Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

[Brian]

Disclaimer: I am a Stephenson fanboy.  My biases have on occasion been mistaken for moons by escaping rebel starships.

*ahem*

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson was the book that got me somewhat interested in WWII.  I say this from the point of view of one who is jaded after the premise that WWII was won by three people, who treble-handedly kicked in all nazi teeth required to bring about a cessation of war: The Medal of Honor guy in Europe, the one in Japan, and our good friend, B.J Blazkowicz.  Ah, video games, exploiting our cultural memory to try and--  Well, that's all BS.  They just want to sell more games.

Anyway, my roommate of several years ago, when I was testing a WWII-based FPS (one of the MoH games from EA, don't remember which one), commented that if I enjoyed Snow Crash, I should really read Cryptonomicon.  I told him that I was leery of the oversaturation of WWII I was getting (given that my knowledge of WWII at the time was provided soley by dimly remembered social studies classes ("We won!") and video games, this was silly).  He admitted that WWII was getting way too much retro coverage and game redesign -- but this book was about more than that.  Okay, so, months later, I actually end up buying the book.

First of all, you have to enjoy Stephenson's writing style to enjoy the book.  Specifically, his excessively cultivated hyperbolic extended asides.  Lengthy pseudo-digressions that (in brutal honesty), bulk up the book with thousands upon thousands of extra words, when simpler language would easily suffice.  (Is the irony palpable, yet?)  Still, he does it with such effective style, that I find myself eagerly following each massive exploration of the minutiae surrounding ... well ... everything ... until I can see how it all ties back together.

And generally, it does.  Not always immediately, but it does.

Enough about the style; if that put you off, you're probably not going to read the book.  So, the plot:

The plot is very complex to try and explain without giving something (everything) away.  But I shall try anyway.

The story is set in WWII, featuring the crossing paths of a  cryptoanalyst, a marine (sorry, a %#!@ing MARINE!), a nipponese soldier, a padre, Alan Turing....

The story is set in late 1990's (ish), pre-bubble-burst technoculture, featuring the crossing paths of a computer nerd, an underwater salvage operations team, a nipponese construction firm, a dentist, a sultan....

The two separate timelines have an incredibly entwined tangle of plot progression, slowly shaping up to reveal a grand finale that (despite the sojourns into explanatory fields that push this book towards an encyclopedia in size) ... caught me somewhat by surprise.

Bottom line: If you like Stephenson, I think you will love this book.  If you're sick of WWII, this story is not what you are expecting ... and unfortunately, if you love WWII, then likewise.

[Jon]

I am exceedingly bitter that the Solitaire/Pontifex cryptosystem is broken. That's not really Stephenson's fault, though.

I quite liked parts of Cryptonomicon, but overall, I thought the whole was weaker than the sum of those parts. The plot could have been a bit tighter, for instance.

But on the whole, this is in the category of those Stephenson books which I will willingly reread.

[Edward]

I quite liked parts of Cryptonomicon, but overall, I thought the whole was weaker than the sum of those parts.

I've found the whole being less than the sum of the parts to be true for Stephenson in general.  Too bad, really.

[Brian]

I've found the whole being less than the sum of the parts to be true for Stephenson in general.  Too bad, really.

Even as a Stephenson fanboy, I can acknowledge the truth in this.

[Edward]

That's far too reasonable a response.  Kinda undermines your fanboy cred. :p

Good to see you posting on ff.net.

[Brian]

Just because I'm a fanboy doesn't mean I can't be reasonable.

...actually, in retrospect, that's probably exactly what it means.

I may have to settle with just being a 'huge' fan. >.>

And, thank you.  I know I owe you some replies ... a list of about 10 emails has been haunting my inbox for several years now. -_-