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benj_78 's review for:
Cryptonomicon
by Neal Stephenson
I got this one because it was recommended to me as a "perfect book" by a fellow technology geek. I'm a little over 5 hours into the 42 hour audiobook, and I couldn't disagree more. This book is a slogfest. There are four distinct characters that I am having a hard time keeping track of... Lawrence Waterhouse (often referred to as just Waterhouse), Bobby Shaftoe (mostly just Shaftoe), Randy Waterhouse (who is referred to as Randy, but shares Lawrence's last name), and Amy Shaftoe (who I confused for Avey when I read the description, because she wasn't in the book until around the 4.5 hour mark). Lawrence is the only one that I am interested in, but the author spends way more time with Randy and Bobby. Even Amy seems more interesting, and I have just met her character.
I didn't know what the hell was going on until I went back to read the book's description again. I get it now..... but this book is killing me with details I don't care about. Bobby's time in the marines and Randy's failed business ventures do not seem to be pushing the plot forward in any way. Let's get back to Lawrence and Alan Turing's science of cryptography... that's what I came for. I keep thinking about the "Imagination Game" and how that movie had a distinct perspective and story to tell. This one is a meandering masterclass in technical writing ability that is going nowhere. I believe Mr. Stephenson has a lot of talent, but I don't want to be impressed, I want to enjoy a solid story. It may get there eventually, but I'm starting to lose hope.
Part of me wants to just pack this one up and save 600MB on my cell phone. I'm not going to sit through 40+ hours of an audiobook for <10 hours of goodness sprinkled throughout. I'll give it more time, but so far count me majorly disappointed.
To be continued...
I finally gave up about 25% of the way through. I only relented to listening to the audiobook when nothing else was available, and still managed to be bored. I had to keep reminding myself to pay attention and figure out who the story was following (and in which time period). The book is way too padded and jumps around too randomly. I'm saving the storage on my phone and moving on.
I didn't know what the hell was going on until I went back to read the book's description again. I get it now..... but this book is killing me with details I don't care about. Bobby's time in the marines and Randy's failed business ventures do not seem to be pushing the plot forward in any way. Let's get back to Lawrence and Alan Turing's science of cryptography... that's what I came for. I keep thinking about the "Imagination Game" and how that movie had a distinct perspective and story to tell. This one is a meandering masterclass in technical writing ability that is going nowhere. I believe Mr. Stephenson has a lot of talent, but I don't want to be impressed, I want to enjoy a solid story. It may get there eventually, but I'm starting to lose hope.
Part of me wants to just pack this one up and save 600MB on my cell phone. I'm not going to sit through 40+ hours of an audiobook for <10 hours of goodness sprinkled throughout. I'll give it more time, but so far count me majorly disappointed.
To be continued...
I finally gave up about 25% of the way through. I only relented to listening to the audiobook when nothing else was available, and still managed to be bored. I had to keep reminding myself to pay attention and figure out who the story was following (and in which time period). The book is way too padded and jumps around too randomly. I'm saving the storage on my phone and moving on.