Edmund de Ath. Jack, another member of the Cabal, and de Ath are imprisoned and tortured by the
Spanish Inquisition The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition ( es, Tribunal del Santo Oficio de la Inquisición), commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition ( es, Inquisición española), was established in 1478 by the Catholic Monarchs, King Ferdinand ...
but are able to buy their way out with silver that they got in trade for mercury. Jack receives a letter from Eliza urging him to meet her in Qwghlm. Laden with precious metals, ''Minerva'' sails there only to find that the invitation was a trap; the French capture them and seize their gold and silver. The letter had been faked by Edmund de Ath, actually Édouard de Gex in disguise, who had been working with Vrej, one of the Cabal members, who believed his family had been wronged by Jack. ''Minerva'' and her crew are allowed to leave sans cargo, but Jack is imprisoned by the duc d'Arcachon, son of the man whose head Jack cut off in Cairo, and husband of Eliza. Upon discovering the deceit, Vrej kills the duc d'Arcachon, before committing suicide to prevent retaliation upon his family. The duc had planned to imprison Jack for the rest of his life, but the King of France
Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...
frees him in order to enlist his help in sacking the Tower of London (and thereby England's mint) in order to cripple the enemy country's economy.


The Juncto

The book opens explaining how Bob Shaftoe had come into possession of the correspondence of d'Avaux, the French diplomat whom Eliza had fooled as a double agent for William of Orange in ''Quicksilver''. Eliza has been captured by
Jean Bart Jean Bart (; ; 21 October 1650 – 27 April 1702) was a French naval commander and privateer. Early life Jean Bart was born in Dunkirk in 1650 to a seafaring family, the son of Jean-Cornil Bart (c. 1619-1668) who has been described variously a ...
in an attempt to escape to England, and is confined to a house in Dunkerque. There both her lover Rossignol, the King's cryptographer, and d'Avaux rush to her. Under blackmail by d'Avaux, Eliza concedes in indefinitely loaning the vast fortune she has earned through trade in Amsterdam to fund the King's war efforts. Her loss of fortune forces Eliza to return to court life, where she learns that the duc d'Arcachon was the man who had enslaved her and her mother from the isle of Qwghlm. Eliza soon begins plotting to kill him. However, before she can do so, she learns of d'Arcachon's death at the hands of Jack. Jack had pronounced over the body of d'Arcachon that he killed him for a lover. Upon the return of his head to France, d'Avaux realizes who the lover of Jack is. Before Eliza's relationship with Jack can be revealed, Eliza marries Étienne, the son of the duc and becomes Duchess d'Arcachon. After the marriage, however, Eliza's illegitimate child with Rossignol is kidnapped under the orders of Lothar von Hacklheber in order to maintain leverage over her. To exact her revenge, Eliza engages in a series of financial maneuvers involving the French preparations to invade England. The invasion is ultimately called off in the aftermath of the
Battles of Barfleur and La Hogue The Battles of Barfleur and La Hougue took place during the Nine Years' War, between 19 May O.S. (29 May N.S.) and 4 June O.S. (14 June N.S.) 1692. The first was fought near Barfleur on 19 May O.S. (29 May N.S.), with later actions occurring ...
, but Eliza's manipulations succeed at making her wealthier than ever, while bringing the house of Hacklheber to its knees. The story refocuses on Bob Shaftoe, as he and the Black Torrent Guard participate in William III's
campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...
against James II in Ireland. The second half of the book follows the lives of Eliza, Leibniz, Newton, Waterhouse, and Sophia Charlotte over the next 10 years. Waterhouse confronts Newton over his increasingly unstable behavior and his fruitless attempts to derive a "theory of everything" under the enabling influence of Newton's close friend Fatio. Several characters from the Royal Society form "the Juncto", a society that aims to reignite the British commerce through a monetary reform. The Juncto creates the Bank of England and offers Newton a job as the director of the Mint. Eliza is infected with smallpox, but survives. She meets her old friend Princess Eleanor, who was exiled to a dower-house by her second husband, John George IV; she pays him back by infecting him with smallpox as well, and he turns out not to be as lucky. Princess Eleanor dies, and her daughter, Caroline, is adopted by Sophia Charlotte. Caroline turns out to be a bright girl with an interest in natural sciences and she soon forms a friendship with Leibniz. The story ends in 1702 with Eliza a wealthy duchess of Arcachon and Qwghlm and a widow, Newton at the head of the London Mint, Waterhouse having made the decision to move to Massachusetts and to work on his Logic Mill away from European distractions, Sophia Charlotte the queen of the newly formed
Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...
, and Leibniz the president of
Prussian Academy of Sciences The Royal Prussian Academy of Sciences (german: Königlich-Preußische Akademie der Wissenschaften) was an academy established in Berlin, Germany on 11 July 1700, four years after the Prussian Academy of Arts, or "Arts Academy," to which "Berlin ...
.


Style

Andrew Leonard points out that ''Confusion'' features more bent reality like Stephenson's science fiction than ''Quicksilver''. Also, Leonard notes that the book is more focused on "Kidnapping, murder, torture, war, poison, treachery, romance and despair" than ''Quicksilver'' had been. Comments about Stephenson's humor pervade its reviews. The ''New Zealand Herald'', called it "rich, clever, ndas dryly funny as ever." Subscription needed.


Themes

As in ''Quicksilver'', Stephenson is concerned with the development of modern economics, science, politics, currency, information technology, trade, religion and cryptography. Even though Stephenson deals with these ideas at extreme length, "His attention to detail and relish for providing historical context provide the attentive reader with a liberal education, while his imagination and humor delight." Overwhelmingly ''The Confusion'' has an emphasis on the economy that had not been present as fully in ''Quicksilver''. Andrew Leonard contrasted ''The Confusion'' with ''Quicksilver'' saying "If one could argue that ''Quicksilver'' was about the birth of the scientific method and the application of Reason to unlocking the mysteries of existence, then one could also say ''The Confusion'' is about money." The book focuses a lot on bankers, the mining of gold and silver in the new world, and the idea of breaking free from precious metals into the use of Money. He particularly explores the amount of excess involved in period governments and the financial system as well as the upper classes. Leonard said that "Stephenson seems to be telling us throughout the ''Baroque Cycle'' is that the actual way things really happened—the way systems of credit were created, or timber delivered—is just as kooky as anything that a fabulist could concoct out of the wild speculation of his or her own mind." The style too, mimics this excess emphasizing exaggerated ideas and actions. One reviewer, examining this complexity and excess, called it "a baroque church organ, in the middle of playing a complicated fugue at full throttle. At its end, either the reader has fled or is mesmerised, waiting to know what will happen next."


Characters


Main characters

*
Eliza ELIZA is an early natural language processing computer program created from 1964 to 1966 at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory by Joseph Weizenbaum. Created to demonstrate the superficiality of communication between humans and machines, ...
* Bob Shaftoe *
Jack Shaftoe Jack Shaftoe (also known, at various points, as King of the Vagabonds, ''L'Emmerdeur'', Half-Cocked Jack, Quicksilver, Ali Zaybak, Sword of Divine Fire, and Jack the Coiner) is one of the three primary fictional characters in Neal Stephenson's 2,6 ...
*
Daniel Waterhouse ''The Baroque Cycle'' is a series of novels by American writer Neal Stephenson. It was published in three volumes containing eight books in 2003 and 2004. The story follows the adventures of a sizable cast of characters living amidst some of th ...


Other characters

*Dappa, galley slave, Nigerian, sailor aboard ''Minerva'' * Enoch Root *Moseh de la Cruz, galley slave, Spanish Jew *Vrej Esphahnian, galley slave, Armenian * Mr. Foot, English galley slave, ex-
privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
, ex-
pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
lican, ex-slave merchant *Édouard de Gex, Jesuit fanatic *Gabriel Goto, galley slave, Jesuit priest from Japan * Jeronimo, galley slave, a high-born Spaniard with
Tourette syndrome Tourette syndrome or Tourette's syndrome (abbreviated as TS or Tourette's) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that begins in childhood or adolescence. It is characterized by multiple movement (motor) tics and at least one vocal (phonic) ...
*Lothar von Hacklheber, German banker obsessed with
alchemy Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
*Nyazi, galley slave, camel-trader of the Upper Nile *Otto van Hoek, galley slave,
pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
-hating Dutch captain of the ''Minerva'' *Yevgeny the Raskolnik, galley slave, Russian whaler * Bonaventure Rossignol, French cryptologist *Danny Shaftoe, son of Jack Shaftoe *Jimmy Shaftoe, son of Jack Shaftoe *Nasr al-Ghurab, rais (commander) of the
galleot A galiot, galliot or galiote, was a small galley boat propelled by sail or oars. There are three different types of naval galiots that sailed on different seas. A ''galiote'' was a type of French flat-bottom river boat or barge and also a flat- ...
*Queen Kottakkal, sovereign of the
Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...
pirates.


Critical reception

Reviewers of ''Confusion'' were impressed by its quality, some noting the greater complexity and others its more action oriented approach.
Andrew Leonard Andrew Leonard (born 1962) is an American journalist who writes feature articles for ''San Francisco'' and contributes to Medium. From 1995 to 2014 he wrote for ''Salon.com''. He has also written for ''Wired''. Career Leonard is credited with co ...
of Salon.com noted that ''Confusion'' moved much faster than ''Quicksilver'' did, not getting bogged down in an overwhelming amount of detail. He notes that Stephenson is willing to go into excess on certain ideas, developing some plot twists in exhaustive detail. David Larsen of the ''New Zealand Herald'' noted "The title is a praiseworthy piece of truth in advertising." His overall commentary on the piece notes how overly complicated the plot was, drawing heavily on the complexity developed in ''Quicksilver''. Yet still discussing his interest and appreciation of the story he wrote "but don't be deterred. Bring on volume three."


Publication history

* : First hardcover edition, released April, 2004. * : Paperback edition.


See also


References


External links


''Wired'' article

Salon article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Confusion, The 2004 American novels Novels by Neal Stephenson American historical novels The Baroque Cycle Works about Louis XIV