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Posted: 8/23/2004 5:39:21 AM EDT
[#1]
Read it a few years back in high school. Liked it a lot, as well as his style of writing (he has a very funny page and a half describing one of the characters eating cereal). Read the first chapter or so to get a feel for his style. If the plot's a bit confusing that's fine...it took me a while to resolve the separate storylines. Stephenson's a big hit among techies because his writing draws on ideas from the CS world a lot, though I think he makes it quite lucid to an average audience. As the name implies, cryptography plays quite a role in the book, though he's pretty good at explaining everything. There's a bit about RKBA around the middle, too. He's not as gun-ho as, say, John Ross, but it's a pretty fair and fun portrayal, I think.
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Posted: 8/23/2004 6:34:55 AM EDT
[#2]
Read it. Enjoyed it. But I'm a geek at heart, and I read pretty much everything.
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Posted: 8/23/2004 6:46:18 AM EDT
[#3]
Read it, enjoyed it. I was unaware of the existence of a code- geek subculture until I read this. Much of the code stuff is quite fascinating. I liked it enough to move into reading The Baroque Cycle, which I am enjoying even more.
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Posted: 8/23/2004 6:55:33 AM EDT
[#4]
I read it a few years ago. I really enjoyed it, and I too have moved into the Baroque Cycle books. His earlier works are good too, like Snowcrash, but he didn't know how to end a book back then. The story just sort of hit a brick wall and died.
On a side note, I've actually spoken with Bruce Schneier, the guy who wrote the card code in the book. He's a world renowned cryptographer, and a pretty nice guy. Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... |
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:02:51 AM EDT
[#5]
Fantastic book, with some great moments, and some parts that had me laughing out loud and reading a few pages to my wife because she thought I was cracked.
it's a big book, but once it gets going, you won't want to put it down. I especially liked some of the views of the supporting characters (very Libertarian in a down-to-earth, leave me alone and I'll leave you alone way). When the weather starts taking a downturn here in MI I will be reading "Quicksilver"... I've had it since it came out but haven't cracked it open yet... |
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:03:36 AM EDT
[#6]
Read it. Kind of slow. Wouldn't read it twice.
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:08:19 AM EDT
[#7]
Great book. Worth the read.
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:10:24 AM EDT
[#8]
Read it. Loved it.
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:12:53 AM EDT
[#9]
It's great stuff. The narrative covers the time period between WWII to modern day and involves all kinds of good stuff about codes, gold, guns and war.
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:16:28 AM EDT
[#10]
One of the few books I ever gave up on. Read about 1/4, set it aside.
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:20:59 AM EDT
[#11]
You missed out then, you'd appreciate the libertarian nature of the hacker community Stephenson delves into later in the book. Skip ahead and you'll see what I mean. Not to mention the ideas that one of the supporting characters has (a Jewish fellow) to prevent anything like the Holocaust from ever happening again. I don't mean to sound insistent, but you missed out on the meat of the book. 
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:26:04 AM EDT
[#12]
ITs great, just do What I did,
Skim the stuff about mathematics. Seriously its like reading a calculus textbook. |
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:29:23 AM EDT
[#13]
Hey, isn't this the book you were telling me to read at lunch one day? TXL |
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Posted: 8/23/2004 7:40:41 AM EDT
[#14]
That's the one. Let's have lunch again and I'll bring it with me. You'll enjoy it. |
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Posted: 8/23/2004 9:12:06 AM EDT
[#15]
Quoted:
Not to mention the ideas that one of the supporting characters has (a Jewish fellow) to prevent anything like the Holocaust from ever happening again. quote] Which is....? |
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Posted: 8/23/2004 9:40:22 AM EDT
[#16]
"Never again." One of the characters in the book tries to put together a sort of guerilla handbook/anarchists cookbook for jews and any other people in danger of death simply for who they are. The book talks about practical problems in cobbling together firearms (specifically the inability of the average layperson to make a barrel). Remember the Alamo, and God Bless Texas... |
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Posted: 8/23/2004 9:49:02 AM EDT
[#17]
Good read. Jumps back and forth between WWII and current day. Convoluted in parts, but a lot of fun.
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Posted: 8/24/2004 4:20:07 AM EDT
[#18]
OOPS, I bought it the other day. But thanks. But lunch is a great idea. Out of town wen and thur. (Going to see John in bunnyville) (not really, but will be in bunnyville) So lets plan on early next week, say mon or tue. TXL |
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