I just finished reading Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson, and because it was unlike any other book I've ever read, I decided I would a write a sort of book review on it.
Why was it unlike any other book I've ever read? Because everything only clicks after about 80% of the book has gone through. In most books, there's a plot line that carries the reader through. While the reader may not know exactly what will happen at the end of the book, there are enough clues that the reader can have a blurry picture of the resolution of the conflict in the book. Not so in Cryptonomicon. The lack of clarity with regards to the plot line did two things:
1. When everything finally clicks, there's this moment of absolute clarity. It's the mother of all "AHA" moments.
2. You spend 79% of the book trying to figure out what you're reading and how it's connected. Which makes it hard to motivate yourself to actually read the book.
Point number 2 is definitely one of the biggest cons of the book. There were times in the initial 79% of the book where I just wanted to quit. Put the book down and never look at it again. The reason I kept going is because the people who recommended it to me said that this was a perfectly normal feeling to be having when reading one of Stephenson's books, and that eventually it will all make sense. To be fair, they were correct. But I'm not sure that spending 79% of the book in frustration and confusion is something I would like to repeat.
That being said, there are a lot of pros to the book. One, it interweaves two stories very well. The first story concerns the code-breaking efforts in World War II (along with other military efforts), and the second is a story in the present day about a group of people starting a financial corporation. One thing that I really liked was that Stephenson rotated between five different characters to tell the story. Each of the characters had a distinct personality which made for some interesting chapters. There were also many other characters present in the story - which made it difficult to to keep track all of them, but also allowed for a lot of great interactions between characters. Example quote from one of these conversations - "Plato's Cave - the Veg-o-matic of metaphors".
Overall, go ahead and read this book. You will learn more about cryptography and computer systems than you probably expect (or want). You've now also been warned - the first 80% of the book will be a struggle to get through.
Why was it unlike any other book I've ever read? Because everything only clicks after about 80% of the book has gone through. In most books, there's a plot line that carries the reader through. While the reader may not know exactly what will happen at the end of the book, there are enough clues that the reader can have a blurry picture of the resolution of the conflict in the book. Not so in Cryptonomicon. The lack of clarity with regards to the plot line did two things:
1. When everything finally clicks, there's this moment of absolute clarity. It's the mother of all "AHA" moments.
2. You spend 79% of the book trying to figure out what you're reading and how it's connected. Which makes it hard to motivate yourself to actually read the book.
Point number 2 is definitely one of the biggest cons of the book. There were times in the initial 79% of the book where I just wanted to quit. Put the book down and never look at it again. The reason I kept going is because the people who recommended it to me said that this was a perfectly normal feeling to be having when reading one of Stephenson's books, and that eventually it will all make sense. To be fair, they were correct. But I'm not sure that spending 79% of the book in frustration and confusion is something I would like to repeat.
That being said, there are a lot of pros to the book. One, it interweaves two stories very well. The first story concerns the code-breaking efforts in World War II (along with other military efforts), and the second is a story in the present day about a group of people starting a financial corporation. One thing that I really liked was that Stephenson rotated between five different characters to tell the story. Each of the characters had a distinct personality which made for some interesting chapters. There were also many other characters present in the story - which made it difficult to to keep track all of them, but also allowed for a lot of great interactions between characters. Example quote from one of these conversations - "Plato's Cave - the Veg-o-matic of metaphors".
Overall, go ahead and read this book. You will learn more about cryptography and computer systems than you probably expect (or want). You've now also been warned - the first 80% of the book will be a struggle to get through.
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