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pkadams 's review for:
Cryptonomicon
by Neal Stephenson
I finally finished this book and I view that as a huge achievement. Cryptonomicon is a tome that came highly recommended by both Mark and one of my favorite authors, Cory Doctorow (CD says it is a must read).
Reading this book is a commitment and before you make any sort of commitment you should think it through (at least that is what I tell my children), so here are some helpful hints:
1. It is long - 918 pages.
2. The author is hip, brilliant but undisciplined. Those who cut him slack say this book is hysterical fiction and therefore it gives Stephenson license to go on and on and on where other writers/editors would edit. (I couldn't find a definition of hysterical fiction. If anyone does find it, please forward.)
3. It is an epic technothriller.
4. You should have read Diamond Age or Snow Crash and loved it before attempting this book.
5. It involves Nazi gold, submarines, computer geeks, Bletchley Park, and Alan Turing
6. You should enjoy detail - really enjoy detail.
So if you are still interested the best description of the book is that it "zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods--World War II and the present."
Still interested? Here is a brief synopsis(but really go up to the title above and click on that for a decent review): what starts as a job to break Axis codes and then cover up their intelligence coups with red herrings of their own changes as they discover gold and intrigue not sanctioned by any government. Being an epic, it is the descendants of 3 of the WWII characters who in the modern day stumble upon the gold, cryptology, and secrets when they are involved the creation of an offshore data haven in Southeast Asia. The story lines did converge and wrap up sufficiently for my taste. It is a tour de force in writing, but I still think a strong editor should have taken Stephenson in hand. An opportunity was lost because it has the makings of a marvelous book. For me it became a task of grit and determination. I found if I read 10-15 pages a day I could stay with it. More than that I began resenting the book.
Reading this book is a commitment and before you make any sort of commitment you should think it through (at least that is what I tell my children), so here are some helpful hints:
1. It is long - 918 pages.
2. The author is hip, brilliant but undisciplined. Those who cut him slack say this book is hysterical fiction and therefore it gives Stephenson license to go on and on and on where other writers/editors would edit. (I couldn't find a definition of hysterical fiction. If anyone does find it, please forward.)
3. It is an epic technothriller.
4. You should have read Diamond Age or Snow Crash and loved it before attempting this book.
5. It involves Nazi gold, submarines, computer geeks, Bletchley Park, and Alan Turing
6. You should enjoy detail - really enjoy detail.
So if you are still interested the best description of the book is that it "zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods--World War II and the present."
Still interested? Here is a brief synopsis(but really go up to the title above and click on that for a decent review): what starts as a job to break Axis codes and then cover up their intelligence coups with red herrings of their own changes as they discover gold and intrigue not sanctioned by any government. Being an epic, it is the descendants of 3 of the WWII characters who in the modern day stumble upon the gold, cryptology, and secrets when they are involved the creation of an offshore data haven in Southeast Asia. The story lines did converge and wrap up sufficiently for my taste. It is a tour de force in writing, but I still think a strong editor should have taken Stephenson in hand. An opportunity was lost because it has the makings of a marvelous book. For me it became a task of grit and determination. I found if I read 10-15 pages a day I could stay with it. More than that I began resenting the book.