I've just finished Neal Stephenson's Quicksilver, and I think a book of this magnitude deserves to have some time spent considering it. As massive as it is, this enormous tome is only the first in a three part trilogy (which Stephenson has written enough of already that the second two volumes will both be released within the next year).

The book is incredibly—almost obscenely—detailed. There is so much information, ranging from alchemy to natural philosophy to 17th and 18th century politics across Europe that it is difficult to get a grasp on even part of it, much less the whole. So, even for a usually rapid reader, it is still slow going. I got the book about two months ago, and have been reading it steadily, if not in large chunks, since that time. The hardcover clocks in at over 900 pages including an extensive list of characters. Fans of Stephenson's earlier Cryptonomicon will definitely notice a common thread, especially in familiar names such as Comstock, Shaftoe, and Waterhouse. There are also many items of interest to be unlocked in the interactive companion website at MetaWeb.

But the character that may cause the most questioning is the enigmatic and seemingly long—or, if you subscribe to an alternate interpretation, many—lived Enoch Root, who appears in several places throughout Quicksilver. The character of Enoch has drawn a lot of questioning from fans of Cryptonomicon, in which he first appears. The What's up with Enoch Root? page is an interesting collection of people's suggestions and theories about Enoch. They range from the utterly "practical": Enoch Root is in fact a title assumed by a succession of learned cryptographic scholars within the Societas Eruditorum, to the completely fantastic: Enoch is an angel, turning up when least expected to help out the other characters.

I side with the middle ground, the somewhat mystical explanation. I think Enoch is a mortal man, but he has discovered some sort of alchemical longevity or immortality (Philosopher's Stone/Elixir of Life). An early line in Quicksilver reads: "Enoch had made himself something of an expert on longevity (p.25)." In Quicksilver, he is largely identified as an alchemist by many of the other characters, but much of his alchemy is in fact what we would today call science. As Arthur C. Clarke famously said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." For example, Enoch demonstrates the "amazing" properties of phosphorous to members of the Royal Society; he is well versed in astronomy; and towards the end of the book he provides an "alchemical" drug which serves to relax Eliza's muscles during labor. At the same time, he does seem in possession of some mystical knowledge (i.e., his forseeing that Eliza would need said drug).

There are, of course, a number of other interesting connections with Enoch Root's identity. Biblically, there is not only the apocryphal Book of Enoch, in which angels manifest in corporeal form (hence, the angelic theory), but also the references to Enoch in Genesis. The first Enoch mentioned is the son of Cain, in Genesis chapter 4:

"17 And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch. 18 And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech."

"18 And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch: 19 And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 20 And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died. 21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah: 22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters: 23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: 24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him."

Another interesting point is that Enoch's is listed as "walking with God" after 365 years. The latest date in which he appears in Cryptonomicon is the "present", and as the book was published in 1999, I did a little math experiment: 1999 - 365 = 1634. The earliest he appears in the book is in the year 1655, at which point he must be at least in his twenties. Pages after that, he appears in 1713, confronting Daniel Waterhouse, who comments: "'It is a welcome diversion to have you appear before me, so unlooked-for, so implausibly well-preserved.'" If he is in his twenties in 1655, he must be in his 80s in 1713, but of course, this is moot if he is in fact as long-lived as suggested.

Besides the mythical connections with Enoch, there are also technological connections. The most obvious of this is Enoch's surname, Root, which is the name for the superuser, or administrator, on computers using UNIX or Linux operating systems. On the What's Up? page, a person who goes by "56" suggests a connection with the UNIX/Linux command chroot (many of the errors connected with this command are prefixed with the letters ENO—but, I'm of the opinion this is coincidence). I'm fairly certain Stephenson, who is a programmer and a technically literate fellow (see In the Beginning Was the Command Line), is aware of the connotation that the word Root will carry among the computer savvy. However, the character's appearance in Quicksilver does, of course, predate the invention of the digital computer, and thus the term 'root' (which is suggested to be named after the part of the tree, and thus the "base" for the computer's directory structure).

Links on the What's Up? page have also been made between Gandalf and Enoch, not the least of which is a similarity between the names Gandalf the Gray/White and Enoch the Red (as he is called in Quicksilver and, I believe, in one instance in Cryptonomicon). Coincidentally, in my investigation, I discovered that Gandalf's ring—likely coincidentally—is the Red Ring. In further links with computer terminology, system administrators/hackers are often referred to as wizards, a bow, in turn, to Tolkien.

As one can see, there are a number of possible literary, historical, and technological possibilities for Enoch. As two more books are to follow, it is likely that Enoch will make more appearances, and engender further controversy. Like the Law of Fives, the harder one looks, the more one finds. I think it unlikely we will ever really know "what's up with Enoch Root?" and personally, I prefer it that way. It lends an air of mystery to what is otherwise a very factually oriented world.