READING TIME: NEAL STEPHENSON 3/5 "Cryptonomicon"

part 3 of an extended salute to my favourite forest destroyer, Neal Stephenson, in the lead up to the release of his latest novel.

[@evanajordan]

😂it's mind blowing. So ahead of its time. And somehow also grounded in the past.

[@hugothepoet]

Perfect description!

[@teddypantelas]

I loved this book as soon as I started reading it. Great writer. Hope others will read it thru your enthusiasm.

[@fireant202]

Definitely a Stephenson book that stands apart. It’s his only non-speculative sci-fi piece I’ve read and I loved it. I forgot it was part of a series. Need to read the rest! How is he so damn prolific!?

[@vandalfinnicus1507]

When I read Cryptonomicon (no re-read yet, but there will be) I was laughing because it was so good. I didn't have another reaction. Sometimes something great can make me cry, but Cryptonomicon isn't like that, it's like seeing new colors, that other writers aren't able to describe.

[@saschamajewsky7990]

Great summary, just bought the audiobook.

[@hugothepoet]

@@saschamajewsky7990 how did you go with the audio book? I was meaning to check in as there are a good few lists of figures and binary digits in the code breaking part, and visual diagrams at one point, both of which don’t really translate to the audio format

[@0xGEEK]

Like you enthusiasms 'bout Neal Stephenson! By any chance you happened upon a Thomas Pynchon novel, like, say, "Inherent vice"?

[@hugothepoet]

I have not tried Pynchon beyond a few chapters of Gravity’s Rainbow. Based on a few comments on this series I have to try again!

[@0xGEEK]

@@hugothepoet Doesn't have to be GR, any other will suffice! He's kind of like the David Lynch of Literature. Sometimes he's fun, sometimes his weired, sometimes he's learned, sometimes he's WTF... And all of that happens in the same book!

[@williamgass9242]

It's nowhere near literary quality. It's a shame they put names on the book like dfw, pynchon, don dellio. It is very fitting however to have michener's name on there, which it is. I cant imagine reading this more than once without feeling like im dying of wasted time.

[@hugothepoet]

@@williamgass9242 ah you have much higher standards than me. Still I don’t think I ever claimed this book is literary. It’s just a very well written and extremely fun romp. But not for everyone, of course

[@williamgass9242]

@hugothepoet the name DFW is on the book. I think the reviews on the cover are trying to sell a book to the mass audience. It's disgusting. I hate feeling cheated by an "artist".

[@hugothepoet]

@@williamgass9242 fair enough. That might be a different edition. I can see the critics quotes mentioning Pynchon and Delillo, but no David Foster Wallace.