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I want to love that book -- it's everything I'm interested in -- but oh my god that book is so verbose. For example, he spends 1.5 pages describing what the clo

I want to love that book -- it's everything I'm interested in -- but oh my god that book is so verbose. For example, he spends 1.5 pages describing what the clouds in the sky look like and it has nothing to do with the plot. I tried twice to read it but gave up at halfway. It's 918 pages, but I think it could lose at least 300 pages and still keep all the brilliant ideas. If someone created a condensed version of it, I think the book could reach a whole new audience.

Spooky23 6y ago
I always felt like an inferior geek for not liking that book and others.
jki275 6y ago
I never felt that way about the book. He is verbose, but it all contributes in some way. A lot of writing is setting things up, and he does it so masterfully in Cryptonomicon.
infogulch 6y ago
I learned patience reading Moby Dick at 14, after trying and failing at 12. I am now a very patient person. And I treasure the concept of the end of a sentence.
justicezyx 6y ago
My solution is using audible, and listen through the book during whatever time that I can just do passive listening. Just finished the power broker, with 50 hours+ time. I think audible is particularly good for light content, novels, biography, etc. Audible for things with dense content, like historical studies are not working well. I listened 20+ hours of the fall and decline of Rome, and I cannot even remember the names of the Rome emperors mentioned so far.
AlisdairO 6y ago
Yeah, I think a lot of that comes down to whether you enjoy his writing style. I would read what Stephenson writes even if it's devoid of ideas, just for the joy of the style. For myself, the scene where he describes Randy eating breakfast in Cryptonomican is one of my favourite passages in any book (partly because I identify with the source material :-) ), but others have cited that to me as an example of gross excess.
TedDoesntTalk 6y ago
Reminds me of Stephen King novels.
enahs-sf 6y ago
I listened to it as a book on tape on a very long road trip and it was perfect. Don't think I could have made it through otherwise.
C1sc0cat 6y ago
I have never under stood the dislike of longer form writing - this is part of Stephenson's style. You don't think say the digression on the Galvanick Lucifer isn't a glorious read?
ascagnel_ 6y ago
Paraphrasing another quote: reading a novel is like inviting an author over as a house-guest for a few days; reading a Neal Stephenson novel is like having him sleep on your couch for a month, coming and going at all hours of the day.

Spooky23 6y ago

I always felt like an inferior geek for not liking that book and others.

jki275 6y ago

I never felt that way about the book. He is verbose, but it all contributes in some way. A lot of writing is setting things up, and he does it so masterfully in Cryptonomicon.

infogulch 6y ago

I learned patience reading Moby Dick at 14, after trying and failing at 12. I am now a very patient person. And I treasure the concept of the end of a sentence.

justicezyx 6y ago

My solution is using audible, and listen through the book during whatever time that I can just do passive listening. Just finished the power broker, with 50 hours+ time. I think audible is particularly good for light content, novels, biography, etc. Audible for things with dense content, like historical studies are not working well. I listened 20+ hours of the fall and decline of Rome, and I cannot even remember the names of the Rome emperors mentioned so far.

AlisdairO 6y ago

Yeah, I think a lot of that comes down to whether you enjoy his writing style. I would read what Stephenson writes even if it's devoid of ideas, just for the joy of the style. For myself, the scene where he describes Randy eating breakfast in Cryptonomican is one of my favourite passages in any book (partly because I identify with the source material :-) ), but others have cited that to me as an example of gross excess.

TedDoesntTalk 6y ago

Reminds me of Stephen King novels.

enahs-sf 6y ago

I listened to it as a book on tape on a very long road trip and it was perfect. Don't think I could have made it through otherwise.

C1sc0cat 6y ago

I have never under stood the dislike of longer form writing - this is part of Stephenson's style. You don't think say the digression on the Galvanick Lucifer isn't a glorious read?

ascagnel_ 6y ago

Paraphrasing another quote: reading a novel is like inviting an author over as a house-guest for a few days; reading a Neal Stephenson novel is like having him sleep on your couch for a month, coming and going at all hours of the day.