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surdiablo's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
It was a dense challenging read I had my reservations about at first, but it turned out to be quite impressive and eventually won me over. While not as complex as Infinite Jest, this is one of those books that require some real attention on your part, especially when it comes to technical jargon and connecting the dots between timelines. Still, Stephenson effortlessly mixes them with captivating events, rich with dry humor that had me chuckling for its entirety so that even the pretentious parts were quite delightful and not a turn-off. The sprawling narrative that switches between past and present characters also kept things fresh and did not ruin the flow as I thought it might. The scope of the novel and the way it all conjoins towards the end was satisfying, especially for Randy's POV which I wasn't initially a fan of, but it all comes together nicely in the second half. Some of my favorite chapters involve Lawrence and Shaftoe, (Ram, Courting, and Metis to name a few) and I think it's safe to say it's one of the funniest books I have ever read, mainly due to the narration style. But it occasionally gets quite dark as well, so that you are suddenly caught off guard.
The 'cameos' of historical people were great, although I'm unsure why it's considered Science Fiction over Historical. While it's not an all-time favorite, I don't have many complaints to list, but for the sake of nitpicking, I would say it had a few lulls occasionally with random tangents that went nowhere, but they never overstayed their welcome in my experience. Certain female characters in the novel are not as fully realized as their male counterparts, which can feel like a missed opportunity given how detailed the rest of the cast is. Towards the end, the return of Andrew Loeb as final antagonist was a comical surprise since he's not a direct presence in the main narrative and I can see it being an abrupt ending for some people. The passage of time can be hard to distinguish as well but ultimately, none of these bothered me too much. Overall, a fantastic read that you may not be able to binge, but if you like the humor and find it rewarding to connect the dots, definitely stick with it. 4.5 ⭐
The 'cameos' of historical people were great, although I'm unsure why it's considered Science Fiction over Historical. While it's not an all-time favorite, I don't have many complaints to list, but for the sake of nitpicking, I would say it had a few lulls occasionally with random tangents that went nowhere, but they never overstayed their welcome in my experience. Certain female characters in the novel are not as fully realized as their male counterparts, which can feel like a missed opportunity given how detailed the rest of the cast is. Towards the end,
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gun violence, and War
Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, and Sexual violence
crufts's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Summary: A thrilling ending sequence to this 918-page book is dragged down by a glacial middle section and gratuitous crude elements.
After reading Neal Stephenson's Anathem (2008) and hugely enjoying it, I went into Cryptonomicon (1998) with high hopes. Fortunately or unfortunately, it seemed that the author's skill had improved dramatically during the intervening decade, especially when it comes to maintaining the pace of 900-page books.
The story follows multiple interwoven narratives in the 1940s and 1990s: that of Bobby Shaftoe, Lawrence Waterhouse, Randy Waterhouse, America Shaftoe, Goto Dengo, and-- stop, stop! I can't take any more! Every time we switch off to another one of these narratives, the pace slows even further, and even more distance is put between us and the other time period. The only way I was even able to keep track of what was going on was by reading the book in as short a time as I could manage, so that previous events would still (hopefully) be fresh in my mind.
Even so, there was a lot of crufty detail lying around that could be cleared up. A narrative this complex doesn't have the luxury of including all this extraneous detail - the reader doesn't know what's important and what's not, and we just end up lost.
Relatedly, the level of technical explanation is not consistent. At times the author rattles off paragraphs of wartime jargon without any explanation at all, expecting us to just understand it; at other times, he's carefully explaining that `ssh` stands for `secure shell`. Are you expecting us to know everything or not?
After reading Neal Stephenson's Anathem (2008) and hugely enjoying it, I went into Cryptonomicon (1998) with high hopes. Fortunately or unfortunately, it seemed that the author's skill had improved dramatically during the intervening decade, especially when it comes to maintaining the pace of 900-page books.
The story follows multiple interwoven narratives in the 1940s and 1990s: that of Bobby Shaftoe, Lawrence Waterhouse, Randy Waterhouse, America Shaftoe, Goto Dengo, and-- stop, stop! I can't take any more! Every time we switch off to another one of these narratives, the pace slows even further, and even more distance is put between us and the other time period. The only way I was even able to keep track of what was going on was by reading the book in as short a time as I could manage, so that previous events would still (hopefully) be fresh in my mind.
Even so, there was a lot of crufty detail lying around that could be cleared up. A narrative this complex doesn't have the luxury of including all this extraneous detail - the reader doesn't know what's important and what's not, and we just end up lost.
Relatedly, the level of technical explanation is not consistent. At times the author rattles off paragraphs of wartime jargon without any explanation at all, expecting us to just understand it; at other times, he's carefully explaining that `ssh` stands for `secure shell`. Are you expecting us to know everything or not?
That said, Cryptonomicon had a lot of good points:
- Quite a few laughs.
- Unusual and clever uses of cryptography.
- The final two sequences (in the prison, and then the final goldhunt) were great, especially with the use of the Solitaire encryption system and the other ways Randy was obscuring his work.
Was it worth reading 912 pages for? I don't know. I came in looking for an interesting book using cryptography concepts. Cryptonomicon has a little of that - but also a lot of waffle and unnecessary crude references (see content warnings below). I feel like it has a lot of potential for a TV series, or maybe just a rewrite, but I think Neal Stephenson's later work is better.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Sexual content, Violence, and War
Moderate: Racism and Sexism
Minor: Ableism, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Antisemitism
Strong content warnings for everything related to the Second World War, including the various human rights violations involved.What is with all the crude references and descriptions? Why does the author have to keep describing vehicles or buildings or countries as "phallic" (p452), call a laptop port an "anus" (p508), and refer to any kind of covering as a "condom"?
See also p476's sentence "The dancers stomp ... with autistic determination." Can't you use a word which actually means what you want to say and creates a picture in the reader's mind, instead of using dramatic words for the sake of it? This is especially weird in a book where half of the main characters have a stack of autistic traits, and there's even a scene where two of the characters discuss the kind of minds which tend to get into cryptoanalysis.
The main characters' opinions about gender roles in the story are also tiresomely stale, even in the "present day" (1990s) narrative. There's nothing wrong with having endemic sexism in your story's setting, but it gets old quick if the protagonists also think it's okay.
maneatingbadger's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Addiction, Sexual violence, and Cannibalism