From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Cryptonomicon

Neal Stephenson

Why we're reading this: #53 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...
#49 on L…more
[close] #53 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...
#49 on Locus Magazines Best SciFi novels of the 20th century http://www.locusmag.com/2012/AllCentu...

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Sep 03, 2011 Andrew rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, sci-fi-and-fantasy, fake-history

Supermassive

“You’re British, you’re a priest, you’re a medical doctor, you can handle a rifle, you know Morse Code, and most importantly of all, you’re a fucking pain in the ass – so off you go!”

There are two main story threads in this 1150 pages: World War II combat involving a gold shipment on a sunken German U-boat and perhaps another bevy elsewhere, and the establishment of a modern day data haven (hence cryptology) in the South Pacific, mainly involving the Philippines and the fictional Sul Supermassive

“You’re British, you’re a priest, you’re a medical doctor, you can handle a rifle, you know Morse Code, and most importantly of all, you’re a fucking pain in the ass – so off you go!”

There are two main story threads in this 1150 pages: World War II combat involving a gold shipment on a sunken German U-boat and perhaps another bevy elsewhere, and the establishment of a modern day data haven (hence cryptology) in the South Pacific, mainly involving the Philippines and the fictional Sultanate of Kinakuta. But the reader will find the narrative meandering through California and the Gulf of Bothnia and everywhere in between. At some point, names and families and friends come full circle through the generations. In Alexandre Dumas style, everyone ends up being related to everyone else.

I read a review of this novel a while ago, but it has always stayed with me. The reviewer said that if you took Cryptonomicon and dropped it into a black hole, the mass of the black hole would immediately double. That is to say, Stephenson is like a modern Shakespeare: his plot is exceedingly dense (but easy to read), his vocabulary expansive (but never obnoxious), and he seems to explore the full spectrum of human emotion and circumstance (the most sentimental and the most cynical), if only because of sheer number of words and pages.

The only thing Stephenson doesn’t do expertly is imbuing his scenes with a sense of fear. His characters are always intelligent and whimsical in their swashbuckling. They approach danger with a full embrace, equipped with an excess of wit. If there were a funeral dirge for a character in Cryptonomicon, it would never really be sullen, because the priest or the choirboy or the widow would be cracking jokes about Van Eck phreaking or Filipino land rights.

The action sequences are tremendous. Frenzied, confusion WWII battles swirl on air, land, and sea. Some characters are dazed and confused, others plowing through with matter-of-fact grit (and a quip or two). I loved every second of the combat and the satire.

Fans of complex, virtuosic writing and an appreciation for code-breaking, technology, and history will not be disappointed. This book is 16 years old with a plot laden with 1990s technology references, and yet it feels as fresh as ever.
...more

Like · see review

Mar 10, 2012 M Hall rated it really liked it

Very long, and sort of a slow burn. However, very enjoyable content wise. Decent layman's explanations of math and cryptography along with an interesting story. Weak ending, as usual for Stephenson. ...more

Like · see review