Book Review
Nov. 27th, 2010 09:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariCryptonomicon
by Neal Stephenson
This book was a very complex, and satisfying read. I found it particularly interesting to read after The Baroque Cycle, since there are many threads that run between the two: most of the main characters in Cryptonomicon are the descendants of the people in the Cycle; and many of the same thematic threads about math, science, and currency recur across both works.
Cryptonomicon tells two stories: one about codebreaking during WWII, and another about a group of modern-day hackers and business folk constructing a free data haven in a fictional South Pacific island nation. Eventually these two story lines converge in way that is really elegant and satisfying. The plot is pretty complex and the cast of characters is large, but never unwieldy.
Let me get my one important criticism out of the way first. Cryptonomicon comes up very, very short in its female characters. First of all, there are very few of them. But more importantly and more disappointingly, just about every single woman in the book who is more than a bit part has very little other function or role in the story than object of lust/love for one of the main characters, to the end of providing motivation for one of the guys or giving birth to one of the later characters, or both. Stephenson is a better writer than this, so I was pretty disappointed. It made me wonder if the terrific and well-balanced women in The Baroque Cycle were an attempt to correct this flaw.
Overall, I think I found the WWII storyline a little more compelling than the present day one. The whole code-breaking things was really fascinating - the math was really interesting, and the way the whole code-breaking operation worked was quite cool. And Alan Turing is an important character, who is portrayed really well. I found the characters to have more color and variety, too. Plus, Stephenson did a good job with the horror, drama, excitement, and absurdity of war.
I thought that the modern day plot was a little slow to get going. I certainly found the later half much more interesting than the first half. Luckily, it all paid off in the way everything comes together.
by Neal Stephenson
This book was a very complex, and satisfying read. I found it particularly interesting to read after The Baroque Cycle, since there are many threads that run between the two: most of the main characters in Cryptonomicon are the descendants of the people in the Cycle; and many of the same thematic threads about math, science, and currency recur across both works.
Cryptonomicon tells two stories: one about codebreaking during WWII, and another about a group of modern-day hackers and business folk constructing a free data haven in a fictional South Pacific island nation. Eventually these two story lines converge in way that is really elegant and satisfying. The plot is pretty complex and the cast of characters is large, but never unwieldy.
Let me get my one important criticism out of the way first. Cryptonomicon comes up very, very short in its female characters. First of all, there are very few of them. But more importantly and more disappointingly, just about every single woman in the book who is more than a bit part has very little other function or role in the story than object of lust/love for one of the main characters, to the end of providing motivation for one of the guys or giving birth to one of the later characters, or both. Stephenson is a better writer than this, so I was pretty disappointed. It made me wonder if the terrific and well-balanced women in The Baroque Cycle were an attempt to correct this flaw.
Overall, I think I found the WWII storyline a little more compelling than the present day one. The whole code-breaking things was really fascinating - the math was really interesting, and the way the whole code-breaking operation worked was quite cool. And Alan Turing is an important character, who is portrayed really well. I found the characters to have more color and variety, too. Plus, Stephenson did a good job with the horror, drama, excitement, and absurdity of war.
I thought that the modern day plot was a little slow to get going. I certainly found the later half much more interesting than the first half. Luckily, it all paid off in the way everything comes together.
no subject
Date: 2010-11-28 06:42 pm (UTC)I am very fond of Turing in general, and I like him in Cryptonomicon. My major fault with the book, in fact, is that it's not all World War II.