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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
Good book. Gets a 4 star but should of been 800 pages instead of the 1130. The man can write exceptionally at times, but he writes and writes and writes. Descriptions so in depth that he loses himself along with us. Still --- worth the effort.
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Stephenson is smart, witty, entertaining, and though provoking. this book is an amazing romp. I'm now committed to reading the entire Baroque cycle!
I had hi expectations about this book - about how it will go into the cryptography during the wars snd after. Focussing on the second world war. Being a statistician, I was expecting a certain level of detail about the exploration and discovery of these decryption processes.
It doesn’t.
I follows 3 story lines - one in the 40’s during the war.; one which I an guessing is around the Vietnam war - its not clear; and one in the 90’s.
The second story line is completely irrelevant & useless.
The first, during the 40’s had great potential in the first couple of chapters ... but then it degenerated into a totally pointless series of evens with the only reoccurring theme being that the author clearly has issues around sex, sexuality and cum. He didnt use these character flaws in a productive sense - instead it comes across that the author has some issues that he needs to work out. There are ways to use character flaws like this in a way that supports events second to the main events ( which one would assume to be cryptography). In stead, these events - seeking sex and the constant need to ejaculate - are the main events, with the cryptography being second and coincidental and non-descriptive.
The 90’s timeline ... just has no point. It follows a seemingly not techno savvy character ( whom I still cant figure out if he is related to the character in the first time line) who travels around, decrypting cryptic emails using software. There was so many potential stories and mechanisms the author could have used - like how modern encryption and cyphers link, developed or evolved from those in the 40’s.
I have read worse, but I decided to give this a 1/5, due to the sheer disappointment. Definitely would NOT recommend.
It doesn’t.
I follows 3 story lines - one in the 40’s during the war.; one which I an guessing is around the Vietnam war - its not clear; and one in the 90’s.
The second story line is completely irrelevant & useless.
The first, during the 40’s had great potential in the first couple of chapters ... but then it degenerated into a totally pointless series of evens with the only reoccurring theme being that the author clearly has issues around sex, sexuality and cum. He didnt use these character flaws in a productive sense - instead it comes across that the author has some issues that he needs to work out. There are ways to use character flaws like this in a way that supports events second to the main events ( which one would assume to be cryptography). In stead, these events - seeking sex and the constant need to ejaculate - are the main events, with the cryptography being second and coincidental and non-descriptive.
The 90’s timeline ... just has no point. It follows a seemingly not techno savvy character ( whom I still cant figure out if he is related to the character in the first time line) who travels around, decrypting cryptic emails using software. There was so many potential stories and mechanisms the author could have used - like how modern encryption and cyphers link, developed or evolved from those in the 40’s.
I have read worse, but I decided to give this a 1/5, due to the sheer disappointment. Definitely would NOT recommend.
I did recommend [b:Cryptonomicon|816|Cryptonomicon|Neal Stephenson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327931476l/816._SY75_.jpg|1166797] to my in-laws, they'd enjoy it.
A stellium of personal history connections with the text, despite not having lived in the Philippines, or worked in cryptanalysis, nor for the US military, nor having been an executive in a dotcom/IT startup, kept me riveted, and this 918-page thriller had what no other books of its heft and categories have: hilarity, and style, and a code offered by Bruce Schneier.
A stellium of personal history connections with the text, despite not having lived in the Philippines, or worked in cryptanalysis, nor for the US military, nor having been an executive in a dotcom/IT startup, kept me riveted, and this 918-page thriller had what no other books of its heft and categories have: hilarity, and style, and a code offered by Bruce Schneier.
Not my book Long winded, at times tedious at times reasonably entertaining, flat characterisation. The book could have done with about a third of the pages gone. It does not help that reading it in 2017 means that a lot of the high end things have been resigned to history.
The women are token in the book to the point that it is totally embarrassing. Their main role is for the sexual entertainment of men. Any other role is in the shadow, just a token financial person but non technical and heaven forbid they may have an interest in something as male prerogative as mathematics. So totally last century in that respect.
Now some parts were fun, I liked Lawrence Waterhouse as a person and the Bobby Shaftoe story line on occasions and I liked the cryptography a lot. but it was not enough to save the book for me.
I finished it and really that is the best I can say about it.
The women are token in the book to the point that it is totally embarrassing. Their main role is for the sexual entertainment of men. Any other role is in the shadow, just a token financial person but non technical and heaven forbid they may have an interest in something as male prerogative as mathematics. So totally last century in that respect.
Now some parts were fun, I liked Lawrence Waterhouse as a person and the Bobby Shaftoe story line on occasions and I liked the cryptography a lot. but it was not enough to save the book for me.
I finished it and really that is the best I can say about it.
A masterpiece of a tale. It's very long and very dense but everything is tied up with serious attention to detail. Like many of NS books they're so packed full of info that it's hard to take it all in first time round. My second reading was a much better experience than the first.
It started so well, for at least 400 pages. But after that the pace became glacial, I forgot who half the characters were and then there was a whole chapter on eating breakfast cereal. Trudged on to the end but it really wasn't worth it. So disappointed because I love his work.
I could not get into this book. I was hopping it was just slow starting out, but after getting 150 pages into it I just can't follow it. The writing style must be over my head.