A panoramic novel of the latter half of the 20th century, ranging from World War II and the breaking of the Enigma code to more recent struggles for control of the Internet. From the author of "Snowcrash".
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Cryptonomicon
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Amazon Review
Neal Stephenson enjoys cult status among science fiction fans and techie types thanks to Snow Crash, which so completely redefined conventional notions of the high-tech future that it became a self- fulfilling prophecy. But if his cyberpunk classic was big, Cryptonomicon is huge, gargantuan, massive-- not just in size but in scope and appeal. It's the hip, readable heir to Gravity's Rainbow and the Illuminatus trilogy. And it's only the first of a proposed series--for more information, read our interview with Stephenson.
Cryptonomicon zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods- -World War II and the present. Our 1940s heroes are the brilliant mathematician Lawrence Waterhouse, cryptanalyst extraordinaire, and gung ho, morphine-addicted marine Bobby Shaftoe. They're part of Detachment 2702, an Allied group trying to break Axis communication codes while simultaneously preventing the enemy from figuring out that their codes have been broken. Their job boils down to layer upon layer of deception. Dr. Alan Turing is also a member of 2702, and he explains the unit's strange workings to Waterhouse. "When we want to sink a convoy, we send out an observation plane first. Of course, to observe is not its real duty--we already know exactly where the convoy is. Its real duty is to be observed. Then, when we come round and sink them, the Germans will not find it suspicious."
All of this secrecy resonates in the present-day story line, in which the grandchildren of the WWII heroes--inimitable programming geek Randy Waterhouse and the lovely and powerful Amy Shaftoe--team up to help create an offshore data haven in Southeast Asia and maybe uncover some gold once destined for Nazi coffers. To top off the paranoiac tone of the book, the mysterious Enoch Root, key member of Detachment 2702 and the Societas Eruditorum, pops up with an unbreakable encryption scheme left over from WWII to befuddle the 1990s protagonists with conspiratorial ties.
Cryptonomicon is vintage Stephenson from start to finish: short on plot, but long on detail and so precise it's exhausting. Every page has a math problem, a quotable in-joke, an amazing idea or a bit of sharp prose. Cryptonomicon is also packed with truly weird characters, funky tech, and crypto--all the crypto you'll ever need, in fact, not to mention all the computer jargon of the moment. A word to the wise: if you read this book in one sitting, you may die of information overload (and starvation). --Therese Littleton, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
Cryptonomicon, a novel of such ambition and intensity that most modern fiction looks timid and shallow in comparison... (Guardian )
Cryptonomicon was dauntingly vast: brilliant, splenetic, paranoid and beguiling in roughly equal measures... Stephenson's...thrilling fluency (TLS )
An audaciously conceived tale of code-making and code-breaking (New York Times )
A brilliant patchwork of codebreaking mathematicians and their descendants who are striving to create a data-haven in the Philippines...trust me on this one (The Guardian ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Cryptonomicon was dauntingly vast: brilliant, splenetic, paranoid and beguiling in roughly equal measures... Stephenson's...thrilling fluency (TLS )
An audaciously conceived tale of code-making and code-breaking (New York Times )
A brilliant patchwork of codebreaking mathematicians and their descendants who are striving to create a data-haven in the Philippines...trust me on this one (The Guardian ) --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Cryptonomicon - never heard of it. Neal Stephenson - never heard of him, sounds interesting though and I have a long train journey ahead of me, oh go on then..... I was hooked, didn't want the train to stop until I'd finished (the size of this book would've made it the longest train journey in history but...).
Stephenson's characters, the dual storyline, the historical facts about the Enigma machine are all superbly done.
When one storyline breaks, you feel sad that it's going to be a few chapters till you see them again, but after a page of the other storyline you feel the same way.
This book was a complete gamble for me - it's even out of my usual genre, but probably one of the best gambles of my life, a thoroughly enjoyable read from start to finish - funny, serious, exciting - everything a great book should be - go & buy it now!!
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I can quite honestly say that is the best book I have ever read in my life. Neal Stephenson's writing style very much came into it's own here. His interest in how the events in our parents lives shape our own (also seen in Snow Crash and The Diamond Age); His interest in things technological, oriental, even fantasy role play.
Ok, so a good 2 thirds of this book are set in WW2, it still remains very much a sci-fi book. Strangely, some people seem to have taken issue with this, though I don't understand why this should be a problem.
The book is vastly entertaining, witty, insightful and often sad (when one of the main characters met an heroic end, I was truly truly gutted). The cahracters are not thin, they're some of the most interesting and rounded that I've come across in Stephenson's work.
Yes its very very long (900 pages +). This shouldn't be a problem, but in an age of goldfish like attention span it apparently is. I have to admit to being daunted at first, but by page 300 this book had become a real part of my life and I was already having to face up to the fact that one day I would finish it.
Please please read this book.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By M. E. Birch
Format:Paperback
I was given this last year by a friend. Well - when I say I was given it I mean I was allowed to keep it if I bought him a 1st edition for Christmas - anyway..... He warned me I might not like it because it was a bit blokey and had a lot of maths in it. If like me you are not a bloke or a techy and don't know much about maths(having forgotten all that O level stuff from 40 odd years ago) don't let it put you off. This is a brilliant book. Not a quick read, it's very dense and full of intriguing information and you have to pay attention, but it repays your efforts. It's a fast moving, very funny and well written romp through the second half of the 20th century, full of fascinating characters - some of them real - and with an intertwining of plot-lines that I found irresistible.
I tried to get my book group to read it but they chickened out over the 900 odd pages. But I loved almost every one of 'em and am looking forward to embarking on the Baroque Trilogy. I reckon one volume per winter for the next three years!
I tried to get my book group to read it but they chickened out over the 900 odd pages. But I loved almost every one of 'em and am looking forward to embarking on the Baroque Trilogy. I reckon one volume per winter for the next three years!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Nothing happens!
I was really looking forward to reading my first Neal Stephenson book but oh was I disappointed. I struggled through the first two hundred pages of this mighty book but, I can... Read more
Published 5 days ago by Castlerock
5.0 out of 5 stars
Geeky fun at its best!
If you can admit to being a great big dork, are an active anorak wearer, have an unhealthy interest in cryptology, mathematics, enjoy the thought of more WW2 trivia than you could... Read more
Published 7 days ago by bloodymary
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic history/fiction
It's thicker than a phone book, has pages of code, equations and graphs and yet it is thoroughly enjoyable, phenomenal romp through the 20th century. Read more
Published 19 days ago by Mr. David Garratt
2.0 out of 5 stars
unnecessarily meandering, felt cheated by the ending
a great opportunity lost, didnt let the techno stuff put me off and stuck with it till the rather flat end which i felt rather cheated by, having slogged through all those pages of... Read more
Published 2 months ago by c
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing
Title said it all: Amazing. A great adventure novel that runs in separate time frames to give you war time advances that lead to the fist computer; and the race for control of the... Read more
Published 2 months ago by M. J. Brindley
5.0 out of 5 stars
Definitely one of my top 10
This is a great book fusing adventure, war stories, cryptography, and humour. I can't do it justice. Read more
Published 3 months ago by S. Walker
5.0 out of 5 stars
Masterful storytelling
I have worked through the Baroque Cycle over the last three years and felt compelled to read Cryptonomicon to complete the picture. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Forefeet
4.0 out of 5 stars
Technical and interesting but be warned
I'll echo what has been said by previous reviewers in that while you'll get more out of this book if you're computer literate and technically minded, the more obtuse mathy sections... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. Gareth J. Hughes
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wacky - but with a grain of reality
A good read - liked the simple explanations of "code" and how it fits in with reality today - the story was well handled and the words used enjoyable to read. Read more
Published 4 months ago by J. Smith
1.0 out of 5 stars
Where's the editor?
While other negative reviewers have said it all, my irritation with this book overcame my reticence. Read more
Published 5 months ago by R. Fildes
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