Cryptonomicon - Softcover

Stephenson, Neal

4.24

112,331 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0434008834 ISBN 13: 9780434008834

Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, 1999

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A panoramic novel of the latter half of the 20th century, ranging from World War II and the breaking of the Enigma code to more recent struggles for control of the Internet. From the author of "Snowcrash".

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Review:

Neal Stephenson enjoys cult status among science fiction fans and techie types thanks to Snow Crash, which so completely redefined conventional notions of the high-tech future that it became a self- fulfilling prophecy. But if his cyberpunk classic was big, Cryptonomicon is huge, gargantuan, massive-- not just in size but in scope and appeal. It's the hip, readable heir to Gravity's Rainbow and the Illuminatus trilogy. And it's only the first of a proposed series--for more information, read our interview with Stephenson.

Cryptonomicon zooms all over the world, careening conspiratorially back and forth between two time periods- -World War II and the present. Our 1940s heroes are the brilliant mathematician Lawrence Waterhouse, cryptanalyst extraordinaire, and gung ho, morphine-addicted marine Bobby Shaftoe. They're part of Detachment 2702, an Allied group trying to break Axis communication codes while simultaneously preventing the enemy from figuring out that their codes have been broken. Their job boils down to layer upon layer of deception. Dr. Alan Turing is also a member of 2702, and he explains the unit's strange workings to Waterhouse. "When we want to sink a convoy, we send out an observation plane first. Of course, to observe is not its real duty--we already know exactly where the convoy is. Its real duty is to be observed. Then, when we come round and sink them, the Germans will not find it suspicious."

All of this secrecy resonates in the present-day story line, in which the grandchildren of the WWII heroes--inimitable programming geek Randy Waterhouse and the lovely and powerful Amy Shaftoe--team up to help create an offshore data haven in Southeast Asia and maybe uncover some gold once destined for Nazi coffers. To top off the paranoiac tone of the book, the mysterious Enoch Root, key member of Detachment 2702 and the Societas Eruditorum, pops up with an unbreakable encryption scheme left over from WWII to befuddle the 1990s protagonists with conspiratorial ties.

Cryptonomicon is vintage Stephenson from start to finish: short on plot, but long on detail and so precise it's exhausting. Every page has a math problem, a quotable in-joke, an amazing idea or a bit of sharp prose. Cryptonomicon is also packed with truly weird characters, funky tech, and crypto--all the crypto you'll ever need, in fact, not to mention all the computer jargon of the moment. A word to the wise: if you read this book in one sitting, you may die of information overload (and starvation). --Therese Littleton, Amazon.com

Review:

"Electifying...hilarious...a picaresque novel about code making and code breaking, set both during World War II and during the present day."--"New York Times Book Review"Suspenseful...moves along as such a fantastic clip."--"Wall Street Journal"Rambling and revelatory...[Stephenson is] the hacker Hemingway."--"Newsweek"An engrossing look at the way the flow of information shapes history."--"Entertainment Weekly(A)"Fascinating...hysterical."--"USA Today"Big, complex, and ambitious...Promises to be one of the most extravagant literary creations of the turn of the millennium--and beyond."--"Publishers Weekly (starred review)"A hell of a read."--"Wired"Stephenson's new book proves that he is the rarest of geniuses."--"New York Post"A powerfully imagined story revolving around a vast conspiracy affecting history and different generations in one family who attempt to unravel its secrets."--"Seattle Post Intelligencer"There is a scope here, a wildness, that you rarely find in fiction today. Buckle up."--"Minneapolis Star Tribune

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