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https://opensea.io/collection/books-39
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Zenigame
@zeni.eth
Cryptonomicon Slow-burn technology thriller set in late 90s (present day) and WWII that takes its time explaining the tech (and science) at each step and turn. More cypherpunk than memecoin, it feels simultaneously dated and timeless. I picked it up as both my first Stephenson novel and a right-of-passage having joined Farcaster and crypto last year. Finishing it has predictably moved my 2x2 placement more towards decentralist, but perhaps not as much as I had expected. Having stopped at entry-level college Calculus, I couldn't intuitively grok the significance of the cryptographic methods that were so significant in the book, but feel the desire to learn more about them afterwards I internally rate books like this for their entertainment value and their impact on my world view, and though it's and at times slow (and perhaps under-edited), but I'm glad I finished it. I'm certainly more crypto-aligned than I was when starting. Recommended if you naturally align with the themes. Probably hard to get through if not.
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7858
@7858.eth
Loved this book
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Zenigame
@zeni.eth
I wanted to love it more than I actually did (felt like some of the characters were weak), but I’m not well read in this genre at all. All that said, I’m very glad I’ve read it and will be thinking about it for a very long time, which is about as much as I can ask. What puts it in the “loved” category for you? Tried to search for it among your casts but didn’t see it
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Zenigame
@zeni.eth
ok, so Stephenson dipping into the supernatural for parts that are only alluded to wasn't something I expected, but upon a bit of research shows up in his other books of related themes as well that redefines the genre for me a bit and perhaps improves my impression of holes in the story I was reading it as tom clancy x hard sci-fi i.e. everything is "technically possible")
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7858
@7858.eth
I read it 5+ years ago, so no proper review on here I liked the scale, the related but separate storylines, the nerd stuff, many of the characters, the military history. Most of it, I guess. And as an experience it coalesced into a whole much greater than the sum of its parts Also I read snow crash as a teenager, which carved out a soft spot in my heart for Stephenson. So partly nostalgia probably I also liked the mix of right and wrong predictions, and dated and timeless as you put it. It’s retro futuristic in a kind of a high tech dieselpunk way
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