Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Cryptonomicon
Book Review: pretty good
Summary: 3 Stars
Pretty good read. But the ending was a total disappointment. This is the only Stephenson I've read but I was really turned off by his apparent obsession with the phallus. I know in some quarters this makes the book "edgy", but I found the main characters' inability to think striaght without frequent orgasms juvenile. At times I thought I was reading some lame feminist characterization of men. It was ridiculous.Book Review: qwerty = azerty [q, 1^5.3, @ zeta 12]/.15^&
Summary: 5 Stars
Cryptonomicon is a boys own ripping tale for nerds. Beloved of math geeks, and fantasy hard guys, this tells the multigenerational story of the do-something Shafetoes (USMC) and the Waterhouses (math geeks) and the practical engineers between them (the Japanese mining family the Goto Dengos) as their stories intertwine at the dawn of the internet and WWII.
But it isn't Michener telling a tale of the rise of a segment of civilization (although Seattle's transition from a mining and timber town to a technology metropolis is explored...as is the tattered history of the Philippines).
But the backdrop always returns to cryptology and the algorithms behind it and information theory. Historical figures both great (Turning) and small (Goring) make walk on appearances which keeps the narrative grounded in plausible history while also allowing for fantastic asides (erotic fixations, bizarre sub-cultures, inept secret societies, U-boats, the horrors of "the bends).
Stephenson's style is breezy and compelling, he never lets the math bog you down nor the characters he pushes around get too wooden, and so even with its incredible length this is a readable tale. A five page ode to the correct way to eat Captain Crunch cereal is the finest prose passage on the quintessence of eating since "How to Cook a Wolf."
Now, if you can find the factor of two prime numbers encrypted in the above three paragraphs, then this book is for you. If you don't know what I just wrote, don't bother. If this review made you smile, you'll like Stephenson's prose.
Book Review: ultra chilled Cap'n Crunch
Summary: 5 Stars
Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon is everything but science fiction, but it somehow has a science fiction feel to it. Perhaps this is because Stephenson constantly alternates narrative between the past (WWII) and the present - also the fact that the story focuses on the nature of information technology and how information can impact human lives and world events over time and distance. The cryptography in this book alone is enough to blow your mind - add to that a layed back, ultra cool marine in WW2, an absent minded pipe organ player, a computer programmer with an unusual family, and one of the coolest treasure hunting chicks ever conceived. At times, this story does give you the head-spins due to an "all over the place" storyline, but still it gets five stars for sheer magnitude...