Cryptonomicon

Rating:
Summary: Long, But Well Worth It
Review: 'Cryptonomicon' is a novel about cryptography. Sounds kinda boring right? This book is as far from boring as you can possibly get. It jumps back and forth between the present and the past - dealing with World War II and codes such as the enigma code/machine, and with modern cryptography and data protection issues. It takes these technical aspects and throws in adventure taking place on pratically every continent, likeable and interesting characters, and an excellent ending.

These ingredients make this book hard to put down once you start reading it. Stephenson has perfected the technology-based adventure novel genre that Crichton started. If you like Crichton, and haven't read Stephenson yet, start reading this book today - you're missing out. Even though this book is a lot longer than your everyday novel, you still want more of it to read.

Rating:
Summary: Phenominal
Review: This book starts very slow, and you're wondering how these characters and timelines are related. But patience really pays off. After a couple hundred pages, you are deeply involved in these characters.

I explain to my friends that this book is not written as science fiction. The tech/science mentioned is either today or near-today. What is science fiction is what it make you THINK.

The science is rock solid, one of the few authors who doesn't treat computers (my business) as a magic black box that does wonderful things for you. The main characters are pleasantly solid, yet excentrically unique. They are unfortunately the only characters with any depth.

My business partner is a huge fan of the author's, and has pushed me to read several of his books. This is the only one I have liked.

As Clancy made 250 pages of how to construct a nuclear bomb interesting, Stephenson makes you WANT to understand how cryptography works, and gives you increasingly complex explanations over the entire length of the book, fleshing out the explanations and definitions of many of the critical concepts.

The characters he creates leave you with the sense that they are true to life, but shown in a twisted way leading to many different levels of humor. I found myself laughing at a joke three times. Separate times, in three different places in the book, as the events in that place further illuminated the joke told several chapters back. There were surprises around every corner.

Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A joy to read. . .
Review: Going in to CRYPTONOMICON, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I'd never read anything by Neal Stephenson, nor had I read any blurbs or reviews of the book. However, it had appeared on enough "Best Book" lists that I decided to give it a try. And boy am I glad I did.

This novel is fun, huge, funny, rambling, witty, and sprawling. It is clever, engaging, and well-paced. It is full of quirky, eccentric, immensely likeable characters, crazy, interesting ideas, and amusing, often hilarious, looks at various situations including, but not limited to, mathematics, life, how to eat Cap'n Crunch properly, the purpose of beards, and well, just about anything else you can think of. Obviously, then, this book is not for everyone. Those who like tight, meticulously pared-down straightforward stories may not be able to get into this one.

For me, though, as you may have guessed from the title of the review, this book was an absolute joy to read. The books chapters cycled between four main characters, and every time I finished a chapter I found myself in an awkward position: I didn't want to go on, because I wanted to keep reading about the character I'd been following. However, by the end of the first paragraph of the next chapter, I'd be feeling the same way about the next character in the cycle. It was an odd feeling, and a tribute to the skill with which Stephenson created these characters that each of them was so completely engaging.

In addition to the main characters, the settings and situations were vivid and well-drawn. Despite this books immensity and its tendency to ramble at length about inanity, it never got boring, and always retained its charm. Stephenson provides us with a very amusing outlook on life.

However, this book is not without flaws, the two biggest of which have been noted in previous reviews:

1) Women. There are no really well-developed female characters. Most of the women have virtually no "screen time" at all, and the one who does have quite a bit of time is not fully realized as a character. It would have been very helpful to have gotten inside her head once in a while.

2) The ending. This book kind of just ends, without resolving properly. It feels like it just cuts off, and that was kind of unsatisfactory. Randy's story deserved at least another chapter or an epilogue of some sort to tie-up the plot. Alas, Stephenson, at the end, couldn't deliver.

So, as I've said, this book is delightfully readable, and if not for the sudden ending, would easily have garnered a 5/5 rating. I'm definitely looking forward to the next CRYPTONOMICON book (which, if I'm not mistaken, is intended to stand alone; it will not be a sequel, per se).

Rating:
Summary: Code, Character and Cheer
Review: Although some of the implications of plot twists were a little far fetched, at all times I found the actions of the individuals believable. This demonstration of writing ability is something of note in a novel that also presents actual Perl code, graphs, and contains an appendix explaining an actual crypto system used in the story. Combine all the elements of a cyberpunk novel with many apt analogies and cynical humor about the current state of the world, throw in some historical context too, and you end up with a wonderful read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent read
Review: Neal does an excellent job of linking the past and present. Some of the character linkages are just too funny. One of the things I really liked about this was that he actually researched and did the crypto bit right.

Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, entertaining and well-written
Review: Cryptonomicon is an excellent book that integrates facets of history, technology, politics and cryptology. This is an intellectual book that will appeal to readers with an interest in, or background in, science and mathematics. Neal Stephenson has the unique ability to integrate many disciplines into a story that is entertaining, educational and meaningful.

I highly recommend this book and look forward to Mr. Stephenson's future writings.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining techno romp
Review: Cryptonomicon was a great read. I enjoyed the banter between characters and the narrative that guided the story. The backdrops were vibrant and alive, and the use of two interleaving timelines kept the story fresh (oh great, another Bobby chapter! . . . but I really want to know what is happening to Lawrence!). However, the part I enjoyed the most was the detail. The level of detail Neal Stephenson went into to explain and enhance the story was truly mesmerizing. By delving deep into Lawrence's libidinous angst or Avi's holocaust-inspired drive, we get a much deeper look into how each character sees their world and why they interact with their world in the ways they do. The story could have been told without all of the detail and it still would have been enjoyable, but we wouldn't care about or understand the characters as much and that would have made Crytonomicon an interesting-made-for-televsion type of story instead of the collosal-Ben-Hur-on-the-big-screen type of story that it is.

Speaking of movies, if you are from Hollywood, please don't make a movie out of this book. There is no way you can do it justice without carving out huge, and essential, sections of the story. Merely my opinion, and I'm sure Neal Stephenson would disagree (at least financially).

Cryptonomicon is certainly a technical book and there are a number of chapters that might not be accessible to a lot of readers. However, if you have a technical background or a technical aptitude, nothing in the book will be beyond comprehension. If you read Cryptonomicon and find yourself aghast at the explanations of cryptography for example, but are still enjoying the book, bear with it - Cryptonomicon is certainly more than just numbers and math.

If you are looking for a light read, skip this book. If you are looking for easy to digest brain candy, again, skip this book.

Rating:
Summary: Why is everyone always picking on the Japanese?
Review: This book is such a great mix of almost science fiction
and historical fiction. Very unusual in how it portrays
violence and physical achievement. Loved it.

Rating:
Summary: His best so far.
Review: First, it must be said that Stephenson either cannot or will not write an ending. I suffered through the "Big U", I loved "Snow Crash" and still have no idea what his point was with "Diamond Age" (The Chinese will someday rule the world? OK, fine. Kids with adult participation in their lives have unlimited potential? Duh.) and I really, really like this book. Still, when it comes time to end the stories, we seem to finish when he runs out of ink, and not when the tale has been told.

Each of his stories seem to be inflicted at some point with John Sayles disease: This is everything I know about (fill in the blank). So why four stars? When he is good, which is most of the time, the sermons about religion, math etc. really fade from your conciousness. The characters are vivid and compelling. The action is funny even while tragic. The sidebar on Yamamoto's death is very funny, very moving and does a terrific job of quickly summing up the dreadful waste of war. The best men, on meaniless tasks, set up to die by superiors that are clearly inferior men.

Cryptonomicon is better everytime I read it. I have read the entire work several times, as well as following the story lines of Bobby Shaftoe, Goto Dengo, Randy Waterhouse and Lawrence Waterhouse each separately. The story holds up until the end, where I had to wonder if our heroes could actually accomplish the goals they set if they were actually successful and, of course, the abrupt termination of a really good yarn.

If this IS the first of a series, I'm down for the rest of the tale. While he may not be my first choice to baby sit my kids, Stephenson can count on me to line up at story time!

Rating:
Summary: Lots of lo-ong winded fun
Review: I really enjoyed this book, and can recommend it. My only caveat is what other reviewers have mentioned--it's just overstuffed. I was riveted right up until the last few chapters, when he started ANOTHER tangent--this time about diving technology and I got the bends.

Still, the guy is smarter and more knowledgeable than the next five authors put together. Real fun.