Review: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Posted by Cynical Sarah on March 8, 2010

Cryptonomicon is a book my husband picked up a while ago. I discovered it on our dusty bookshelf and decided to give it a look.

This book is 1,130 pages long, and I do mean long. Only through sheer will did I make it through the first 200-300 pages to finally get to the point where I was hooked and needed to see how the rest of the story was going to play out. (I’m pretty sure Troy didn’t make it to that point. A dog-eared Page 263 marks where he gave up.)

Those first few hundred pages are killer if you aren’t into math, math theories or the computers business. They are a necessarily evil to endure, though to learn ore about the characters in both the past and the present story lines taking place. If you can endure, both storylines eventually get more exciting, and by the time they do, you’re also emotionally invested in some of the characters and what to see what happens to them.

The structure of the storytelling was a large part of what got me through to that point. Neal Stephenson splits his story into several plot lines, some following characters in the past and some in the story’s present. It’s a bit of a tease knowing that all those story lines will eventually have to collide, and until they do, you keep reading wondering when and how it will happen.

Stephenson uses this flawlessly in Cryptonomicon, even bringing in another character’s story line late in the novel and making it blend seamlessly. I’m amazed that he was able to eventually weave so many tales together by the end and keep it all straight.

Not all the tales woven in were interesting to me. For the most part, I enjoyed the ones set in the past the most. They had the most exciting action. It wasn’t until more of the past crept into and influenced the present storyline that I got more into it too. That’s also when the present storyline gets more action-packed like the past storyline, so naturally it gets more exciting to read.

So even though it took longer than normal to get into, Cryptonomicon does reward the readers who make it. Stephenson lays out his story well, and it is rich with detail and action.

One complaint I do have is that perhaps there was a little too much detail at times. There were several pages going over math, equations or code formulas that I skipped over entirely, and I still comprehended the story just fine.

Another complain is that after 1,130 pages, I didn’t feel the ending sufficiently resolved the story. Or at the very least it didn’t resolve all the questions I still had, and I was hoping there would be an epilogue to solve that problem. No such luck. (Spoiler alert!)

Did Bischoff survive?

They couldn’t leave the gold in the mountain by the end, so what did they end up doing with it?

Does the Crypt ever get finished, and how does the Epiphyte company and it’s creators come out in the end?

Do they ever realize how closely they’re all connected through their families’ histories?

Inquiring minds want to know, and I find these lingering questions incredibly frustrating. That could be because I just finished the book. I haven’t had a few days to let it settle in my mind. Maybe then I’ll think of these questions as a sign the story was so good I didn’t want it to end. That would be a good indicator that I, and many others, will be seeking out more Neal Stephenson novels.

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