If you haven't, check out Snowcrash and Diamond Age instead. They're examples of how good Stephenson can be; Cryptonomicon is an example of how good and how bad he can be, at once.
I bought Cryptonomicon the instant it came out and was amazed at how bad it was. It's wildly uneven -- there are parts that really make the book worth reading, but there are huge chunks of it that are just baaaaaad. Pages on pages on the frequency of masterbation, masterbation v. sex. A long, pointless trip on the West Coast. The parts that are awesome are dwarfed by the overwhelming badness of the rest of the book.
It seemed to me to be so far below Neal's usual quality that I was shocked he'd put his name on it.
But what really disturbed me was the women. They don't ever do anything more than lay the men, frustrate them by not doing so. Shaftoe's women is disfigured so he kills himself. Amy Shaftoe is the big romantic interest of the book; the climax of the relationship is when she climbs into a jeep, screws the big guy, and leaves.
And I've heard that he's just presenting women as they're seen by the men, and I'm probably the most relectant person to bitch about this stuff, but he's handled it so well in the past I'm amazed he fails so totally here.
It's worth reading, if you don't have any other pressing needs, and I'm inclined to let Neal stumble because he's so obviously talented, but this is his worst effort since the Big U. If you can borrow it, that's probably the best way to go.
I'm sorry, but he's not. Katz is a bystander, a media type who has found something he really believes in (or thinks he does) and because he can't, say, contribute code, or documentation, or something useful, he's taken to writing hopeful articles about Linux with really long paragraphs.
Often followed by short ones.
Katz is a joke, an author without a subject who seems to have adopted/. as a playground where he can learn linux and gain street credibility with the larger media world.
Has he, like Bruce Sterling, released books with free electronic distribution? What has Katz ever really contributed? He's an Anonymous Coward with a login, slashdot email account, and an eye on getting back into slick print media.
If he really wanted to help Linux instead of just rah-rah from the sidelines, he'd sign up to write documentation for the FSF, or Debian, or any of a hundred projects that need manuals more than they need his approval.
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If you haven't, check out Snowcrash and Diamond Age instead. They're examples of how good Stephenson can be; Cryptonomicon is an example of how good and how bad he can be, at once.
I bought Cryptonomicon the instant it came out and was amazed at how bad it was. It's wildly uneven -- there are parts that really make the book worth reading, but there are huge chunks of it that are just baaaaaad. Pages on pages on the frequency of masterbation, masterbation v. sex. A long, pointless trip on the West Coast. The parts that are awesome are dwarfed by the overwhelming badness of the rest of the book.
It seemed to me to be so far below Neal's usual quality that I was shocked he'd put his name on it.
But what really disturbed me was the women. They don't ever do anything more than lay the men, frustrate them by not doing so. Shaftoe's women is disfigured so he kills himself. Amy Shaftoe is the big romantic interest of the book; the climax of the relationship is when she climbs into a jeep, screws the big guy, and leaves.
And I've heard that he's just presenting women as they're seen by the men, and I'm probably the most relectant person to bitch about this stuff, but he's handled it so well in the past I'm amazed he fails so totally here.
It's worth reading, if you don't have any other pressing needs, and I'm inclined to let Neal stumble because he's so obviously talented, but this is his worst effort since the Big U. If you can borrow it, that's probably the best way to go.
I'm sorry, but he's not. Katz is a bystander, a media type who has found something he really believes in (or thinks he does) and because he can't, say, contribute code, or documentation, or something useful, he's taken to writing hopeful articles about Linux with really long paragraphs.
/. as a playground where he can learn linux and gain street credibility with the larger media world.
Often followed by short ones.
Katz is a joke, an author without a subject who seems to have adopted
Has he, like Bruce Sterling, released books with free electronic distribution? What has Katz ever really contributed? He's an Anonymous Coward with a login, slashdot email account, and an eye on getting back into slick print media.
If he really wanted to help Linux instead of just rah-rah from the sidelines, he'd sign up to write documentation for the FSF, or Debian, or any of a hundred projects that need manuals more than they need his approval.