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Summary: Not for the weak of heart, or brain. Prepare to think.
Review: If you found high school algebra dull and boring, you might have a little bit of work here. Stephensons passion for the history, past and now unfolding, of cryptology finds it's voice in cryptonomicon. His same writing style seen in the action packed adventure of Hero in Snowcrash, is present, but he explores alot of his own ideas on cryptology and it's effects on society, and maybe even being a voice of the age.He takes his time, and has been accused of "wasting" space in this novel, to profess his ideology on the subject. I love when critics and readers decide how and what someone should write about in their novel. The action and suspense is certainly present, but I would think one needs to let the man tell his story and take away some new knowledge, of the practical and abstract as it is offered here. Excellent book, on alot of levels.
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Summary: Mind Candy for Techno-Weenies
Review: This is great fun for the technologist and/or cryptologist. Both understand basic math. It switches between World War II and today, yet all ties together by the end of the book. It has anomalies, not the least of which is that a major character killed in World War II reappears very much alive some 50 years later with no explanation. That aside, the stories are individually and collectively interesting and frequently also amusing. Lots of little things are memorable, such as an unusual means of dividing up a bequest among a family of mathematicians. The cryptography is necessarily simplified, and several historical characters are to be taken with a grain of salt. That aside, it's a good book to curl up with when desiring a quiet evening.
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Summary: A Delight for Nerds and Everyone Else
Review: Stephenson has finally found a way to make his love of explanations and equations pay off: in "Snow Crash" and "The Diamond Age" it tended to get a little tedious and long-winded at times, but in this book it's perfect because we're dealing with cryptology, war history, and current communications technology. But Stephenson loves these topics so much that it isn't a chore for those who don't know or don't care. He doesn't spend too long on them, moves along quickly, and always keeps his eyes on the road: the metaphors and techie explanations become relevant within a few moments. The book has three main characters, two during World War II in various theaters all over the world and one in the modern day Internet business. Bobby Shaftoe, one of the greatest characters in modern fiction, is the perfect Marine and salutes as crisply as Douglas MacArthur. He's tapped to lead a crew of grunts around the world in various operations designed to fool the Germans into thinking the Americans HAVEN'T already broken their Enigma code. Meanwhile Lawrence Waterhouse, a blindingly brilliant mathematician and cryptographer, is engaged in breaking more codes and helping to determine just how many clues the Germans would need to figure out that Enigma had been broken. In the present, Randy Waterhouse, Lawrence's grandson, is engaged in setting up a new business which involves establishing a data haven (information wants to be free) on a tiny island near Manila, where he contracts with a steely deep-sea cable businesswoman named Shaftoe... The prose is tight, fun and witty. Just about every sentence is quotable, despite the fact that there are thousands of them. Stephenson knows just where this world is and where it's going, and the WWII segments of this novel prove that he knows where it's been as well. The most fascinating aspect is the constant reminder that even though electronic cash may have a bright future, it will still need to be backed by real value; resulting in the story centering around that most physical and irreducible of all substances: Gold. The novel itself is a gold brick, a delight to hold and read, proving its own argument that no matter how clever you are with code (and Randy Waterhouse sure is good with code), the tangible world will still obtain at the most basic level.
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Summary: Very good, I look forward to receiving the last 100 pages
Review: Neal Stephenson is an excellent author. He has written what is one of the most polyvalent books I have read in a very long time. I actually had experience working for an organisation that is in effect going to be a private money network as described in the book, sans the Fillipino Gold connection. He has that "hackerdom business" feel of about 1997-8 down to the ground, and it may be an interesting document in a few years, if for that only. My problem with the book, and the one that dogs all Neal Stephenson books, is his shyness with his endings. He spends the whole of his time building these incomparably dense and credible environments, plot-lines, and even characters, which is a rarity in Sci-fi, and then he just.... stops. In Snow-crash, Diamond Age, and here, he gets suddenly shy, or runs out of time, or something happens that means what should be fifty or a hundred pages of monumental revelation turns into one or two rather thin pages that never really leave the feeling of being a fully resolved ending. Ok, not all endings have to be epic, but given the first 80% of the book, it is a bit of a change to suddenly go minimalist... Having said that it is a very good book, and its flaws are only more evident because of it. Read, enjoy, and then think how perfect it could have been if the author had kept his nerve for the last hundred pages he did not write.
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Summary: Neal Stephenson educates and entertains with a deft touch.
Review: Someone told me Neal Stephenson is working on a sequel to Cryptonomicron. You can bet I'll be checking it out. I've only read one other novel as educational as this one, Umberto Eco's _Foucault's Pendulum_, but the difference here is that Neal Stephenson's writing is never obfuscated by pompous writing. Although the writing contains jargon and highly technical terminology, not to mention mathematical formulae I personally do not understand, the book is fascinating, easy to follow, and absolutely full of story! Although the book is crammed with programmer/mathematician speak, Neal Stephenson is a strong enough writer to keep readers with nontechnical backgrounds engrossed. There are numerous story lines in this enormous tome, but they can be broken down into two timelines: WWII and the present. Personally, I found the 1940s stories more interesting, but watching the past unfold into the present provides its own charm. Stephenson's depictions of wartime atrocities and torpedoed ships are among some of the most powerful I've ever read. The chapter in which Goto Dengo's ship is destroyed by a skipping torpedo is written with astounding clarity. As I read it, I was able to visualize everything, the oil-coated ocean, the columns of flame, and the thrashing survivors trying to escape flames, sharks, and strafing bullets. Why haven't there been any movies about this sort of thing? It's a sorely neglected theme in war movies. Many people died in shark attacks after their boats were torpedoed, yet this hasn't become part of the public conscious. Cryptonomicron is about more than just wartime misadventures and cryptography, of course. Any book this long needs to ramble thematically. It's also about computer hacking, deep sea diving, sex, heirloom furniture, the death penalty, genocide, classical Greek mythology, haiku, the creative process, and ways in which various countries treat drug dealing. Cryptonomicron both educates and entertains.
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Summary: No Ordinary Read
Review: While reading this book, it quickly became clear to me that I was onto something special. I am a lover of history, historical fiction and I write romantic fiction. So, while this falls in with my general reading habits, it was unlike anything I'd ever read before. I knew nothing about cyrptography, nor do I have any extensive knowledge of computer science. Stephenson has a gift for making difficult material accessible to everyone. If he could explain mathematical concepts to me (I consider myself numerically impaired!), it is clear that the man has no ordinary intellect. If you want a compeling, enlightening and entertaining read, this is the book.
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Summary: finally, someone gets it right!
Review: one of the better novels in any genre i've read in long time. Who would have thought that even linux could seem compelling?
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Summary: A fascinating book
Review: Stephenson attacks the technology in his books with an amazing amount of detail when he creates fantastical devices. This holds true in Cryptonomicon even though all the toys in this book are real. This book is a bulky read, which is what holds it back from a 5 star rating, and I felt that at some points Stephenson discusses masturbation for too long a period of time, which slowed the pace of the novel, but ultimately it is very enjoyable and should be picked up by anyone with the patience for a long read. I found it fascinating and hard to put down, even though there are two or more distinct plotlines and two distinct eras during which the book takes place. Worth a look, or two.
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Summary: A rare reading experience
Review: Cryptonomicon is a literary experience that smacks of a favored vacation or the temporary company of remarkable individual. The ideas, the humor, the plotlines all travel at the speed of the internet. This is an epic spanning the globe and history in the most marvelously constructed fashion. Those that enjoy to read will be best served if they enter without any pre-concieved notion as to what they are about to experience. With time the very distinct cadence of Stephenson's writing will grow easier to absorb. The shifts in time will occur without any awkwardness, and the progression of the story; addictive. I have envy for those that have yet to read this book. Though I don't doubt there is much to be gathered by a second or third read, it is the first journey that will leave you breathless.
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Summary: "The Code Book", but with a plot
Review: I bought this book and the non-fiction "The Code Book" at the same time. I found this book covered much of the same material - especially post WWII - but with the added enjoyment of an action adventure story that kept me turning pages way after my bedtime. Sort of "Indiana Jones meets Alan Turing". An interesting bit of prediction - shortly after I finished the book I read in "Wired" about an operation to set up a real 'data haven' like the fictional one that the characters in the book did. A great read. Not reccomended for the faint of brain.
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