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The Cryptographer
 
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The Cryptographer (Paperback)

by Tobias Hill (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 264 pages
  • Publisher: Faber and Faber; First Edition. Wraps. edition (7 Aug 2003)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0571218369
  • ISBN-13: 978-0571218363
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.4 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 649,098 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #8 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > H > Hill, Tobias

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Product Description

Product Description

People like to think that money and love are opposites. John Law is a man full of secrets. People call him the Cryptographer, or the Codemaker. He is mysterious and charming, the world's first quadrillionaire, the inventor of an unbreakable code, of a new form of electronic money. As a man, he is admired and distrusted more than most. Tax inspector Anna Moore's talent is for getting clients to talk. She is good at what she does, one of the best. So when the Revenue assigns John Law as Anna's new client, her first task is to discover just what it is he's trying to hide...


About the Author

Tobias Hill has published three award-winning collections of poetry. Skin, a collection of stories won the PEN/Macmillan Award for Fiction. Underground, his first novel, was published to great acclaim in 1999. A former poet in residence at London Zoo, Tobias Hill is a Visiting Fellow at Sussex University.

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Customer Reviews

22 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (5)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.5 out of 5 stars (22 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating but flawed, 27 Jul 2004
This review is from: The Cryptographer (Paperback)
Having read and greatly enjoyed 'Love of Stones' by the same author I didn't hesitate to buy 'The Cryptographer'. While enjoying it in many ways and not regretting reading it, I still felt it could have been so much better.

First the good news. The prose is beautiful, evocative and poetic and reveals an author of insight and great imagination. The plot, set some decades into the future, offers up an exciting and thought-provoking view of what may be not far around the corner for all of us. There is much that strikes home especially relating to the nature of integrity and sincerity and the role of money in our lives. The cryptographer himself is a Great Gatsby style of character with much of his enigmatic allure.

The not so good. The book struck me as rather sparse. The future world is drawn in outline rather than detail. The relationships are sometimes simplistic and not fully explored. The plot tended to stretch credulity too much : would the world's richest man's tax anomalies be investigated by a single Inland Revenue inspector going for a chat with the man himself (who then of course is strongly attracted to her) rather than a team of inspectors wrestling with an army of accountants and never getting near the great man? Ultimately (and not without some irony considering the themes of the book) it didn't ring true.

That said, I would in spite of everything recommend this book. Read it and judge for yourself. There is certainly enough to be admired in there, a mixture of beguiling writing and evocative ideas. This is clearly a most talented writer and I will seek out his future offerings. It's just that instead of good it could have been great.

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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Great atmosphere, absent plot, 16 Aug 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: The Cryptographer (Paperback)
This book is well-written and Tobias Hill's writing is closer to poetry than prose, building an atmosphere which is extremely real and intense.

But when it comes to structure and plot - this book is totally weak. It's not a thriller, as it is described on the cover, and it lacks any significant story. Plus, it really beggars belief at times - If tax inspectors carry out their work like the protagonist does, then they'd hardly get anything done. And I doubt that clients would be so friendly and so easily approachable, receiving tax inspectors at home!!!Very very very unlikely.

Looks like the poetry is achieved at the expense of the story-line. Basically, this book is like a ball of candy-floss: interesting and full of colour to look at, but it fizzles down to nothing in the mouth.

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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Moore's Law..., 11 Jul 2004
By EFMOL "eugeneol" (Dublin) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: The Cryptographer (Paperback)
I found this book difficult to judge - I read both previous reviews on Amazon which were positive, to gauge the views of others. I've never read anything by Hill before - I hadn't even heard of him until I spotted this book which looked interesting on Dublin Airport's bookshelf - I was looking forward to a novel about codes and cryptography, but the book is not about this.

The main characters Anna Moore and John Law dominate ( I couldn't resist the title for my review - apologies to all for poor pun). I'm the type of reader who likes things to happen at a fast pace - you won't get this in Hill's book. It's more about character and description. No doubt it is well written - the prose is easy for me (an infrequent reader of novels) and will appeal to those who look for style as well as substance in books.

I still don't know whether I liked this book or not. I didn't dislike it, but was not impressed by it either. One item that left an impression on me - I turned over the last page to read on expecting more, only to find that the book had ended and I was reading the acknowledgements. It left me with an "un-finished" feel.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Blemished, but a gem nonetheless
The prose is deft in this slow-moving, mood-rich story about tax inspector Anna Moore assigned to investigate the world's richest man. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Aesop

2.0 out of 5 stars A good writer, an intriguing title, a poor novel
I am very much at a loss to understand why some reviews are so enthusiastic about this book.

Yes the prose is almost poetic at times, and is a pleasure to read,... Read more
Published 16 months ago by D. J. Keyworth

2.0 out of 5 stars Implodes halfway through
Having read the Love of Stones I was looking forward to a book that should have been perfect for me, he's a great writer and the plot sounded like it had huge potential... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Tom

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst yet
This has got to be the worst book I have ever read, I wonder why I stuck it out until the end. I am amazed that this could get 5 stars off other readers, I struggled even to give... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Mak

5.0 out of 5 stars Slow Burn
I found this a disconcerting book partly I think because, like other posters, I thought the novel didn't match the cover picture or cover description. Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2007 by Bellamyisking

4.0 out of 5 stars A novel about greed, generosity and love
Anna Moore is a thirty-six year old tax inspector living in London in the year 2021. As she states at the beginning of the story her job is to measure the worth of people. Read more
Published on 21 Dec 2006 by Philippe Horak

5.0 out of 5 stars A book of ideas
An enthralling narrative. Please note that as a professional author myself, I do not read novels for their plots, which I inevitably find myself unravelling long ahead of their... Read more
Published on 18 Dec 2006 by Mechdan

5.0 out of 5 stars An original that has stayed with me all year
this is a really strange book to try and describe. It isn't a thriller and it isn't exactly a romance. It might be science fiction (I wouldn't really know) or just a novel. Read more
Published on 6 Sep 2006 by muffinhead

4.0 out of 5 stars Original
An original and engaging, if not particularly easy, take on materialism and romance.

The scene is set some time in the future, with a revenue inspector delegated to... Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2006 by G. L. Haggett

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book I've read in ages
I read a lot, and enjoy many books. I don't have a particular genre that I stick to. That may be why I like this book so much - it is genre-defying. Read more
Published on 25 Mar 2006 by AKC

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