Rating: 
Summary: A pretty average book
Review: Cryptonomicon can't decide what it wants to be: a crypto primer ? A historical documentary ? An adventure story ? The one thing it never actually accomplishes is being a book with a real plot and characters. Yes, if I wanted to compare some books on the history of encryption, Cryptonomicon would probably win; but we are discussing fiction books here. I have seen a lot worse though, hence the 3 stars. For a real technothriller, I recommend Acts of the Apostles, by John F. X. Sundman.
Rating: 
Summary: Fun
Review: Nerds will love it. I am a nerd. It's a humorous insight into the lives of computer programmers, soldiers, cryptologists, and grandmothers. After a somewhat sloggish character development, Stephenson turned this into a believable war/love/techno saga spanning three generations and sixty years. I didn't give it 5-stars due to the overabundant gratuitous prepubescent language, and the infomercial-type lessons sprinkled throughout, which distracted from the action (e.g.: how to eat Cap'n Crunch.) Mostly very enjoyable!
Rating: 
Summary: unbelievably good book
Review: As a writer, there are very few books that awe me. Cryptonomicon is one of those few. I've been pushing this book on everyone I know. I knew Stephenson was a good writer from reading Snow Crash, but I never would have guessed the depth of his genius until Cryptonomicon. In many ways, this book reminds me of another novel that awed me -- Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. Perhaps it's the surreal WWII setting. More likely it's the amazing genius evidenced by both books. So what's the downside of reading this book? Well, if you're a writer, you'll come out of it convinced you should just give up and leave the novel writing to Stephenson, because you just KNOW there's no way you'll ever write anything near as good. Neal Stephenson, you've just made your way onto my Top Ten People I Want to Meet list. I can't imagine the fascinating conversations you could get into with this guy! Amazing writer, amazing book!
Rating:
Summary: Will tease your curiosity to almost neurotic levels...
Review: First of all, f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c book. I read it sitting on the beach in Sardinia on my honeymoon, and barely talked to my new wife the whole read!! Just joking, but you get the idea. This is an amazing book. The stories are intertwined with a jewler's precision. I am a computer scientist, so of course Neal is standard reading for me. After I finished (and got back to reality) I dived into cryptology with fervor. Since, have written my own CipherSaber, (...), and and working on changing my career path from Navy weapons systems to crypto. The only reason I didn't give it 5 *'s, is because Neal doesn't know how to write an ending to a book. So far, all his that I have read should end about 25-50 pages sooner than they do. Great stuff, but might make a neurotic nerd out of you.
Rating:
Summary: craftsmanship
Review: I bought this book because I was intrigued by the title and because I have a great interest in cryptology and in computing and computer algorithms. Then I found that it also had some great WWII history in it, and was partially set in the Philippines, where I had once lived. I was in seventh heaven. But what kept me spellbound was the way Stephenson spun out the narrative, weaving together the historical characters and the present-day ones so that the read was a real adventure. Neal Stephenson knows how to craft a story; this is (if I may say it) a classical picaresque novel, but written in today's lexicon. Stephenson has been accused, rightfully, of a lack of character development. This really didn't seem to matter very much, as the story, despite the numerous (and to me fascinating) digressions, raced along at a breathless rate. It is pretty hard to rate a book as large as this one a "couldn't lay it down" read, but let us say I lost a lot of sleep until I had finished it. Overall, one of the best books I've read in many a year.
Rating:
Summary: unreserved disappointment
Review: hitherto a die-hard fan of Stephenson's books, it was pure
pleasure to see this tome - on the shelves when I worked in
a bookshop, and after some anticipation to be able to read it.
Not underestimating NS talents, fed as I was on the back
catalogue: Snow Crash (alltime favourite), Diamond Age (superb),
Zodiac (colourful) - so I didn't react to the
treatment of women (as the above reviewer noted) immediately.
This book is worth reading, and if NS can get over this
anomaly in his writing career, he may be able to retain more
of his readership. But, come the last fifth of the book,
with the patronising treatment of cardboard-cutout women/girls,
and the elevation of men to some unrealistic self-sufficient
plane (a la the whole warehouse, dungeons dragons, boys n toys
scenes), I was wondering what had affected my favourite sci-fi
writer (with reservations). Going so far as to read some
supplementary biographies of Turing, and simultaneously
reading a few pop math books, I wondered where these
atavistic impulses that led Stephenson to write out women
from the book came from, and also, I wondered how a book
that in a logical progression, should have been brilliant,
was missing something so particular (to get off the female
slant), which for all its irony and ours, we might remember
as being soul. There will come a time when I will have
forgotten this guy's promising start, and will skip right over
him just as he skipped right over us.
Rating:
Summary: Cryptonomicon: a cyberanarchists dream
Review: Well, it seems that Neal has done it again, made a damn fine read that is. The book starts a little slow, mingled with world war II anecdotes of sorts and cyber crime/business (arent they one and the same?). The dream is clear but the plot isnt, data heaven, a place for every high time crim to place their not-so-secure funds to make them 100% secure. The book has a tight plot with loose ends that are quickly bundled into a firm rigging. The end leaves a little to be desired, but I wont give it away. Just think cheesy. The end was the only reason I gave it 4. Otherwise it's a modem masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: Ummm ... female characters?
Review: For the most part, I truly enjoyed this book. It was very well done. There was a sense of humor which permeated the entire thing, lightening what could have been tedious or stressful moments. After all, this is a book about systems administration, code breaking, and WWII! Still, Neal Stephenson pulls it off! I found that my favorite characters existed in WWII, I was not as interested in their descendants adventures. Stephenson seemed to breathe more life into them. From encounters with Komodo dragons to the mathematics of sexual biorhythms, Stephenson packs the World War II heroes with excitement and humor. My only complaint about this book is that there are no female characters! I'm not saying that there are no females. There are. But none of them are fully defined characters. We don't know why Amy Shaftoe acts the way that she does. We don't know much about her mother beyond the fact that she was Philipino. Mary Smith is a complete enigma and Randy's first girlfriend is no better. I'm not saying that they need to be the stars but there is no sense that they are real people with flaws and fitnesses. I never really believed in them like I did the males. No motivations beyond the cartoonish. No surprises. They were in most cases, furniture and window dressing. If you can look past that, you'll enjoy that book.
Rating:
Summary: Must have been abridged by a business major.
Review: Firstly, this edition was listed as unabridged when I ordered it. I thought it was too good to be true, and it was. So I started off [angry]. I read the book and absolutely loved it, by the way. I bought the audiobook to listen to while driving. Sterling's use of narrative description is just the kind of thing I like listening to on the road. It was also what was ripped from this story to make it fit on six cassette tapes. I suppose in a book of this size something has to go, but it seems that all that is left here are the business deals and legal contortions. For gosh sakes, they cut the "Ultimate Bowl of Captain Crunch"!.
Rating:
Summary: Techno-genius without the Clancy gadgetry
Review: This book started out a bit confusing for me, it switches back and forth through time using very similar character names. Aside from that, it was a great book, even after reading 'The Code Book' I have not seen a description of how the enigma machine operated in a more clear and understandable manner. That's just a sidenote of course, there are numerous sub-plots in this book, each one compelling you to keep going through the next chapter, and the next, and the next. The end seems sort of rushed together, the book moves along at a steady pace until the last 50 pages, but that doesn't take anything away from the experience. I forced myself to go to bed at 7 p.m. just so I could stop reading before 4 a.m. each night! Be warned, if you have any big projects either at work, or personally, ahead of you (I started to resent this book from the lost sleep), don't start this book until you are done with them. It's a great read, I think the other 400 reviews have said enough for it already :) This is the book equivalent of CivII in the PC world.
|
