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Title: Goes nowhere
Review: Whereas I found the premise interesting, Stephenson's novel falls apart due to implausible characters and a shaky plot. Instead of building a strong, convincing story in the 900+ page devoted to Cryptonomicon, the author chooses to spend chapter after chapter describing technical jargon and cryptography gimmicks that, in many cases, have little to do with the actual story. This over-attention to detail would be forgivable if the plot actually went somewhere, but the novel doesn't seem to have much of a point until around page 850. Even then, I found the ending to be horribly anti-climactic and left feeling completely underwhelmed and unsatisfied.In short, a passable book if you find yourself really bored or interested in code-breaking, but a waste of time for the casual reader who enjoys a plot or, if nothing else, a point.
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