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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
An engrossing two timeline epic written by a genius nerd with conservative themes that foretold so much about our current world, again! I read this back in 2002ish when the paperback came out, and it gripped and moved me then, and now that I'm 20+ years older, the book still amazes me and kept me coming back to finish the 1100+ pages. The tale is a timeless one about conflict, secrets, beliefs, math, computers, and crypto. It shocks me how much Stephenson saw developing socially and technologically. Cryptocurrencies, yep e-banking is here with a non-specific nod to cryptology based ebanking, not necessarily the decentralized ledger and hashing of the block chain, but the impetus and notion of why and how. Wokeism of 2010s, the side characters espousing fledgling woke that the protagonist Randy derides.
Cryptonomicon is one of the greatest techno-thrillers due to great story telling with intriguing characters, and some of the author's legendary rants from Cap'n'crunch to Van Eck Phreaking. The three protagonists represent different types of archetypes of guys. The super genius, the man of action, and the hapless 90s techie. Maybe the 90s techie isn't a classical archetype, but it qualifies as a trope that we all know. That techie being Randy Waterhouse the main protagonist who is pudgy, smartish, geeky, and at first involved with the worst kind of woman. Randy's story involves a crypto network tech startup that descends into treasure hunt fending off Asian gangsters, perverse dentists, and worst of all a sell-out luddite. Randy will interact with descendants of the 'man of action' protagonist of the 1940s, and the legacy of his grandfather the 'super genius' of the 1940s. Both of the 1940s protagonists stories do intertwine in a worldwide WW2 espionage saga that touches on cryptology, math, war, and stolen gold.
The book is amazing how well crafted these three stories that involve two timelines, 1940s and 1990s, merge and diverge and then climax together. Where one timelines mystery leaves off the other one picks up on that mystery. Stephenson did such an incredible job.
Cryptonomicon is one of the greatest techno-thrillers due to great story telling with intriguing characters, and some of the author's legendary rants from Cap'n'crunch to Van Eck Phreaking. The three protagonists represent different types of archetypes of guys. The super genius, the man of action, and the hapless 90s techie. Maybe the 90s techie isn't a classical archetype, but it qualifies as a trope that we all know. That techie being Randy Waterhouse the main protagonist who is pudgy, smartish, geeky, and at first involved with the worst kind of woman. Randy's story involves a crypto network tech startup that descends into treasure hunt fending off Asian gangsters, perverse dentists, and worst of all a sell-out luddite. Randy will interact with descendants of the 'man of action' protagonist of the 1940s, and the legacy of his grandfather the 'super genius' of the 1940s. Both of the 1940s protagonists stories do intertwine in a worldwide WW2 espionage saga that touches on cryptology, math, war, and stolen gold.
The book is amazing how well crafted these three stories that involve two timelines, 1940s and 1990s, merge and diverge and then climax together. Where one timelines mystery leaves off the other one picks up on that mystery. Stephenson did such an incredible job.
Love this book. The whole story is still in my head pretty strongly years after reading, and it arises sometimes.
By far, the most epic of Neal Stephenson's novels and my favorite to date. A sprawling adventure, set across continents and generations with just a hint of historical fiction. It has an ending that, at least, I did not see coming.
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i actually think i liked it better this time, because i understand stephenson's style better now. still - weak endings plague him.
Wonderful book. So full of intriguing detail; great plot, decent characters and some great action. I love the way he blends historical fact with fictional embellishments. And it features one of my all-time heroes (Alan Turing) so that was a bonus. Very enjoyable.
Though [b:Snow Crash|830|Snow Crash|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1601222163l/830._SX50_.jpg|493634] will probably remain my all-time favorite [a:Neal Stephenson|545|Neal Stephenson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1430920344p2/545.jpg] novel, Cryptonomicon might take the crown as his best.[†:] As I write this review, I wrapping up my third reading of this novel.
BRIEF ASIDE REGARDING THE TIMING OF THIS THIRD READING: It is probably worth noting my mental state when I cracked the spine on this one for the third time. Stephenson's [b:Anathem|2845024|Anathem|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488349209l/2845024._SX50_.jpg|6163095] had just come out and I could not quite bring myself to drop the cash on the hardcover. But I was overwhelmed with the urge to read some Stephenson. Given the the brutalizing that the U.S. economy was taking (according to the news) right about this time, it therefore seemed apropos to read something that involved economics, crypto, currency, libertarianism (and flaws of same), and safety/security.
END OF ASIDE AND RETURN TO REVIEW THAT IS REALLY MORE LIKE A BUNCH OF RANDOM DISCONNECTED OBSERVATIONS: Cryptonomicon manages to do a good job of not feeling terribly dated even nine years after its release. The cutting-edge laptops in the narrative still seem pretty fancy; the issues all continue to feel pertinent and relevant; the only thing that seems to set it in a particular time is an off-hand reference to "the Power Rangers" pretty late in the story.
Anyway.
It holds together well all these years later and is a great exemplar of Stephenson's hyperbolic style and how well he wields that style for explanatory power as well as humor.
What Stephenson does masterfully here is to create an interesting story for nerds (esp. crypto nerds) that has a thinly veiled coming-of-age sub-text lathered onto a character that we (at first) don't think needs any maturation.
I am talking (of course) about Randy.
If you don't figure this out by the time you get to the "Pulse" chapter then you have some explaining to do. We (the readers, the nerds) are thinking that Randy is a grown-up because we (1; as grown-ups) identify with him at the outset and (2) he has all the trappings of a grown-up such as (a) a beard, (b) a girlfriend of 10 years, (c) a business plan, etc. But the Randy we start with is little more than a bearded child running away from his commitments (i.e., his career as a university sysadmin and his relationship with Charlene (though, given the circumstances described in the prose, citing the latter is probably not fair to Randy) to play with his friends (e.g., Avi, Tom Howard) and their toys (e.g., high-tech laptops, GPS receivers). We get the first hint that this late-stage coming-of-age is going on when Randy shaves off his beard to discover a grown-ups face underneath. From there it's a pretty steady sleight-of-hand unfolding through the narrative which is really quite rewarding. (Hence taking the crown as Stephenson's best.)
Granted, there's so much more going on in the novel than just Randy; we could also consider Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, Bobby Shaftoe, Goto Dengo, or Enoch Root[‡:]. But Randy is probably the best place to center.
------
† = At the time of this writing, there is a pretty broad swath of Stephenson unread by Y.T., namely all three in the Baroque Cycle and the brand new [b:Anathem|2845024|Anathem|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488349209l/2845024._SX50_.jpg|6163095].
‡ = Root in particular fascinates me because (if what I've heard is true an he does in fact appear in Stephenson's Baroque Cycle) he seems to share a few traits in common with Tolkien's Gandalf (doubly interesting because Stephenson's Randy calls Root a "Wizard" in the Tolkien sense), Weis/Hickman's Fizban, Arthur Miller's "Old Jew", etc. I'm thinking that there is a whole taxonomy of characters to explore here of which Root is one.
------
See also:
• 10 Science Fiction Novels You Pretend to Have Read (And Why You Should Actually Read Them) at io9
BRIEF ASIDE REGARDING THE TIMING OF THIS THIRD READING: It is probably worth noting my mental state when I cracked the spine on this one for the third time. Stephenson's [b:Anathem|2845024|Anathem|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488349209l/2845024._SX50_.jpg|6163095] had just come out and I could not quite bring myself to drop the cash on the hardcover. But I was overwhelmed with the urge to read some Stephenson. Given the the brutalizing that the U.S. economy was taking (according to the news) right about this time, it therefore seemed apropos to read something that involved economics, crypto, currency, libertarianism (and flaws of same), and safety/security.
END OF ASIDE AND RETURN TO REVIEW THAT IS REALLY MORE LIKE A BUNCH OF RANDOM DISCONNECTED OBSERVATIONS: Cryptonomicon manages to do a good job of not feeling terribly dated even nine years after its release. The cutting-edge laptops in the narrative still seem pretty fancy; the issues all continue to feel pertinent and relevant; the only thing that seems to set it in a particular time is an off-hand reference to "the Power Rangers" pretty late in the story.
Anyway.
It holds together well all these years later and is a great exemplar of Stephenson's hyperbolic style and how well he wields that style for explanatory power as well as humor.
What Stephenson does masterfully here is to create an interesting story for nerds (esp. crypto nerds) that has a thinly veiled coming-of-age sub-text lathered onto a character that we (at first) don't think needs any maturation.
I am talking (of course) about Randy.
If you don't figure this out by the time you get to the "Pulse" chapter then you have some explaining to do. We (the readers, the nerds) are thinking that Randy is a grown-up because we (1; as grown-ups) identify with him at the outset and (2) he has all the trappings of a grown-up such as (a) a beard, (b) a girlfriend of 10 years, (c) a business plan, etc. But the Randy we start with is little more than a bearded child running away from his commitments (i.e., his career as a university sysadmin and his relationship with Charlene (though, given the circumstances described in the prose, citing the latter is probably not fair to Randy) to play with his friends (e.g., Avi, Tom Howard) and their toys (e.g., high-tech laptops, GPS receivers). We get the first hint that this late-stage coming-of-age is going on when Randy shaves off his beard to discover a grown-ups face underneath. From there it's a pretty steady sleight-of-hand unfolding through the narrative which is really quite rewarding. (Hence taking the crown as Stephenson's best.)
Granted, there's so much more going on in the novel than just Randy; we could also consider Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse, Bobby Shaftoe, Goto Dengo, or Enoch Root[‡:]. But Randy is probably the best place to center.
------
† = At the time of this writing, there is a pretty broad swath of Stephenson unread by Y.T., namely all three in the Baroque Cycle and the brand new [b:Anathem|2845024|Anathem|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1488349209l/2845024._SX50_.jpg|6163095].
‡ = Root in particular fascinates me because (if what I've heard is true an he does in fact appear in Stephenson's Baroque Cycle) he seems to share a few traits in common with Tolkien's Gandalf (doubly interesting because Stephenson's Randy calls Root a "Wizard" in the Tolkien sense), Weis/Hickman's Fizban, Arthur Miller's "Old Jew", etc. I'm thinking that there is a whole taxonomy of characters to explore here of which Root is one.
------
See also:
• 10 Science Fiction Novels You Pretend to Have Read (And Why You Should Actually Read Them) at io9
The writing style and content are so intelligent that I took my time, trying not to miss anything...so it took a while, especially as the first 50-100 pages are setting up all of the different characters in all of their different timelines. Upon completion I immediately want to read it again, just to pick up on the thousand or so things that I'm sure that I missed anyway. But it will be a joy to do so: the characters are so exquisitely human, the imagery so vibrant, the prose so engaging. This is, by far, one of my favorite books.