cathrene's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
fast-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? No
5.0
ashrafulla's review
5.0
The book weaves together four stories (Lawrence, Randy, Bobby & Goto) really well in that each story has its own human trials & tribulations around matters that feel very serious. One of the great things I can feel as a reader is to be bought in, where I am far too interested in what happens next because of my emotional investment. This book gave me those attachments. The attachments to Goto & Bobby are probably the easiest of the four to find, but I was also heavily invested in Lawrence & Randy as two nerds who had developed from pencil pushers into creators.
I also really liked the mathematical detail that Stephenson injects at random points. These snippets reward the reader by assuming that the reader has the necessary intelligence to understand cryptography at a high level. More importantly, the snippets provide a scientific credibility that adds strength to the Waterhouses' narratives. Cryptonomicon is then not just a multi-setting thriller; it is a deeply involved novel rooted in the real-life conflicts of 1945 & 1995.
The book is really long; it has taken me awhile to finish it. There are about 110 chapters so at 6min/chapter you're talking 11 hours. I enjoyed the plot enough that I was actually going at about 10min/chapter so this ended up being an 18-hour read. The relative slowdown of my reading was because Stephenson is actually writing & explaining activities very well. It's a more concise form (shorter sentences, more directness). That form works well within this novel, where expositions on a character's state of mind might be out of place. There certainly are passages like that, but to me those were not very interesting. It was the direct style of interactions & events that made the book interesting.
I also really liked the mathematical detail that Stephenson injects at random points. These snippets reward the reader by assuming that the reader has the necessary intelligence to understand cryptography at a high level. More importantly, the snippets provide a scientific credibility that adds strength to the Waterhouses' narratives. Cryptonomicon is then not just a multi-setting thriller; it is a deeply involved novel rooted in the real-life conflicts of 1945 & 1995.
The book is really long; it has taken me awhile to finish it. There are about 110 chapters so at 6min/chapter you're talking 11 hours. I enjoyed the plot enough that I was actually going at about 10min/chapter so this ended up being an 18-hour read. The relative slowdown of my reading was because Stephenson is actually writing & explaining activities very well. It's a more concise form (shorter sentences, more directness). That form works well within this novel, where expositions on a character's state of mind might be out of place. There certainly are passages like that, but to me those were not very interesting. It was the direct style of interactions & events that made the book interesting.
sillypunk's review
Unless you're well into sexism and stereotypes, steer clear of this bloated, awful book: https://blogendorff.ghost.io/book-review-cryptonomicon/
chtapodi's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
parriaga's review
5.0
I have been reading this book for SIX YEARS. And I'm very glad that I stuck with it, because it was definitely worth it. Starting as 4 disparate story lines, they converge in an "oh, shit" kind of ending. In a War and Peace fashion, the story is interspersed with mathematical descriptions of everyday life from masturbation to a bike chain. The host of characters is an endless parade of stupendous badasses doing acts of stupendous badassery. Would only recommend for nerds who love UNIX, math, and World War II
lostinthelibrary's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This book was A LOT. Huge in length, scope and ideas. I feel like I've been reading it for ages and can't say that I'm not somewhat relieved that I finally finished it. Neal Stephenson is a master at world building and plotting. He has devised a very believable alternative history that is so close to reality that I had to constantly be looking up which parts came from history and which from his imagination. There are so many ideas about mathematics, finance and global politics and although I tried very hard to grasp them a lot went over my head. However, these are delivered through likeable characters that you really root for and this got me through a lot of the drier sections of the text. I'm still not completely sure that I "got" it but I definitely admired the craft and enjoyed the ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Violence, and Confinement
Moderate: Cannibalism
bramboomen's review
4.0
This book was quite a read, and I really liked it a lot. Then again, put Alan Turing in any story and I will probably feel very enthusiastic about it.
While over a thousand pages, I didn't feel like I was wading through any filler chapters. In my experience every page was either dedicated to character development, explanation of a (cryptographic) concept or progressing the story. While I spent almost 4 months reading Cryptonomicon, it never felt like work, which can often be the case with such large books. It did sometimes look like the story was being led around so that Stephenson could cram in another cryptography concept, which did make the main story feel superficial at times, but in my opinion the strength of this book lies in these concepts, so it rarely bothered me.
What did bother me was Randy "Freaking" Waterhouse.
Given that more of his characters do not view the world in the same way, I guess I don't think Stephenson holds the same view, but my annoyances with Randy did deter from my enthusiasm about this book somewhat.
The only other thing that was somewhat disappointing was the absence of Elizebeth and William Friedman, whom I had recently read about, but this is hardly a criticism.
All in all, I really liked this tome and I am actually very curious towards the Baroque Cycle. Also, after reading Snow Crash, I was hardly enthusiastic about Neal Stephenson, but this book was very impressive and I do not doubt that I will be reading more of his books.
While over a thousand pages, I didn't feel like I was wading through any filler chapters. In my experience every page was either dedicated to character development, explanation of a (cryptographic) concept or progressing the story. While I spent almost 4 months reading Cryptonomicon, it never felt like work, which can often be the case with such large books. It did sometimes look like the story was being led around so that Stephenson could cram in another cryptography concept, which did make the main story feel superficial at times, but in my opinion the strength of this book lies in these concepts, so it rarely bothered me.
What did bother me was Randy "Freaking" Waterhouse.
Spoiler
At first, Randy gets built up as the ultra rational nerd-hero, which I quite liked. Even the slightly misplaced rant he gives at the pretentious friends of his girlfriend was quite amusing and did indeed illustrate the disconnect that exists between humanities- and computer-science people. But not long after that Randy goes off the rails. One of the main annoyances was relating éverything to computers, coding, etc. Like atheism as being devoid of having a kind of Unix-handbook. Combined with his view on the women in his life, Randy gets thoroughly annoying towards the middle of the book.Given that more of his characters do not view the world in the same way, I guess I don't think Stephenson holds the same view, but my annoyances with Randy did deter from my enthusiasm about this book somewhat.
The only other thing that was somewhat disappointing was the absence of Elizebeth and William Friedman, whom I had recently read about, but this is hardly a criticism.
All in all, I really liked this tome and I am actually very curious towards the Baroque Cycle. Also, after reading Snow Crash, I was hardly enthusiastic about Neal Stephenson, but this book was very impressive and I do not doubt that I will be reading more of his books.
grantelope's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
alltheuniverse's review against another edition
challenging
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5