Reddit reviews Cryptonomicon
We found 37 Reddit comments about Cryptonomicon. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Reddit reviews CryptonomiconWe found 37 Reddit comments about Cryptonomicon. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Try Frank Herbert's Dune for starters. A more modern author would be Neal Stephenson, maybe start with his Cryptonomicon.
I really enjoyed Nancy Kress' Beggars in Spain as well, though I haven't read anything else by her.
You should probably read Cryptonomicon
Turing has a minor, and very gay, role at the start of the book.
Also, it's a great book.
The cryptonomicon was good
http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1290365107&sr=8-1
Sure!
Cryptonomicon
Snow Crash
The Electric Church
Neuromancer
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
That should get you started. :)
Shallow: Deep Storm by Lincoln Child
Deep: Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
I've never read Crichton, but you might try some Michael Crichton, such as Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park, even if they're "outdated."
Edit: For really shallow thriller fun, you need to read Deception Point by Dan Brown. I swear it's every episode of X Files thrown together with Jaws, Red October, and a volcano. Stupidly awesome.
I have a couple guesses.
This #1: The Last Man
This #2: Tau Zero
This #3: Cryptonomicon
Sounds like you might enjoy Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. I think Snow Crash is meant to be in the same universe - it's hilarious but not as dense. You might also like his Cryptonomicon, though it's not technically Sci Fi.
Tad Willams' Otherland Series is Epic Sci Fi with a huge amount of detail. Might be right up your alley.
Dune, Neuromancer and The Enderverse if you haven't already read those.
I know I must be missing some, but these are all that I can think of at the moment.
Fiction:
Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
The Stranger by Albert Camus
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
White Noise by Don Delilo
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot
Everything that Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by DFW
Infinite Jest by DFW
Of these, you can't go wrong with Infinite Jest and the Collected Fictions of Borges. His Dark Materials is an easy and classic read, probably the lightest fare on this list.
Non-Fiction:
The Music of the Primes by Marcus du Sautoy
Chaos by James Gleick
How to be Gay by David Halperin
Barrel Fever by David Sedaris
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
Secret Historian by Justin Spring
Of these, Secret Historian was definitely the most interesting, though How to be Gay was a good intro to queer theory.
In the book Cryptonomicon Neal Stephenson described the Solitaire Cipher, a way of encrypting messages using an ordinary pack of playing cards as the key.
Not compression, but interesting nonetheless I think.
Although not strictly about math, Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon includes a fair bit of math, and even has an appendix including more detail on a code used in the book. It's also a great read!
Or Cryptonomicon. Or any Neal Stephenson book. Also I highly recommend the Otherland series of books by Tad Williams. And if you want more fantasy from Tad, look at The Dragonbone Chair.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson is a classic. Takes in Bletchley Park, among much more. It is a novel, not a text book, so it won't actually teach you anything as such - but crypto is running through the book, along with much other tech stuff, plus it is a brilliant story. Not really "light" but I wish it took me longer to read I enjoyed it so much.
*ever
FYI,
Cryptonomicon on amazon
PS,
My second favorite chapter is basically an instruction manual on how to eat Captain Crunch Cereal.
http://www.euskalnet.net/larraorma/crypto/slide58.html
Because, like the internet, nearly all early computers/languages were originally funded by the military.
Check out Stephenson's book Cryptonomicon
It's engaging fiction, and for the most part it's historically accurate.
What are your top five must-own books?
Mine, in no real order are:
(I'll put in links when I get home)
edit: with amazon links
Cryptonomicon is this awesome cyberpunk book I'm almost done with
For fiction, you MUST read Daemon and Freedom(TM)
I also enjoyed Snowcrash and Cryptonomicon, though in my opinion the latter was a little bit of a difficult read. Worth it though.
I LOVE your penny book contests!!! Cryptonomicon is the book I'll choose for this one. Looks super interesting. Thanks so much for the contest! Gimme a book, Pancakes!
I should also mention that Eric Whitacre spent nearly half his lecture preaching about how great the Cryptonomicon is and turned me into a huge Neal Stephenson fan.
He was also (this is 10+ years ago...) really excited about his opera. If it ever opens in NYC, I'll go see it!
I fully share your interest in trying to find stories, narrative or scenarios featuring cryptocurrency. My personal conclusion is that the future got bigger and different after bitcoin, in ways that were considered practically impossible before, and we will need a new generation of science fiction.
While Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon, which I have only skimmed, deals with crypto-currency it is NOT the descentralized kind, which is in my opinion the truly revolutionary aspect of bitcoin.
The more suggestive work I can think of is Daniel Suarez's Daemon and the sequel, Freedom, which don't deal directly with cryptocurrency, but the whole conceit of the books --a self-sustaining civilization-altering program unleashed after the death of its author-- is curiously homomorphic to bitcoin.
It's not fiction, but I like David Friedman e-money scenarios in his 2008 Future Imperfect: Technology and Freedom in an Uncertain World. He writes just before bitcoin was unleashed unto the world!
Cory Doctorow's Down and out in the magic kingdom deals with Whuffie, a reputation-based "ambient" currency for a post-scarcity economy. The interesting part is that with colored coins, it could be very much implemented with bitcoins.
Yes. Loved that one as well. I would say that Anathem is far more philosophical and cerebral than Cryptonomicon.
I tried in vain to get my brother to read it who says he only likes non-fiction.
I was particularly enamored by the passages where he charts masturbation/prostitution/creativity. That hit close to home. ;)
EDIT: Found the section in Amazon's Look Inside, start on page 679.
"Cryptonomicon" by Neal Stephenson. A fantastic book; one of those that you hate when it ends!
You may also enjoy "the Baroque Cycle" by the same author. It does not go back and forth to modern times (Crypt. does), but is another great story about science, the beginnings of physics, and the start of money, among other things
Cryptonomicon or for that matter any of Neal Stephenson's early work like In the Beginning ... was the Command Line
At around 1000 pages—give or take a few, depending on the binding—I'd say it's unwieldy. The MMPB has 1168 pages, for instance. :)
Go out and buy Snowcrash
Then I'd read The Diamond Age
If you enjoyed both of those two, then I'd make the jump to Cryptonomicon
In the modern literature category
Dave Eggers - What is the What. Or A Heart Breaking Work of Staggering Genius by him is also pretty good.
A.S. Byatt - Possession
Also, someone else mentioned Neal Stephenson, I cannot second this recommendation strongly enough! Very fun reads that don't shy away from intellectual engagement. I read Cryptonomicon by him recently and loved it.
I also note you don't mention Don DeLillo although you mention many of his contemporaries. Check out White Noise by him and go from there.
I could probably make some more suggestions, but it depends what genre's and styles you're really into? Do you want hugely post-modern? Do you enjoy the classics? (I notice your list had no Shakespeare, his tragedies are as famous as they are for good reason)
Incredibly resourceful! I think I would like to take this opportunity to also provide some "fun" crypto reading as well. For when you get tired of the hard stuff.
https://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806
For fiction, check out some stuff by Neal stephenson like Cryptonomicon or Anathem
For non-fiction, maybe Hyperspace by Michio Kaku or Chaos by James Gleick.
Oh okay. In any case I really enjoyed Cryptonomicon. I'm doubting you'd like it though. It's over a thousand pages and in one section the author went on for several pages describing the proper technique for eating Cap'n Crunch.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. The character of Bobby Shaftoe continually does/says things that cracked me up. The novel is more so a thriller/adventure/war novel, but it has flashes of humor throughout.
I would recommend Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson if you are interested in WWII/signals/math/awesomeness
The book Cryptonomicon (historical sci-fi) by Neal Stephenson has an entire chapter describing productivity before and after ejaculation. A manual override just doesn't have the same affect. Complete with chart.
It also has a chapter on the proper way to eat Captain Crunch cereal.
I have been unable to find a good exert online but just read the damn book, it is worth the money and time.
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806
Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson
http://www.amazon.com/Cryptonomicon-Neal-Stephenson/dp/0060512806/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217867198&sr=8-2