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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
It has been over a year since I gave up 3 months of my reading time to sink into this book. I still think of the stories and reference them in conversation regularly. I learned so much about WWII in Asia just from this read. But also the characters are so well written and fascinating.
Honestly, I long for another book this striking.
Honestly, I long for another book this striking.
Never felt so seen as an engineer. Never laughed out loud so much. One of the best books I’ve read in a long time
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Niel Stephenson shows us just how clever he can be, and finally ends a book as well as he starts one. This time its the history of cryptography that's under his gaze. Stephenson has an incredible knack for detail and his knowledge of nerd-core history is second to none. He's a nerd's James A Mitchener in many ways.
This is a big book with big ideas and, for me anyway as someone who's studied computer science and who has had a lifelong love of codes and cypphers, and the history of codes and spooks and so forth, this book was simply a joy to read. It's a rollicking yarn that spans many generations and draws parallels between the famous British code-breakers of World War ][ with a modern day race for cargo-cult gold. It's a boys' own adventure in many ways and the first of his books to really end properly rather than just tapering off.
It's also a departure from his early books in that it's more historical fiction than science fantasy.
This is a big book with big ideas and, for me anyway as someone who's studied computer science and who has had a lifelong love of codes and cypphers, and the history of codes and spooks and so forth, this book was simply a joy to read. It's a rollicking yarn that spans many generations and draws parallels between the famous British code-breakers of World War ][ with a modern day race for cargo-cult gold. It's a boys' own adventure in many ways and the first of his books to really end properly rather than just tapering off.
It's also a departure from his early books in that it's more historical fiction than science fantasy.
2.5 years to read the first 300 pages. About to give up but gave it one more chance. It got interesting so next 300 pages took a week. Finished the last 300 in a few weeks time. Really enjoyed the book once I could see where the stories were headed. Basically, don't give up too soon since it's an interesting perspective from WWII.
I gave this 10 hours on audio (out of about 42). It's not bad, there's just not enough of a coherent story to make me spend another 32 hours listening to it. It's like a bunch of vignettes put together using the same characters and some of the same topics. Stephenson seems to like to start off a scene, refer to something in the scene and then go off on a tangent about it with some cool/interesting/fun backstory, then come back to what was happening and then do it again. It's probably why the book is like 800 pages (42 hours). It's entertaining, but then the scene ends and I'm left thinking, "Wait, did that advance the story at all? What really happened?"
This type of book almost seems like it was written as a "challenge". A challenge to the reader to try to keep track of what's going on and who's who and also a challenge to the writer to write a monstrous epic full of tiny details and minutiae. Like he's trying to mimic Pynchon's style. So if you're into that I definitely suggest it, for me it's more like something I might try once I retire and have the time to invest in it.
This type of book almost seems like it was written as a "challenge". A challenge to the reader to try to keep track of what's going on and who's who and also a challenge to the writer to write a monstrous epic full of tiny details and minutiae. Like he's trying to mimic Pynchon's style. So if you're into that I definitely suggest it, for me it's more like something I might try once I retire and have the time to invest in it.
4.5 /5 The story was great, the pacing was decent, but why on earth was it so long?
If you removed the weirdly long passages about random erections, the book would be 30% shorter and 30% better. So I’m giving it 3/5 just for that.
If you removed the weirdly long passages about random erections, the book would be 30% shorter and 30% better. So I’m giving it 3/5 just for that.
I want to give this book more stars, I really liked the story and the characters. But it's just so unnecessary long. I think at least half (maybe even more) could be cut out without significant loss of value.
Despite what others might say this book has aged well and still is applicable this many years later.