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A review by crufts
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
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.
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.