Reviews

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

slecar's review

adventurous funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

17marypoppins's review against another edition

5.0

It was a fantastic read. A bit challenging for me in the beginning - trying to keep up with the two timelines as well as the multitude of technical ideas strewn so casually along the reader's path. I may study CS but I have long realized I am not a nerd. And so it is quite an achievement for a non-nerd to complete this book.
I am quite in awe of the author - he might as well be in the academia doing research. I loved every bit of the book except for a couple of digressions. Perhaps the author needed them - but to me they were unnecessary detours on my path to completing the book.

Now on to the Baroque Cycle.

ketutar's review against another edition

5.0

Wow... this is what Gravity's Rainbow would have been, had it been any good.

lorireads2much's review

challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

hooted's review against another edition

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

bpbailey's review against another edition

4.0

my first neal stephenson book. i really like the tech rabbit holes he goes down, but sometimes his plot and pacing be clunky and awkward. i find myself more interested in his backstory and asides than his characters.

chickadee21's review against another edition

3.0

I had high hopes for this book. It involved two of my favorite things - WWII and codebreaking - and had been recommended to me by a number of people. Alas, it did not live up to my expectations.

I knew this was going to be a very long, dense, technical book. I was prepared for that. I was okay with the technical discussions. I do think it could have been shorter, but that wasn't the issue. If I'm going to spend the time and energy to read a really long book (in my definition, 700+ pages), it had better be damn good, i.e. [b:The Luminaries|17333230|The Luminaries|Eleanor Catton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1410524246s/17333230.jpg|24064531], [b:Shōgun|402093|Shōgun (Asian Saga, #3)|James Clavell|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1397228842s/402093.jpg|1755568], [b:The Pillars of the Earth|5043|The Pillars of the Earth (The Pillars of the Earth, #1)|Ken Follett|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388193707s/5043.jpg|3359698], etc.

Here are my problems with the book. I really did enjoy the beginning, or first 300-400 pages. The parts where Lawrence Waterhouse and Bobby Shaftoe are trying to convince the Nazis and the Japanese that they haven't broken all their codes are fascinating and brilliantly done. Unfortunately, about midway through the book, that plot line suddenly disappears. Apparently the Allies no longer care whether the Axis know that they've broken the codes (um, why??? not explained), and the plot shifts - to gold. A big sunken and buried treasure. And that is where the book lost me.

So I get that the gold is supposed to be a metaphor or something. But I just couldn't care less about it. The gold part of the book was waaaaaaay too long. It also made the modern day part about Epiphyte, cables, The Dentist, etc. basically unimportant. Okay, so Stephenson is talking about internet money ahead of time. Great idea. But way too long and drawn out, and just really, really boring. If the book had just stayed more focused on the actual war effort, I would have found it a lot more compelling.

I also found the villains of the book dumb and unexplored.

Spoiler

You never really find out what's up with The Dentist. Meanwhile, Andrew Loeb shows up at the end shooting arrows and getting blown up by mines?? What the actual fuck? We've never even met Andrew in the book - all we know is what characters tell us. I would have liked more villain character development.

I did find the Waterhouse and Shaftoe boys interesting. My favorite character was Goto Dengo - I loved his sections. I do not think Stephenson writes women well. His only main female character, Amy, comes off as pretty crazy. Glory was a cool character but we barely saw her. I would have liked more balanced female characters.

This book gets 3 stars because I did find some parts enjoyable. But I would not recommend that my friends pick up this 900 page book. It just has too many shortcomings. Nor will I be likely to read any more of Stephenson's work. There is much better WWII historical fiction out there.

willandbeyond's review against another edition

5.0

Wow this was a long book. I wish it was in 2 volumes or something, because it was a beast to carry around. With that said, it was most excellent.

There was definitely some Tom Clancy'ish espionage stuff going on, which was cool, but the most fun stuff was the cryptology, which was remarkably interesting.

Looking back on this review, it doesn't sound exciting, and it's not for everyone, but I loved it.

sameasmuli's review against another edition

adventurous informative inspiring tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

parodyerror's review against another edition

adventurous 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? Yes

4.0