Negative Positive
Title: Funny, Interesting, but in need of an Editor
Review: Neal Stephenson's book is a dense, well researched story that is one-half the history of modern cryptography and one-half an adventure novel. The WWII parts of the book are often hilarious and have a 'Catch-22' tone to them. The portion of the story set in the present varies in quality from blah to excellent. A firm editor that limited Stephenson to perhaps 700 pages would have made for a better pace without sacrificing all of his exquisitely detailed digressions. I found the novel as a whole very entertaining and erudite, and would reccommend it to anyone, with the caveat that some undergraduate history classes and a little math make the book a much more fulfilling read.
Is the review positive or negative? 