Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson | Review

An interesting book that wasn't quite for me. Yes, this review is a little snarky... sorry.
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[@karobiawho6845]

One of my fave books. This book contains Perl scripts and unix commands. The author is a scintillanting wordsmith. The closest thing to "hacker fiction".

[@Jodie13R]

Do you have other hacker fiction or geeky book recommendations?

[@markwatney8641]

The cuckoos egg, Clifford stoll

[@progrocker2112]

I've read this book like ten times, each time buying a copy and giving it away to people I hope would appreciate it.

[@swaleyko]

I am so close to finishing this book. I have roughly 50 pages left, but I just got to the page with Randy’s “Imperial pint of semen”. After vomiting in my mouth, I put the book down and searched to see if other people had reviewed Cryptonomicon and felt the same. Great review. Almost wish I saw this video before deciding to read this book 😅

[@spacepirateking]

I've read the Baroque Cycle! I'd only read Snow Crash beforehand and really had no idea what I was in for when I picked up Quicksilver at a used book store. It took a VERY long time to get through all three, and then I bumped Cryptonomicon up on my list to see what happens with the descendants of all these amazing characters. The Baroque Cycle blew my mind and really gave me this appetite to read Stephenson's entire body of work. I felt like it gave me these vantage points into processes of thinking & working, into European history, and into epic storytelling that I'd never had before. I've been in the process of reestablishing a reading habit, though, so it may be a case of right place, right time. I definitely don't want to oversell it because it's a big commitment! Whatever the case, I just liked the characters so much more in the Baroque Cycle. I was happy when you pointed to Lawrence as the most intriguing character in Cryptonomicon because I was very much on the same page. Even still, the Baroque Cycle held much more intrigue (for me, obviously). Perhaps Stephenson's character development evolved in the 4 years between works? Finally, I have to say: this is the first youtube comment I've ever commented on (IIRC). I somehow stumbled onto your channel a while back and held off on watching this review, but I was looking forward to viewing once I'd finished the book myself. I think the anticipation of hearing someone else's thoughts kept me motivated to press onward. I also drew inspiration from the clear importance that you place on reading and have been pushing myself to keep at least some focus on exploring some of the wonderful works that are out there. Thanks for that!

[@tomasortizjr.4635]

Van Eck Phreaking is a subject that really interests me. I kept thinking about it after you mentioned it and had to look it up again, but it came rushing back once I found it. That would be some seriously good technology if it's ever perfected like a cell phone!!!!

[@element7795]

Very watchable review. I read this book a while ago and don't remember much of anything from it. I read some of the Baroque cycle (Book 1.) and loved it but as a chemist I love all the amazing (geeky) chemistry stuff in his books (such as the pre -industrial steel making in India. )

[@hukes]

It took me three tries in a span of ten years to finish this book. But it was not because of the characters, but because sometimes Stephenson jumped from scene to scene without any indication, especially in the first third of the book.

[@williamstewart6454]

Is one of the characters really called Bobby Shaftoe . I ve only read The Diamond Age by Stephenson mainly because his books are tooooo long . I might read Anathem because of your recommendation here

[@shashwatpandey1371]

Is it a good book for someone who isn't that familiar with alot of programming?

[@pipe2devnull]

I keep vowing not to endure another Stephenson novel but still do. I have to find out what system he is describing. I read the Baroque cycle at least 3x. The one about the Glorious Revolution is quite an education in the beginnings of science and economics. Now that you recommend Anathem I will now have to read it grrrr.

[@EdHastingsKillerShrike]

Cryptonomicon is my personal favorite Stephenson book, though I don't think it is objectively his best book, because it resonates strongly with me personally. It captured the zeitgeist of the techie subculture circa the dot-com era. It definitely spoke to me, but I was and remain "Epiphyte(2) employable" so to speak and got my start in the infotech industry in the 90's so I came up during the era it draws upon. Also, I was a US Marine for 5 years, an Intelligence Specialist, so Bobby Shaftoe's (mis)adventures were entertaining to me. It also checks off a number of other things that I either have personal experience of or professional interest in, and in a generally amusing way. I chuckle and outright laugh a lot when I read this book. There's also a fair amount of comedy of the absurd interjected into the narrative, particularly in Bobby's post-lizard escapades, and some of the more elaborate gags like the extended furniture / stockings interlude or the Shaftoe intervention leading up to the redistribution of grandma's wealth side quest...which like a lot of Neal's digressions may SEEM like they are entirely tangential but are not, actually. They generally serve many purposes, but one among them is typically a different way to explore one or more themes of the book. For instance, rationality vs desire, hidden truths, the impact of (potentially unremembered) past events on current events, and wealth redistribution are key themes of the book writ large across the timelines of the main narrative, and we see similar ideas writ small in many of the seemingly irrelevant digressions. The Baroque Cycle on the other hand is, when taken as a whole, what I would put forth as Neal's masterpiece. Quicksilver is great in my opinion, and while The Confusion stretches on a bit and is a bit tedious in parts for me, it pretty much all sets up for a number of really big pay offs in System of the World. I've read it straight through a few times over the years, and I've revisited bits of the story here and there many times. Really great prose and a grand story that is mindblowing in its scope. Daniel Waterhouse, the predecessor of Lawrence and Randy Waterhouse, is my favorite Stephenson character of all time thus far. Jack Shaftoe, predecessor to Bobby, D.M., America, and the other Shaftoes is a unique character who has to be read to be believed, Eliza is a stupendous badass of mercantile Machiavellian maneuverings, and Enoch pops up in odd times and places to meddle. There's tons of stand out interesting secondary characters as well. Definitely worth checking out, if you are willing to take on reading three massive books which span a large segment of real time.

[@steveanton763]

So what's your favourite

[@EdHastingsKillerShrike]

@@steveanton763 The Baroque Cycle, if treated as a single work and taken as a whole. Otherwise, Snow Crash.

[@steveanton763]

@@EdHastingsKillerShrike couldn't be bothered reading your last post but I figured this guy is scarily passionate he'll definately answer. "taken as a whole " love your work.

[@the_inquisitive_inquisitor]

Snow Crash is simultaneously my favorite and least favorite Niel Stephenson book. Side note: my Grandfather on my dad's side was a code-breaker in WWII and worked in the same office as the man who cracked the real life Enigma Machine.

[@jedidiahdennis6966]

I heard about this book from silicon valley

[@vikrantdb]

Does this video have spoilers? I haven't read Cryptonomicon yet. Can someone please let know so that I can decide whether to watch this video rn or not. Thanks!

[@Runkst]

It's funny you find it so different from his other books, while I consider Cryptonomicon sort of like the Platonic ideal of a Stephenson book of which the others are distorted reflections :) It's been quite a while since I've read the Baroque Cycle but from what I remember the connections are pretty minor. There's the Root guy who has a small role again, and some of the characters are ancestors of Cryptonomicon characters. But I don't recall any real plot connections (but it's been a while though). The Baroque cycle are my least favourite Stephenson books but mostly because he focuses his geek spotlight on stuff I find less interesting (17th century history, genealogy,...)

[@Kalanadi]

Mark Gerrits Haha, the "Platonic ideal" of Stephenson? I like that. I think I'm really influenced by which books I read first by him. I do appreciate he seems to write in different genres. Perhaps I will pick up the Baroque Cycle. I don't know anything about 17th century history but the older (and deader) history is, the more I enjoy it! And genealogy is awesome.

[@sixtofive]

It was definitely interesting to see the way he tied all of those threads back together again in the newest book Fall.

[@singaporeghostclub]

Anyway Kalanadi, have you read Emma? That is one tough book to read in my opinion.

[@andreraymond6860]

Great review. One of my five or ten favorite books. I understand your frustrations about the ramblings and side stories. I always saw the point though. Waterhouse has an odd relationship to sex. He understands it as a physical need like fatigue or hunger that breaks his concentration. When he meets THE girl he becomes unable to function professionally. He is already somewhat of an idiot-savant and so over-intellectualizes the steps he must take to get laid. I thought it was hilarious. I love Stephenson s use of language. There is a whole section at the beginning of a chapter where Randy Waterhouse is eating Captain Crunch cereal. Stephenson writes it in a very mysterious way so that the reader has to wait for the key to decrypt what is going on. This is something he does several times in the book. The biking scene towards the start in which Alan Turing and Rudi have a tryst in the woods in New Jersey while Waterhouse tries to figure out how to build a computer out of a church organ is also among my favorite moments. Late in the day he stumbles upon a scene straight out of a Bosch painting and the reader is left to figure out that he is obliviously witnessing the arrival of the Hindenburg.

[@OslerWannabe]

Since the Waterhouse and Shaftoe characters are obviously descendants of the Waterhouse and Shaftoe characters of The Baroque Cycle, Cryptonomicon might make more sense if read after Baroque. I'm guessing, since I haven't read Cryptonomicon and am currently about 80% through Baroque, but knowing Stephenson's penchant for linking situations and characters in a sort of Long Con, I have to believe the books are linked in some way.

[@jubalrahl]

I am almost a quarter through it and it still hasn't grabbed me. I really liked Snow Crash and Diamond Age, and am looking for more stuff from Stephenson.

[@LanceWinslow]

Thanks for your review, I appreciate that.

[@Kevitivity]

Great review. This is one of my favorite books.

[@JagdeepSingh-bs3cw]

Are you on reddit? Someone made almost an word for word comment you did about anathem. I came here to learn more about this book but was surprised you said the same thing. Crazy coincidence.

[@E.L.RipleyAtNostromo]

I like all things WWII, and anticipated I would enjoy this book. However, this was my first Stephenson novel, and definitely my last. It was so convoluted and boring and pretentious and never-ending it took everything I had to finish it. I got the strong impression that Stephenson is a legend in his own mind, and based on this book I haven’t tried anything else he’s written. My loss I guess, but there’s too many better writers out there for me to discover.

[@MikeyFFA500]

I feel pretty much the same. It's just too long. I don't want to read 4 pages descriptions of rooms of people we see one time. I did enjoy the overall story but a lot of parts were brutal.

[@osvaldoavila1230]

Me encanta tu canal, es maravilloso que reseñes ciencia ficción, :D Y me gusta mucho tu voz n.n

[@singaporeghostclub]

I have Quicksilver and The Confusion, but I stopped reading both because Cryptonomicon is the precursor to those two books. Am I right?

[@Kalanadi]

I don't really think Cryptonomicon is a precursor to the Baroque Cycle, it just has people from the same family in each, from very different time periods. I had forgotten most of the details from Cryptonomicon when I read Quicksilver and it didn't seem to matter much :-)

[@singaporeghostclub]

Kalanadi hey thanks for the reply. Since I’ve already bought Cryptonomicon on kindle, might as well read it through and then continue with the books Quicksilver and The Confusion which I’ve bought and yet to finish! 🤭

[@SantiagoArizti]

I really loved all the Waterhouse srtange scenes, like the one where he is playing Bach, trying to impress Mary Schmith, when in the middle of it he becomes inspired to build a computer based on organ dynamics, then he suddenly runs to his lab, passing by Mary because "first things first" XD

[@royboyx2]

Aversion to whole significant historical subjects might make for a more shallow contextualization and overall analysis. The story is more idea-driven rather than character-developmental.

[@nullhypothesis2735]

I'm so glad that I have all of Neal Stephenson's books on my ebook reader, otherwise I'd be wearing a wrist brace for the rest of my life. It's like reading a brick. I was pondering whether to read Cryptonomicon or Reamde next. I was siding with Cryptonomicon first as I quite like stuff about cyphers, but I may start with Reamde after all. Nice review! You helped me make up my mind.

[@Kalanadi]

***** Glad I could help! :-) Reamde will probably be next for me as well. I have no idea what it is about. I rather like going into Stephenson's books blind. I wish I could read all his books on my Kindle too, because reading Cryptonomicon was very physically uncomfortable. I couldn't hold the book up for very long!

[@DanielGenis5000]

Stephenson is a modern Jules Verne, he rewrites encyclopedias into novels. This book wasn’t that different from the others if you look at it that way

[@PaulWeymouth]

Wasn't going to watch the review and then I saw the word snarky underneath it, and was like, "this gonna be good." I learned a new word, prescient. =)

[@Kalanadi]

I was in a mood while filming, that's for sure. :-P I like the book more now I've ranted about it, how weird!

[@christesterman]

Interesting I loved crytonomicon and wasn't a very big Anthem fan. I think a lot of your issues stem from WW2 dislike. It's good to know what's coloring your view of the product you are reviewing and I thank you for your honesty.

[@singaporeghostclub]

I’m in love! ❣️

[@kmcg101]

Thanks for the review. I agree with a lot of what you said. It was long for length's sake at times. I found the book and characters emotionless. I didn't hate the bad guys and wasn't pulling for the good guys. And both sets of guys, good and bad, weren't deep enough to be interesting. I read this on kindle and much to my surprise, it ended at the 85% point with the remaining pages as appendix. So for me the book ended abruptly and I wasn't happy for anyone. I'm glad I finished but would certainly not recommend this to anyone who wasn't deep into geek or crypto fiction.

[@TheFdsea]

Greetings from Mexico, haven't you reviewed Anathem?

[@Kalanadi]

Hi! Yep, I read and reviewed Anathem back in April I think, just not in a video of its own. One of my favorite books of 2015!

[@avigokuu]

hi goku

[@tarabyt3]

Yeah... this is about what happened to me when I started reading it and then stopped. But one day... One day. It can't be any worse than Perdido Street Station. D: But I'm not going to buy the Kindle version when I have the paper version in the U.S. So... I'll just wait. Thanks for the review. :D

[@Kalanadi]

tarabyt3 Yeah, I disliked Perdido Street Station so much more! Cryptonomicon has some great stuff in it especially if you're a history buff, but otherwise... it dragged.

[@tomasortizjr.4635]

I liked that book A LOT, maybe it was because I was locked up at the time I read it, but it basically have purpose to my days when I read it. That and having been military in the past, I think that's why it resonated well with me. Yes it had like four stories in one, but given time and proper intellect, one would be able to understand it very well.

[@Kalanadi]

Yeah, I can see that Cryptonomicon would be a lot more fun or would resonate more with me if I had experience or a background that helped me relate. That's possibly why a lot of WWII fiction hasn't clicked with me. We all have different interests. I'm still impressed by the sheer scale of Cryptonomicon though!

[@tomasortizjr.4635]

While I was reading that book though, I thought Neal had multiple personality disorder, ADD, or was even bipolar, in order to be able to write a book like that and have everything mesh so well. I liked the codes and the technological aspects of the book, like the guy trying to make better computer memory. I could dig that because I've studied electronics.

[@Kalanadi]

Tomas Ortiz Jr. The computer technology and electronics was definitely fun! I loved the parts about Van Eck phreaking too.

[@travlishallingquest5719]

Tomas Ortiz Jr. what was your MOS?

[@Kevitivity]

It's one of my favorite books. I gave your video a 👍🏻

[@Arational]

I really enjoyed Cryptonomicon and have read it 3 times.

[@sophblueberry]

It's been a good long while since I read this (to the tune of 9 or 10 years?), but I remember feeling very similar to you. I picked it up on a recommendation from either my dad or my brother because I had *loved* The Code Book (a super great introductory nonfiction about the history of cryptography). And I loved all the cryptography-related content in Cryptonomicon, but I felt like the story went off in a super weird and unexpected direction which wasn't really what I was hoping for. Entertaining at the time, but not my favorite and easily forgettable. That's why I so enthusiastically recommended Anathem to you when you asked! =D

[@Kalanadi]

sophblueberry I am going to judge all other Stephenson books against Anathem. That's my gold standard for a Stephenson book now! Cryptonomicon felt really different from the other 3 books I've read by him; like you say, it went off in a weird direction by the end of the book, not what I was expecting. Reamde and Seveneves are next!

[@sophblueberry]

Kalanadi Looking forward to Seveneves!

[@pouncebaratheon4178]

Kalanadi I'd go with Seveneves before Reamde. The video game world described in Reamde was awesome but the book as a whole felt a bit uninspired for a Stephenson novel. Not that it was bad, just that for the most part it didn't stand out much. I soon found myself just reading for the next time he discussed something about that virtual world or why it was set up the way it was, while barely giving a shit about the main plot. Just my opinion though. :) Seveneves actually isn't too terribly original feeling either (at least not to the extent that Anathem or Snow Crash are), but you said your favorite parts of Cryptonomicon were the discussions of cryptography and the mathy bits (mine too) and Seveneves is chock full of that stuff. It's great seeing all the solutions the scientists and astronauts come up with for all the problems they have to work through.

[@yesmissjane]

I so hear you about WW2 era stories. I'm reading another one at the moment which is kind of getting me down. And, the two things I remember finding trying about Cryptonomicon are both things you have pointed up : the paranoia (oh! the paranoia!!!) and the truly clumsy stuff about sex. I am planning to re-read Baroque soon (but, of course, after Seveneves) and maybe I'll follow that up with a re-read of Cryptonomicon. The connections between the two are fairly slight in terms of *plot*, but quite interesting in terms of theme. There is quite a bit about money, for example, in the Baroque books, and also information technology and cryptography. I think this is what is being pointed up by the connections in the characters (which are quite numerous : apart from Root there are Shaftoes, Waterhouses, and Eliza, the Duchess of Qwghlm.) You still haven't read my favourite Stephenson, Reamde. Just sayin'

[@Kalanadi]

yesmissjane Reamde is next on the list! I may or may not get to it before Seveneves :-) If there's more about Qwghlm in the Baroque Cycle then I'd like that; I found the Qwghlm culture and characters in Cryptonomicon to be hilarious. The moment when Lawrence realizes Mary "Smith" is Qwghlmian - that was great!

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

Lol, you pointed out the one thing that I thought was really weird about that book. Stephenson's attention to his male character's blueballs was odd to say the least and really just creepy.

[@LetsReadSFF]

Reading World War 2 history is fascinating but trying to experience it in fiction hasn't worked for me. I don't remember much about Cryptonomicon as it was forever ago. The writing and reality of the story was fantastic but the I didn't much care for the gold and people trying to find it. It's my least favourite Stephenson but I'm very excited to read The Baroque Cycle at some point.

[@Kalanadi]

Let's Read Yes, I think I will try to read the Baroque Cycle eventually. It might be more fantastical historical fiction, and if it takes place a *long* time ago...that's how I like my history in fiction! :-) Very, very dead and gone.

[@element7795]

Just curious, if you don't mind my butting in, but have you read Connie Willis's All Clear/Blackout about the London Blitz?

[@LetsReadSFF]

element7795 I still need to. Recently gifted a copy of The Doomsday Book

[@element7795]

I didn't enjoy Doomday , sort of like reading about mass murder.

[@LetsReadSFF]

element7795 eep. I didn't want to jump into Blackout/All Clear without reading her earlier works. To Say Nothing of the Dog might also be interesting.

[@sleepyJaclyn]

thanks for da review

[@megaman9422]

amazing review, i loved it

[@_vexation9618]

This review is awesome

[@diegolanzetti7137]

Greetins from Argentina. I didn't enjoy Cryptonomicon the first time, just like it happened to you. Sut the second time I read it, three years later, holy s***. I found out so much more details about the plot, hidden stuff, little winks and suggestions it made this mediocre book worth buying. I'm thinking of reading it for the third time. I liked the WW2 scenario, so it worked better for me in that case. However, consider giving this jewel another try. I did it because I had nothing else to read: not dissapointed AT ALL.

[@Mauropaylenao]

It predict Bitcoin, 3D printed guns, and stuff.... its one my favourite books

[@jfvirey]

You might like the recent British TV series "The Bletchley Circle", which is about former Bletchley Park female employees solving crimes in post WWII Britain using very methodical thinking.

[@karobiawho6845]

*Societas Eruditorium* is hiring. I found the book delightfully and surprisingly funny, immersive...Waterhouse's sex life plotted out in graphs and equations. I didn't want the book to end.

[@guzelaziz]

What a patience , I adore your patience. The book was too geeky,

[@MajesticSkywhale]

ah damn sad you didn't enjoy it this is one of my favorite books ever written :D it's like tolkienesque in scope but it's about my favorite era of history (wwii). I could understand why people wouldn't like a book with such hugely detailed descriptions of things that can go on for pages lol

[@Kalanadi]

+Majestic Skywhale Yeah, I think exactly what you love about Cryptonomicon is why I didn't "get" it so much. If I really enjoyed WWII era history, this would have been the best book ever! :-D I really love Stephenson's long descriptions in other books - like the huge infodumps in Seveneves - but I think finding the subject matter really interesting is key. Thanks for watching!

[@tomkane2165]

I respectfully disagree. I love this book or books because it's really 4 books that tie together at the very end. Shaftoe and Randy's fatalistic humor is written so well I often pick up the book just read their chapter s independently of book itself. I agree waterhouse historical storyline is very interesting itself. The modern world is hell on hiku writers.. .😃

[@MajesticSkywhale]

ah not you said ultimate it's about people trying to find gold, but no! Avi would say it's ALL ABOUT THE HEAP

[@jasona.126]

Ditto here, except I AM quite interested in WW2 history. In a book this long, you are trying to make note of what is going to become relevant later in the story. SO much of it was not. The blue balls? Yeah : \ Tangents? Yup. Running to wiki and going down the rabbit hole? Uh huh. Anyway, I'm going to pick up "Anathem" soon.

[@forfreedomssake4315]

I like your energy :)

[@sibylsaint]

The Baroque Cycle is just as weird in the sex department. A rape scene at the end of #2 made me give it up, honestly. Maybe I'll come back to it someday. Neal Stephenson's sex scenes are always out there in some way. I usually like them. Sometimes I don't.

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

I just couldn't like this book because of the rampant misogyny. Every fucking time a female character is introduced in this book, they immediately sleep with the nearest male character. The women in this book are used only as sex objects to be lusted after by the male characters, and I found it really off-putting. Plus, Cryptonomicon really, REALLY, could have used an editor.

[@mwont]

The book is too bloated. It could easily be half in length without a lot of unnecessary descriptions and conversations.

[@thereGoMapo]

anticlimactic ending, comical, too many words - just get to the point Neal...

[@skipsteel]

It's a must read if you work at Elon Musk's Boring company. Ultra long story arcs.zzzzz

[@Jodie13R]

this was a must at his first company too. Any other must read?