Rating: 
Summary: Like seeing _Star Wars_ for the first time
Review: If you can remember what it was like to see Star Wars for the first time, then you know what it feels like to read Cryptonomicon. It's as though a new universe has opened, where these heroic characters still live and have adventures. This rich book combines meticulous research, shrewd social commentary, and vivid observations on human relationships with information theory and the history of cryptography in WWII, a fascinating subject in itself. And even though parts of Cryptonomicon are hilarious, the intertwined stories show the suffering of all people in WWII, not just the Allies. This is a book to be read again and again, by anyone who's ever wondered how the Enigma encoding system could be related to Alan Turing's bicycle chain. Buy it for every nerd on your list!
Rating: 
Summary: No metaverse but still...
Review: What the hell! What's up with all this WWII and Internet business? Cryptology? Sounds interesting...but where's the metaverse? skull guns? Or grunge chicks on flying skateboards? This is exactly how I felt when I read reviews about Cryptonomicon. So it was with some trepidation that I picked it up and over the course of a month, was literally blown away! At a 1000 pages this is no easy commitment, but after reading it in it's entirety, you'll be glad that Neal had taken the time(and extra pages) to carefully flesh it out. The attention to detail is painstaking while his knowledge of the various local cultures is acute. There's been plenty of criticism over the lengthy prose and true, he does get carried away at times(do we really need a graphical analysis of Waterhouse's libido?) but not so much as to lose the reader completely. Depending on who you are, you'll find it all extremely banal or utterly insightful, maybe even hilarious. I found myself laughing out on several occasions. There are many more comedic moments than his previous works and this is due to the fact that I could relate much better to Randy, Shaftoe and the rest than I could with Hiro. Other than the odd throwaway character, the characters in Cryptonomicon are like people I know, which serves to deepen my appreciation of what's happening to them. The plot itself is well constructed and interesting. Though a bit dubious at times, it does manage to sustain you to the end. This is Neal at his sardonic best; at times making me want to scream "Yeahhhhh! That was way cool". His technical know-how is par excellence as usual, taken with his writing style, gives an immensely pleasurable read and enough brain food for non-techies/techies alike. However, the legal and business scenarios are not quite convincing and could have done with a bit more working through. Whereas his previous books used sci-fi and technology to ease readers into viruses and epistomology, here he uses crypto and technology to talk about conspiracies. So although the formula may be the same, he does, however, show more restraint and does not fly off into what-the-hell tangents and subplots as much. Ultimately, his technological/conceptual ramblings, though many, do not overwhelm and in the end fit nicely into the story for a tighter, more focused thoughtful piece of work. No doubt the subject material may not go down well with fans of his old books, but I am glad that the author once again manages to challenge and provoke.
Rating:
Summary: Stimulating, even for non-geeks...
Review: Having at first dismissed Cryptonomicon as techie-sci-fi, a genre in which I've never been interested, I was very much surprised when it was highly recommended to me, and even more surprised upon reading and enjoying it to the extent that I did. Stephenson's ambition almost pays off -- he manages to create a thoroughly engrossing and invigorating novel, one of those with which the reader finds herself appreciating its length (all the more to relish) until around the last fifty pages, when it (inevitably?) begins to get a little sloppy and out-of-control. The most pleasant surprise of all in Cryptonomicon is Stephenson's sense of humour -- certain passages had me literally giggling. The characterisation is, for the most part, well-done, though I was more than a little disappointed by the book's female characters, many of which have the depth of a video-game-bimbo (as in, the typical female video game character, not a female who plays video games). All in all, however, Cryptonomicon is a terrific book -- I look forward to the next, and perhaps even now consider myself a proselyte of the genre, at least as written by Stephenson.
Rating:
Summary: A good start . . .
Review: to what is admittedly going to be a trilogy. I look forward to the second installment as the "setup" will not be as long. Having read all of Stephenson's books in print (including his two "Bury" novels) I must say that this is closer to the Bury novels in style -- heavy on small detail; this is not a complaint. Although I still prefer "Zodiac," "Snow Crash," and "Diamond Age," this novel is quite good. He takes a while for things to get going, but with the number of characters he juggles this was to be expected (especially having read the "Bury" books). Stephenson knows how to grab a reader and hold on. And though I agree the "too long" comments aren't wholly accurate, I bit more editing would have been appreciated. A rewarding read to those with the wherewithal to attempt; it also helps if you majored in a math-heavy discipline!
Rating:
Summary: Stephenson's Best Yet
Review: Readers looking for another breathless cyberpunk potboiler may be disappointed by Cryptonomicon. But anyone looking for a thoughtful novel whose complexities arise from human character as much as technology should delight in this creation. Its 910 pages strobe back and forth from the start of WW II to the present, from New Guinea to Finland, and from literal warfare to the cutthroat world of internet venture capital. The interlinked story lines of three principal characters converge on a satisfying mystery, and provide a fascinating education in historical and contemporary cryptography in the process.
Rating:
Summary: Infotainment
Review: Okay--I'm seeing a lot of reviews whining about how *long* the book is, and how Stephenson goes on for pages and pages about trivial details. I suspect that a lot of his readers are from the TV generation, wanting a clean-cut beginning, middle, and end within a half-hour time slot. What they fail to mention is that these pages of details are fascinating. The way the reviewers emphasize the mathematical aspects is misleading. Stephenson will really make you look at life--not just math and cryptography--in a new way through his razor-sharp observations. Ever wondered how a Marine thinks? How information is transmitted underseas? How e-mail is encrypted? Why men wear beards? What both the fighting and paper-pushing of WW II were like? How upstart companies win investors? How you can eat Cap'n Crunch without wounding the roof of your mouth? Even if you haven't wondered, you'll find at least some of his tangents interesting. I'm not a computer programmer. I'm not a mathemetician. I'm just an art student, and I was absorbed by this book for hours straight. It's a globetrotting adventure in history, information, and secrets. It kept me up far past my bedtime on multiple occasions. I just recently bought another copy for my dad.
Rating:
Summary: Neal Stephenson at his best!
Review: I loved Cryptonomicon, every last page of it and that's saying something because THERE WERE A LOT of pages. It's a fascinating novel about codes and codebreaking with a SF flavor--Cryptonomicon has the relentless pace and charismatic style of The Triumph and the Glory, the plot twists of Grisham at his best, the vivid imagery of Cold Mountain, and the fascinating insights and cleverness that only a novelist of Stephenson's stature can deliver.
Rating:
Summary: Not perfect but...
Review: Yes, there are a few mistakes in this book. Nobody factors prime numbers for example (page 55), people usually prefer to split non prime numbers into their prime factors... Yes, the style is sometimes a bit irritating. But, many gems can be found behind that dark cover.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been a lot shorter
Review: Insisting that this novel could have been much shorter is, admittedly, not a very original piece of criticism, but it's true. Halfway through the book you begin to wonder why every single task of the mysterious WWII-detachment needs in-depth description. I liked the humorous use of "nerdy (i.e., computer-related) metaphors" most of the time, but once the narrator gives a lenghty explanation for Randy's "manual override" (I cracked up laughing about that expression) cycles in terms of mathematical functions, including extensive graphs, it's funny and tedious at the same time. Still, Stephenson keeps you wanting to know how it all ends, but it's basically mild curiosity, not suspense, that keeps you going. And that's a far cry from Snow Crash, which was unputdownable. Don't get me wrong: this is an extremely well-written, funny book, but Stephenson can do much better. I was really sad to hear him say he was going to write a whole cycle of novels revolving around cryptography. Oh dear... There are so many other interesting topics around.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Disappointing
Review: I received this book from a friend who said he could not put it down. I am sorry to say that I have 50 pages left to ready and I find it painful to pick up. The book an interesting historical side to it, but beyond that it frequently wanders off into irrelevant tangents that are excruciatingly painful to slog through. Cryptomonicon turns a tale that can be portrayed in 300 pages into a 900 page novel full of noise. The author feels compelled to fill the book with statistical techno-babble that is interesting the first time but annoying as the book proceeds. For the last 300 pages of the book I have skipped entire sections of the book when I encounter one of the author's fits-of-jabbering over some trivial point in the book. Finally, the author's 3rd person writing technique reminds me of my own dismal attempt at writing in six grade.
|
