Action story for geeks.
Enjoy math? Computers? Secrets? WWII History? Wild similes and metaphors? This book was written for you. Stephenson ... (show more)
Cryptonomicon
With this extraordinary first volume in what promises to be an epoch-making masterpiece, Neal Stephenson hacks into the secret histories of nations and the private obsessions of men, decrypting with dazzling virtuosity the forces that shaped this century.
In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the U.S. Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names li... (show more)
With this extraordinary first volume in what promises to be an epoch-making masterpiece, Neal Stephenson hacks into the secret histories of nations and the private obsessions of men, decrypting with dazzling virtuosity the forces that shaped this century.
In 1942, Lawrence Pritchard Waterhouse - mathematical genius and young Captain in the U.S. Navy - is assigned to detachment 2702. It is an outfit so secret that only a handful of people know it exists, and some of those people have names like Churchill and Roosevelt. The mission of Watrehouse and Detatchment 2702-commanded by Marine Raider Bobby Shaftoe-is to keep the Nazis ignorant of the fact that Allied Intelligence has cracked the enemy's fabled Enigma code. It is a game, a cryptographic chess match between Waterhouse and his German counterpart, translated into action by the gung-ho Shaftoe and his forces.
Fast-forward to the present, where Waterhouse's crypto-hacker grandson, Randy, is attempting to create a "data haven" in Southeast Asia - a place where encrypted data can be stored and exchanged free of repression and scrutiny. As governments and multinationals attack the endeavor, Randy joins forces with Shaftoe's tough-as-nails grandaughter, Amy, to secretly salvage a sunken Nazi sumarine that holds the key to keeping the dream of a data haven afloat. But soon their scheme brings to light a massive conspiracy with its roots in Detachment 2702 linked to an unbreakable Nazi code called Arethusa. And it will represent the path to unimaginable riches and a future of personal and digital liberty...or to universal totalitarianism reborn.
A breathtaking tour de force, and Neal Stephenson's most accomplished and affecting work to date, CRYPTONOMICON is profound and prophetic, hypnotic and hyper-driven, as it leaps forward and back between World War II and the World Wide Web, hinting all the while at a dark day-after-tomorrow. It is a work of great art, thought, and creative daring; the product of a truly icon (show less)
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Reviews (See all 1,538) Write a reviewfor this
It's a hit!
No, it's a flop!
I got this book on the street, and after slogging through all 920 pages (which felt like 9,000,000), I know why Adam thought little enough of Maria... (show more)
I got this book on the street, and after slogging through all 920 pages (which felt like 9,000,000), I know why Adam thought little enough of Marian's Christmas present and left it on his stoop.
The book weaves together four or five storylines into one massively twisted, not-even-all-that-fulfilling plot. And there are too many overlaps between generations for it to be mere coincidence.
I was told (after finishing it, of course) that I wouldn't like it, that it was "geeky boy stuff" and I should have listened.
That being said, there are a few worthwhile attributes to this book: 1) the mathematical equation spelled out in painstaking detail about how many good working hours one character has between orgasms, 2) another character's reaction to an unpleasant situation being likened to "moisturizing with Tabasco", and 3) the sheer number of pages completed at the end of the book.
Why'd I finish it? Because it had been too long since I last completed a novel.
*sigh* (show less)
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this is a book that probably has everything in it — it’s a quite long entertaining read. if you like diving into geek stuff, world war stories, code generation and code breaking, cybertechnology, brilliant minds and personalities and you like to read about philippines and the asia pacific and the world in general, this book is for you!
quote: “…the real gold is here–” he points to his head “–in the intelligence of the people, and here–” he holds out his hands “–in the work that they do. Get... (show more)
this is a book that probably has everything in it — it’s a quite long entertaining read. if you like diving into geek stuff, world war stories, code generation and code breaking, cybertechnology, brilliant minds and personalities and you like to read about philippines and the asia pacific and the world in general, this book is for you!
quote: “…the real gold is here–” he points to his head “–in the intelligence of the people, and here–” he holds out his hands “–in the work that they do. Getting rid of our gold was the best thing that ever happened to Nippon. It made us rich. Receiving that gold was the worst thing that happened to the Philippines. It made them poor." (show less)
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Neal Stephenson is some kind of genius. Those of you who are fans already know this. Those who have read Stephen King's novel 'Cell' will have a fair idea of what his characters think of the man as well, blasphemous though those opinions be. having read just a few of his novels, including 'The Baroque Cycle', I am happy to put him amongst my top 5 authors of all time.
Cryptonomicon is an epic, and although it is small in scale and scope in comparison to it's follow-up prequel, it is still... (show more)Neal Stephenson is some kind of genius. Those of you who are fans already know this. Those who have read Stephen King's novel 'Cell' will have a fair idea of what his characters think of the man as well, blasphemous though those opinions be. having read just a few of his novels, including 'The Baroque Cycle', I am happy to put him amongst my top 5 authors of all time.
Cryptonomicon is an epic, and although it is small in scale and scope in comparison to it's follow-up prequel, it is still a greater undertaking than most writers will ever achieve. The complexities of the plot, the depth of the themes and the intricacies of the science and mathematics which are sown effortlessly into the threads of this mammoth book, are all just breathtaking and mind-boggling. It is a great work of entertainment, but also of education and, like all the best novels, truly thought provoking.
I have little else to say but, 'read it'. (show less)Already read
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Really Good Book
I picked it up at a garage sale 3-4 years ago - It wasn't what I was expecting but I have read it twice now
Joe Weaver about 1 year ago
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