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mathematicalcoffee's review against another edition
1.0
OK Neal Stephenson, we're done! I only read this book because in a past moment of folly I spent 1 precious audible credit on it. The only of his books I could recommend is the first half of Seveneves (it seems pretty clearly made up of a book and a sequel in one).
You'd think it'd be a book about codebreaking in WWII and maybe some cool maths or codes or a cool codebreaking technology but no, it turns out to be a treasure hunt where the main character, just when his crypto company is about to go under for lack of cash, just so happens to find an encoded message in his grandma's attic with the coordinates of some buried gold and hey presto, they go there and find the gold. yep. It's one of those books that doesn't have a clear plot but rather events just happen to the main characters, which I don't mind (A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet for example); but the resulting anecdotes/self-reflections are not interesting and frankly creepy - reads like teenage Neal Stephenson fantasising about masturbation, a man's need for it, the frequency of such, the conspiracy of women monitoring and policing such, women in black stockings, sex on old furniture, .... yep. gross. The female characters are only there to be fantasised vividly about and the modern-day protagonists don't actually _do_ anything.
45 HOURS of my life I won't get back lol.
You'd think it'd be a book about codebreaking in WWII and maybe some cool maths or codes or a cool codebreaking technology but no, it turns out to be a treasure hunt where the main character, just when his crypto company is about to go under for lack of cash, just so happens to find an encoded message in his grandma's attic with the coordinates of some buried gold and hey presto, they go there and find the gold. yep. It's one of those books that doesn't have a clear plot but rather events just happen to the main characters, which I don't mind (A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet for example); but the resulting anecdotes/self-reflections are not interesting and frankly creepy - reads like teenage Neal Stephenson fantasising about masturbation, a man's need for it, the frequency of such, the conspiracy of women monitoring and policing such, women in black stockings, sex on old furniture, .... yep. gross. The female characters are only there to be fantasised vividly about and the modern-day protagonists don't actually _do_ anything.
45 HOURS of my life I won't get back lol.
andreaskg's review
adventurous
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5
kcrouth's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent writing and story telling in this cyber-historical fiction spanning three generations. Loved it, despite being 910 pages long. This guy is a fantastic writer!
omegarob's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
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? Yes
4.75
The more historical and grounded setting of Cryptonomicon made it feel quite different from the other Stephenson books I've read, but his writing style is unmistakable. There are numerous points in the book where he tangentially explains certain technologies, but I found that these explanations were always interesting and cleverly embedded within the story. Quite often I'd look into things like 'van eck phreaking' after it had been mentioned in the book, thinking it was some sci-fi concept, and be amazed to find out it was real.
Knowing a bit more about the Pacific theatre of WWII would have been useful before going into this book. I felt like the mathematics and technology were explained clearly enough that an average reader would understand the concepts.
The characters are all memorable. It was nice to see the descendants of the 40s cast popping up in the 90s timeline. Despite flicking back and forth between timelines, I didn't find it too difficult to follow the overall plot. One running theme I seem to notice with Stephenson novels is that he struggles to write endings. This one wasn't too bad - the vast majority of plot points were wrapped up neatly, but it did seem to end quite abruptly.
Overall, despite being a pretty huge book I really enjoyed this and it didn't overstay its welcome. If you're interested in a conspiratorial story wrapped around the evolution of cryptography and its effects from WWII until the 'modern' era, you'd definitely enjoy this book.
Knowing a bit more about the Pacific theatre of WWII would have been useful before going into this book. I felt like the mathematics and technology were explained clearly enough that an average reader would understand the concepts.
The characters are all memorable. It was nice to see the descendants of the 40s cast popping up in the 90s timeline. Despite flicking back and forth between timelines, I didn't find it too difficult to follow the overall plot. One running theme I seem to notice with Stephenson novels is that he struggles to write endings. This one wasn't too bad - the vast majority of plot points were wrapped up neatly, but it did seem to end quite abruptly.
Overall, despite being a pretty huge book I really enjoyed this and it didn't overstay its welcome. If you're interested in a conspiratorial story wrapped around the evolution of cryptography and its effects from WWII until the 'modern' era, you'd definitely enjoy this book.
mcmanifold's review
funny
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
A very funny book, and surprisingly accurate on the technical side. The pacing was absolutely atrocious, but chapter to chapter was entertaining enough to keep me enjoying the book. The lack of forward momentum in the plot however prevented it from truly gripping me.
besiktas's review against another edition
2.0
interesting ideas and topics and diatribes but overall too long and not a very compelling story. also all his books have such mediocre endings, it feels like the actual writing is a complete afterthought to the ideas in the book
katieinca's review against another edition
4.0
I was a teeny bit bored the first few pages, then LOVED the next several hundred, then thought the end was kind of ... meh. So, great book, but the last hundred pages or so seemed kind of muddled compared to the amazingness of the rest.
book_concierge's review
4.0
It takes about 200 pages to really get into the plot, but when you do ... WOW!
There's a lot of math involved, but the math-challenged reader can skim those parts and still enjoy this book. I think fans of Wilbur Smith would like it.
There's a lot of math involved, but the math-challenged reader can skim those parts and still enjoy this book. I think fans of Wilbur Smith would like it.
malenfant's review
adventurous
challenging
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0