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The most helpful favourable review
The most helpful critical review
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
An amazing read
It's funny to see another reader declare this as the best book they've ever read. I agree. Whenever you see such overblown praise it's easy to dismiss such comments, but this truly is a brilliant book in so many ways. There are many threads to the novel (I often go back and just read one of the threads) but two main settings. A modern, eastern world with paranoid,...
Published on 15 May 2002 by timothybushell
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
It's all a bit of a puzzle....
Aptly, this book contains a hidden code....Somewhere inside this epic novel is the bones of the book he should have written.
Stephenson's ambitious scope and erudition dazzles but it also deceives. He has produced a book based on big ideas, what-if history, the developement of big world themes and hip-geekery, which many of us clearly enjoyed (76 reviews...
Published on 16 Aug 2007 by Neil Sellen
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37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
An amazing read, 15 May 2002
It's funny to see another reader declare this as the best book they've ever read. I agree. Whenever you see such overblown praise it's easy to dismiss such comments, but this truly is a brilliant book in so many ways.There are many threads to the novel (I often go back and just read one of the threads) but two main settings. A modern, eastern world with paranoid, clever people setting up a technology business. The other half is set in the Second World War and also has paranoid (for much more obvious reasons), really, really clever people (like Alan Turing) trying to win the war by breaking codes and then disguising that they have. Both worlds are hugely different and Stephenson manages to keep them apart, whilst of course, also showing that the past is ultimately responsible and connected to the present. The main characters are incredibly well drawn and there is little romanticism on the authors part. They are clearly products of their time and this fits neatly into the main themes of the book. And the themes are literally huge. The books is about the distance and connections. The novel's world is huge... not only is the book setting global (virtually every place on earth is visited by one character or another at some point, except perhaps South America) but there is also the generation distances. As you read you begin to realise that all the characters are connected, usually by the thinnest of threads. Good examples are the relationship between Alan Turing and his German counterpart. Having once met, they continue a relationship on opposite sides of a war. Without directly communicating to each other what they do is carefully watch the other, analysing every action with mathematical accuracy. A simple analogy would be two spiders at different sides of the web. Another good example is between the two main chracters.. Lawrence Waterhouse (a collegue of Turing) and his grandson. Having never really met, the connection between them gets stronger and stronger until it ultimitely drives the plot of the book. Again the theme of distance and connection is strong here. As the connection gets stringer the distance seems to diminish. I'm not saying the book's main point is to say "What a small world", but that's on the right track. If I've managed to make the book sound boring, then forgive me. It's a cracking read and there's something for everyone: war, technology, political intrigue, business espionage, sex, love, travel, programming, and of course cryptology. I love this book and go back to it again and again...It's not necessarily for sci fi/cyberpunk fans. If you like war stories you will love this book. If you like family sagas you will love this book.
If you like beautifully written and researched books you will love this book.
If you like modern literature you will love this book.
In short... you will love this book.
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
this book was a part of my life, 23 Jun 2001
By A Customer
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
Utterly Fantastic, 1 Aug 2001
By A Customer
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!!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
Fantastic and gripping!, 9 May 2006
Neal Stephenson has astonished once again with his colossal masterpiece "Cryptonomicon". An amazing amount of research has been done in relation to writing the book and Stephenson manages to explain the basic theories of cryptography in layman terms without confusing the reader, although more advanced readers who prefer the "hard science" approach will inevitably find his references to certain theories a bit primitive.
Overall a good book, with a consistent flowing storyline that keeps the reader interestd, with almost a pun a page.The author manages to successfully involve some of the more famous characters in history without making the whole affair seem fake and unrealistic. I do admit tht it is a bit of a marathon, but persistent readers are well rewarded at the end of the book.
A definite must read!
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
incredible depth, 22 Jun 2004
Extraordinary breadth and a superb grasp of history and the effect individuals and technology have on it. A huge fan of of Diamond Age and Snow Crash and Interface, I was initally disappointed in this not being in the same genre. I loved the range of ideas, the drama, the politics and adventure he created in them. They were classic can put them down reads. Then I began Cryptonomicon and whilst it is set in the past, and has the cyberpunk thrill of his earlier work it is still as forward looking as ever, and it began to take over senses just like the others. In fact it regnerated my interested historic writings and led to reading more on Turing, and the corporations and conglomorates that benefited from the war. I've read Gravity's Rainbow, and the favourable and unfavourable comparisons made with it. I fall into the former. Gravity's Rainbow can be very hard work, whilst Cryptonomicon is only difficult initially if you're expecting his other work. Quite brilliant.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
Dazzling and defining, 29 April 2008
Sometimes a book comes along that leaves the reader dazed with the author's vision, scope and ambition. Neal Stephenson has done this a few times with his work, but arguably never better than in Cryptonomicon.
The novel follows two stories in parallel. In WWII, a group of cryptologists based at Bletchley Park are struggling to crack the German codes so the British and Americans can more effectively combat the German U-boat threat. In the present, a group of businessmen are attempting to build a data haven in the (fictious) Pacific state of Kinakuta. Both plotlines draw on codes, cryptology, cryptoanalysis and the blurring of the genres of science fiction and historical fiction (a line which is even further muddied by the subsequent Baroque Cycle, which serves as a quasi-prequel series to this novel).
It is difficult to describe the book. It's scope is huge, sprawling across Europe, America, the Phillippines and other parts of the world in two different time periods, incorporating dozens of major characters of note and very effectively educating the reader about the science of codes and puzzles (far more effectively than the amateurish Da Vinci Code) before the two storylines very effectively come together at the end of the book. Stephenson's style is very readable, occasionally dense, but often very funny. There are longeurs and apparently unrelated episodes in the book which are masterfully re-incorporated into the greater narrative to form a cohesive whole. It's a book about secrets, what it costs to hold those secrets, and the consequences when those secrets are revealed. It's a war story and a techno-thriller at the same time. It is a unique work.
Cryptonomicon won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2000 and unquestionably deserved it. If The Separation was the first truly great SF novel of the 21st Century, than Cryptonomicon is almost certainly the last great SF novel of the 20th, and one of the few works that I would apply the label 'genius' to.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
It's OK girls - It's not just for blokes, geeks and techys!, 2 Jun 2007
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!
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
Life is a joy when you've got a book this good to read, 23 Aug 2004
The other (5 star) reviews say it all. All I want to add is this is one of the most emjoyable books I've ever read, and I've read many. It has all the muscles, excitement and narrative drive of an 'airport' thriller, but all the intelligence and stimulating information of a brilliant history book (like, for instance, 'Stalingrad') combined with a great science book on computers and cryptography. The writing is always witty, perceptive, insightful, a pleasure to read and often laugh-out-loud funny. The scope is immense geographically and extends all across 20th century history.
It's one of those books that you're grateful is so fat. It saved a rainy holiday for me, and I was down in the dumps for two days after I'd finished it.
Do yourself a favour - buy, or borrow, read and enjoy.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
An education, 24 Jul 2003
In cryptonomicon Stephenson sets out to inform, educate and titilate in almost equal portions. This is not Snowcrash and anyone unable to conceive of authors expressing themselves across genres should perhaps stick to watching Sci-Fi channels. This is about encryption. It is not sci-fi but a well research techno-thriller. Its has elements of World War II, post-war and modern history. The plot wends its way across much of the Pacific region and is a vivid travelogue for those of us yet to try out Taglog in Manilla. In Cryptonomicononononon the author explains something of the history of encryption in an accessible and entertaining way. It winds a complex plot around elements of history intertwinning fiction and reality. There are credible and enjoyable characters; and as with his other books an occassionally highly entertaining absurdity arises. Do not be under misapprehensions: this book requires you to think. But it is thoroughly rewarding. I'd recommend this if you enjoy the likes of John Courtenay-Grimwood, any convincing technology-heavy authors, anyone paranoid or into conspiracy theories, and anyone with an interest in the history of science of cryptography.I went out and downloaded PGP after reading this book. Try it! Seriously. I mean it. Go on...
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
brain training, 28 Nov 2008
Agree with these other guys about what a great read this is. In fact it played a large part in me deciding to go back to university and study computing. What I love about it particularly is that it makes you feel clever. Some of the stuff in here is kind of complex and daunting, about maths and cryptography and hacking. But he explains it in such a way that you take it all in your stride, and then think - wow, I get this! I must be clever!
It's also really funny in places. And proper geeky. There should be more books about geeks.
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