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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
What utter navel-gazing dribble. I cant believe I persevered for 1100 pages - essentially I was beholden to the sunk-cost fallacy. The is no doubt that the underlying idea of "Cryptonomicon" is right up my alley of interests. The novel has code-breaking set around World War 2, information theory antics, and a whole bunch of early ideas about how the state will interact with the internet.
Unfortunately, Stephenson is a neck-beard (at least in 1999 he was when he wrote this). The character writing, with the exception of the transcendental Enoch Root, are heavily cliched and forgettable. The character writing of women in this novel is atrocious, bordering on non-sensical (as in the only really strong, intelligent woman in the novel falls for the computer nerd for literally no reason). Stephenson weighs down the reader with pseudo-intellectual diatribes that kill any momentum the overly long story develops (don't get me started on the Root's philosophy of Athena V Mars claptrap). The novel reads as a though a mathematician/physicist has an unparalleled view of human nature and is now ready to rough-ride historians, philosophers, and theologians with a basic understanding of libertarianism. On top of this, Stephenson writes overly descriptive scenes that do not reward the reader for picturing, and an incredibly annoying tendency to write the first page or two of a chapter about events that the reader has not yet read (then catches them up in the next page or two). That is a cool literary device to apply seldomly to disorientate, but doing it regularly just fatigues the reader.
Maybe I would have loved this novel if I was younger but I only view it now as complete waste of my time. In summary, avoid at all costs. To be honest, I have not really enjoyed any of the Stephenson's novels and he is now on my avoid list (no matter how much I think the subject matter is up my alley of interests).
Unfortunately, Stephenson is a neck-beard (at least in 1999 he was when he wrote this). The character writing, with the exception of the transcendental Enoch Root, are heavily cliched and forgettable. The character writing of women in this novel is atrocious, bordering on non-sensical (as in the only really strong, intelligent woman in the novel falls for the computer nerd for literally no reason). Stephenson weighs down the reader with pseudo-intellectual diatribes that kill any momentum the overly long story develops (don't get me started on the Root's philosophy of Athena V Mars claptrap). The novel reads as a though a mathematician/physicist has an unparalleled view of human nature and is now ready to rough-ride historians, philosophers, and theologians with a basic understanding of libertarianism. On top of this, Stephenson writes overly descriptive scenes that do not reward the reader for picturing, and an incredibly annoying tendency to write the first page or two of a chapter about events that the reader has not yet read (then catches them up in the next page or two). That is a cool literary device to apply seldomly to disorientate, but doing it regularly just fatigues the reader.
Maybe I would have loved this novel if I was younger but I only view it now as complete waste of my time. In summary, avoid at all costs. To be honest, I have not really enjoyed any of the Stephenson's novels and he is now on my avoid list (no matter how much I think the subject matter is up my alley of interests).
This book has the unfortunate distinction of being the single worst audiobook I’ve ever listened to. Imagine a math professor trying to explain how the enigma machine works without a single diagram or visual aid, through the metaphor of bicycle tire spokes. It’s a 2.5 out of 5 star book for me because of the incredibly dated female characters; it reads like a book written in the 50s. There are some incredibly interesting ideas, and this book does a good job of predicting crypto, but it’s just poorly written unfortunately. 2 stars since the audiobook is SO bad.
Not many authors are able to fit Plato and Captain Crunch in the same book. Neal Stephenson packs them into the same sentence. There doesn't seem to be anything that Stephenson couldn't work into the 900 pages of Cryptonomicon if he puts his mind to it. The novel is an exhilarating story of mathematics, cryptology, fantasy rpgs, an Axis economic conspiracy during WWII, masturbation, treasure hunting, hacking, the psychosocial dimensions of facial hair, the inventing of the computing machine, redemption, love, preventing future holocausts, and countless other topics.
Admittedly Cryptonomicon had to work hard for 5 stars. The disparate plot lines ramble about for a large portion of the pages, with ample seemingly endless technical diversions peppered in throughout. So I could see how a reader could become easily frustrated. The length and heft didn't bother me, so long as it was building to something. He didn't disappoint; once the grand picture starts to come into focus, the force of Stephenson's vision is incisive and undeniable.
Most importantly, Stephenson is hilarious. His comic wit rivals that of just about any other author I've ever read. There were a few occasions where I cringed at the subject matter, as he certainly makes no attempt to be politically correct, but once I realized that a great strength of the book is its ability to find humanity in men from opposite sides of war, I found these moments less important. There is only one type of person that Stephenson is severely critical of, and it is not of any particular race or creed, but of those people who would try to stop technical advancement.
In the end, what makes this book so irresistibly awesome is the voice. Despite the fact that each page is coated in a thick sheen of sardonic glibness, it is the moments where this gives way to true emotion where Stephenson delivers the goods.
Admittedly Cryptonomicon had to work hard for 5 stars. The disparate plot lines ramble about for a large portion of the pages, with ample seemingly endless technical diversions peppered in throughout. So I could see how a reader could become easily frustrated. The length and heft didn't bother me, so long as it was building to something. He didn't disappoint; once the grand picture starts to come into focus, the force of Stephenson's vision is incisive and undeniable.
Most importantly, Stephenson is hilarious. His comic wit rivals that of just about any other author I've ever read. There were a few occasions where I cringed at the subject matter, as he certainly makes no attempt to be politically correct, but once I realized that a great strength of the book is its ability to find humanity in men from opposite sides of war, I found these moments less important. There is only one type of person that Stephenson is severely critical of, and it is not of any particular race or creed, but of those people who would try to stop technical advancement.
In the end, what makes this book so irresistibly awesome is the voice. Despite the fact that each page is coated in a thick sheen of sardonic glibness, it is the moments where this gives way to true emotion where Stephenson delivers the goods.
I've read this book at least 8 or 9 times now. Still, by far, my favourite book. Just simply amazing. I could not recommend it enough.
It was fun reading this nice big book and it had some outstanding parts to it but in the end it just kind of adds up to just ok.
The sheer depth or writing makes it great but the overarching connections between timelines and the plot as a whole does not live up to the writing.
Perhaps its too much of a stream of consciousness.
The sheer depth or writing makes it great but the overarching connections between timelines and the plot as a whole does not live up to the writing.
Perhaps its too much of a stream of consciousness.
Boring.
Really, I didn't like the slow pace of the book.
It's a kind of war & peace for geeks, but not that interesting.
I give it two stars because the author is great.
Really, I didn't like the slow pace of the book.
It's a kind of war & peace for geeks, but not that interesting.
I give it two stars because the author is great.
While the book is long, Stephenson has a great sense of humor and a wonderful touch with characters. The ending, however, felt a little rushed as if he was trying to bring everything together a little too fast.
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Have read this through twice (and its long). Great contemporary science fiction, but lots of other stuff mixed in as well. The writing and dialog is terrific, though, let's be honest, somewhat college male-ish.