Cryptonomicon

Rating:
Summary: "As long as men are capable of evil."
Review: So you want to break a code?

Noble undertaking. Be careful, though. What you learn might spur you to action. And, in taking said action, your Enemy might realize you've broken their code. They change it. Suddenly, zap! You're back to square one.

In Cryptonomicon, that's just the beginning. In a book that spans from World War II to present-day, covering almost every continent, jumping back in forth in geography and time, you get the feel for connections that turn out to be more than coincidences. It is almost as if the codes everyone tries to break suddenly come to life and take on personalities, and you are left to ponder how one piece of the code relates to another.

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. Between the codes and code breaking, the numerous analogies Stephenson uses to explain how codes work (especially the bicycle chain), the injection of various Famous People (like Turing and... oh, you'll find out),and just the author's overall world view (similar to my own), I found myself unable to put it down. Entertaining and informative.

And... BUMJU EBTWW DUFRX DUQVK UMEBU FBVIB EVTOU XFHXV KZTVU PKXLM UMMXW XMUYW BAUM. Off the tongue-in-cheek scale. OK, not exactly a strong cipher. But it's fun to work through, much like the book.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in codes or code-breaking, history (especially recent history), and security.

Rating:
Summary: Wanted to pass time until Quicksilver became softcover.
Review: I bought this book because I saw Quicksilver in the store and it looked amazing, but it was only hardback and I wasn't about to spend the money. I had let the size prevent me from getting this book in the past, but I figured, same author, I'll give it a shot. That was yesterday. I'm on page 300 today. Amazing read, and now I'm REALLY looking forward to Quicksilver. Especially since I found out that, apparently, Enoch Root is a character in both books. Wow.

Rating:
Summary: Biased Reviewer Loves This
Review: Two notes before you read this review:

1) I simply don't give out 5 star reviews often. If you look at my history, you'll see that. I feel that far too many Amazon.com reviewers give out 5 star reviews all the time, and once a book is awash in laudatory reviews, it's almost impossible to tell if it's really good, or simply draws a lot of fans to tappity-tap in gushing reviews. If you see what I mean.
2) I love Neal Stephenson. I would read pretty much anything by him. I acknowledge that he's put out some stinkers ("The Big U," anyone?), but I love his stuff. If he put out another stinker, I wouldn't be blind to it's stinkiness, but this ain't a stinker.

If you're still reading, here's the deal: this is a wonderful book. I don't know that I'd stack it on the top of a pile of "Great 20th Century Literature," but I'd sure as hell read it again rather than plow through, say, Faulkner. Some have compared this to "Gravity's Rainbow," and while I understand the comparison--Pynchon and Stephenson both have a tendency to "riff;" sort of the authorial equivalent of Robin Williams going off on a comedy tangent--Stephenson's prose is for me far more accessible. Perhaps it's an age thing; Stephenson and I are of an age (born rather than coming of age in the 60s). As some say, perhaps you have to be of that age and a nerd. I dunno. But I love his stuff.

There's almost too much in this book to discuss, but in short, there are two intertwined stories: one set in WWII, and involving a literal ship-load of gold; and one set in the 1999 present, and involving a virtual ship-load of gold. The inter-relationship of the characters is nicely done, if perhaps a bit forced. The inter-twining of the stories is pretty jarring at first, but one becomes accustomed to it. And the settings (corporate geekdome during the heyday of the internet boom; various WWII locales) are for me fascinating. But then I'm a geek who lived through the internet boom, and I'm rivited by WWII. If you aren't, you should probably give it a pass.

Finally, to me the language is a delight. Does it slow the story down considerably to read a 3 page dissertation on eating Cap'n Crunch? Or an encounter between a Marine and a bunch of Japanese soldiers in a sushi bar just prior to Pearl Harbor? Or a comparison on the relative skill and courage required to either pull seriously impacted wisdom teeth vs. take a major relationship risk? Or read about the formulae required to fairly divide up Granny's valuable antique furniture so as to take into account both its monetary and emotional value? Hell yes. But it's damn wonderful all the same. Not to mention hilarious.

If any of this sounds funny, or interesting, or potentially entertaining to you, give it a go; you won't be dissapointed. If it doesn't, heck, give it a miss; there's plenty of good books out there. Few as good as this one *for me*, but you're not me, so judge for yourself.

Rating:
Summary: You will not be bored.
Review: Stephenson goes farther, deeper, juicier and funnier into a time and place in history. A mixture of fact and outrageous (but technically possible)speculation, Cryptonomicon is a whirlwind ride around the world and to a past era. This story is a new twist on the techno-thriller genre, making Tom Clancy look like a cub scout. Stephenson excites all the parts of your brain in this, one of my favorite novels of all time. You will not be bored.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely read.
Review: Crypto is a great read with more of stevenson and less of the techno side of Snowcrash. I was hooked by snowcrash and enjoyed Zodiac but Cryptonomicon truly amazed me. As the other reviewers say it does, at times, become lost in description but Stephenson has put together a great story that ends great and keeps you wondering. Can't wait for the next one to hit the shelves. No telling where this dude will run off to next.

Rating:
Summary: Quality in every aspect
Review: Yes, it's big. Yes, it's long, occasionally slow-moving, and weighty in more senses than the obvious.

But every one of these attributes is a virtue, when employed with this much skill.

_Cryptonomicon_ is a complex, elegant examination of code-making and -breaking in WWII and the present day, and of the two generations of people whose lives it alters. Past and present are interwoven with often breathtaking subtlety, with each new chapter illuminating the work as a whole, both thematically and in terms of the plot.

The intelligence at work here is both broad and incisive, yet the novel is far from being a sterile display of intellectual prowess. At heart this remains a deeply human story, full of flawed characters and ethical complexity; _Catch-22_'s influence runs deeply, most overtly in the comically illogical missions Bobby Shaftoe's team carry out to prevent the Germans from discovering their code has been broken, but more generally in the way that the impact of extraordinary events on ordinary people always remains in view. Furthermore, a strong historical awareness ensures that environment, ideas and story enjoy a healthy, mutually-reinforcing relationship. The evocation of the wartime Philippines is superb, but there are numerous smaller triumphs (the present-day ultra-PC American academics are a personal favourite...).

In short, this is clever on more levels than I can begin to describe, yet never fails to be engaging. Stephenson has constructed a novel that manages to be simultaneously astounding, enlightening, moving and witty - a novel that revels in its length, tackling a decades-spanning story that would be ill-served by anything shorter.

Rating:
Summary: Just plain FUN!
Review: Stephenson had me riveted throughout the book. He combined humor, action, and technology masterfully, and switches between viewpoints flawlessly.

Without a doubt it is on my list of great hard Sci-Fi.

P.S. I loved it so much I went out and bought a copy, which, considering me, is saying something!

Rating:
Summary: Cryptonomicon or a lesson in tedium
Review: I found this book to be tedious in the extreme.It is way too wordy and is very disjointed.I am an avid reader but the only thing I could look forward to with this book was finishing it so I could finally put the darn thing away!

Rating:
Summary: Another good one by Stephenson
Review: Cryptonomicon is yet another good novel by Stephenson. Though I feel it was a bit long and dragged a little in places, it is a wonderful book. I look forward to reading the other books yet to come in this storyline.

Rating:
Summary: A book of a higher order
Review: After reading through both the book and several of the reviews I have come to the conclusion that this book is only enjoyable under the following conditions:

1) You're willing to think through a lot of the concepts: Some of the crypto/mathematics/mythology discussions can not be zipped through and fully understood. Like many other great books, this is not fast food to be consumed and thrown away, but rather a fine wine to be appreciated.

2) You must possess a significant amount of background knowledge: Math especially is troublesome on this point. Many negative reviews of this book are bascially premised on "If Stephenson wanted to write a math book, he should have just done it" To be honest, the math is not especially complicated. One simply needs to understand the way that functions operate and maybe a little bit of calculus understanding, although I don't know if it is entirely necessary.

3) You must be able to enjoy interesting digressions that have little to do with the plot: Personally I like the digressions by the two Waterhouse characters because it's the way that real people actually think: within their field of knowledge and in highly complex terms. It turns others off though as wasting pages. To be honest, I think the best parts of this book are the digressions (particularly Enoch Root's digressions on mythology and his relationship to the church).

In the end, this book is very good. The only thing that prevents it from getting the full 5 stars from me is that it really needed another 50 pages to properly end the plot, digressions or not. Stephenson's books are as much about the character's ideas as the actual character's themselves. So if you're interested in complex ideas, with some WWII and business mischief thrown in, this book is a winner.