Neal Stephenson's 'Cryptonomicon' is a multi-linear narrative that weaves together two timelines, spanning from World War II to the late 20th century. The story revolves around cryptography, code-breaking, and digital encryption, with engaging characters who are descendants of earlier cryptographers. The intricate plot gradually intertwines the lives of grandfathers and grandsons, offering a vast conspiracy surrounding currency in the digital world. The writing style is a blend of thriller, historic fiction, and technical literacy, providing a detailed account of cryptography throughout the years.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of war violence, male-female dynamics, some portrayals of misogyny, and discussions around sexual content, which might be sensitive for some readers.
Has Romance?
Though the book is not primarily focused on romance, there are relationships that develop, particularly involving the character Randy Waterhouse and Amy Shaftoe, providing a medium level of romantic content.
From The Publisher:
With this extraordinary first volume in 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 Waterhouse and Detachment 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 granddaughter, Amy, to secretly salvage a sunken Nazi submarine 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 iconoclastic imagination working with white-hot intensity.
Ratings (55)
Incredible (16) | |
Loved It (25) | |
Liked It (8) | |
It Was OK (5) | |
Did Not Like (1) |
Reader Stats (95):
Read It (57) | |
Want To Read (29) | |
Did Not Finish (2) | |
Not Interested (7) |
2 comment(s)
It had been a few years since I'd read anything by Stephenson, so I'd forgotten what a hilarious writer he is. This a rip-roaring adventure tale, set both during World War II and modern times, and it was a hell of a lot of fun to read. This book has actually been on my shelf for a pretty long time, thoroughly untouched because of the sheer length. However, I'm glad I finally got up the nerve to crack it open and read it, because even at 1000+ pages it was a brisk and entertaining read. I'm sure I could have finished it weeks ago if not for all of the time I spent getting read to move at the start of the month. Highly recommended, easily in my top 10 for the year even this early on.
Reminds me a lot of
Infinite Jest. They have similar senses of humor, although Stephenson can't quite beat out Wallace in the meandering-diversion category.
It's amazing to me that Stephenson wrote this before the Quicksilver trilogy. Taken together, the four books are an amazing achievement. Recommended to anyone who likes WWII history and/or computers.
What can you read after
Cryptonomicon?
About the Author:
Neal Stephenson is the bestselling author of Reamde, Anathem; the three-volume historical epic the Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World); Cryptonomicon; The Diamond Age; Snow Crash, which was named one of Time magazine's top one hundred all-time best English-language novels; and Zodiac. He lives in Seattle, Washington.
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