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Cryptonomicon is trash but will continued to be held up by Sci Fi snobs to signal their refined tastes. It's ever been so in the two decades since I suffered th

Cryptonomicon is trash but will continued to be held up by Sci Fi snobs to signal their refined tastes. It's ever been so in the two decades since I suffered through it.

Cd00d 4y ago
Okay, you didn't like Cryptonomicon. Maybe you don't like longer books, which is fine. Personally, it's my favorite book of all time. I'm not a Sci Fi snob and rarely read the genre, so I'm not sure what the signaling is.
- labrador 4y ago
  Never mind me, I'm just on a tear over this book because invariably some intellectual insinuates that I'm not bright enough to understand it. I have a strict policy of not commenting on this book that I hate with a passion because I always get caught in the same loop with other people about it, but in a moment of weakness I did once again.
  - Cd00d 4y ago
    I don't see that insinuation in this thread. Your comments are legitimate from the perspective of a reader that doesn't want long tangents and asides, but your attacks on the book itself are hyperbolic - "Cryptonomicon is in no danger of appearing on any list of favorite Science Fiction books". The book literally is on lists like this. We're all allowed to like different things, and you shouldn't take that difference as commentary on your intelligence. I think an unemotional reading of this thread lacks condescension or insinuation. What is your favorite SciFi novel? Maybe highlighting that will help see the difference in style preference. Personally, of the SciFi I've read, after Stephenson I liked Weir and the Altered Carbon series. There's another book that I think of all the time but don't recall the title or author - future dystopia where the USA has split into two countries - conservative middle America red states and liberal coastal states with strongly defended but crossable borders.
    - labrador 4y ago
      I already said I loved Snow Crash. What more do you want? As I said in another comment, my emotions are based on years of being condescended to about this book. The book is like a Sacred Cow and I regret breaking my moratorium on commenting on it.
rikthevik 4y ago
I'm sorry that you read a book that you didn't like. It sounds like that was very difficult for you.
- labrador 4y ago
  Here's a good example of the snobbery associated with this book. Implying it was "difficult" like it was over my head. It wasn't difficult, it was tedious, boring and meandering.
  - eckmLJE 4y ago
    It's not a good example -- he's implying that you're irrationally upset over not liking a book while other people do like it, not that the book itself was too difficult for you. If this is what you're interpreting as people talking down to you / claiming that you're too dumb to understand a smart book, you may want to consider that it's a you being overly defensive thing. You're allowed to like what you like. If some people have been dicks to you about your taste, I don't see how that has anything to do with this book. Forget those people.

Cryptonomicon is trash but will continued to be held up by Sci Fi snobs to signal their refined tastes. It's ever been so in the two decades since I suffered through it.

Cd00d 4y ago

Okay, you didn't like Cryptonomicon. Maybe you don't like longer books, which is fine. Personally, it's my favorite book of all time. I'm not a Sci Fi snob and rarely read the genre, so I'm not sure what the signaling is.

labrador 4y ago
Never mind me, I'm just on a tear over this book because invariably some intellectual insinuates that I'm not bright enough to understand it. I have a strict policy of not commenting on this book that I hate with a passion because I always get caught in the same loop with other people about it, but in a moment of weakness I did once again.
- Cd00d 4y ago
  I don't see that insinuation in this thread. Your comments are legitimate from the perspective of a reader that doesn't want long tangents and asides, but your attacks on the book itself are hyperbolic - "Cryptonomicon is in no danger of appearing on any list of favorite Science Fiction books". The book literally is on lists like this. We're all allowed to like different things, and you shouldn't take that difference as commentary on your intelligence. I think an unemotional reading of this thread lacks condescension or insinuation. What is your favorite SciFi novel? Maybe highlighting that will help see the difference in style preference. Personally, of the SciFi I've read, after Stephenson I liked Weir and the Altered Carbon series. There's another book that I think of all the time but don't recall the title or author - future dystopia where the USA has split into two countries - conservative middle America red states and liberal coastal states with strongly defended but crossable borders.
  - labrador 4y ago
    I already said I loved Snow Crash. What more do you want? As I said in another comment, my emotions are based on years of being condescended to about this book. The book is like a Sacred Cow and I regret breaking my moratorium on commenting on it.

rikthevik 4y ago

I'm sorry that you read a book that you didn't like. It sounds like that was very difficult for you.

labrador 4y ago
Here's a good example of the snobbery associated with this book. Implying it was "difficult" like it was over my head. It wasn't difficult, it was tedious, boring and meandering.
- eckmLJE 4y ago
  It's not a good example -- he's implying that you're irrationally upset over not liking a book while other people do like it, not that the book itself was too difficult for you. If this is what you're interpreting as people talking down to you / claiming that you're too dumb to understand a smart book, you may want to consider that it's a you being overly defensive thing. You're allowed to like what you like. If some people have been dicks to you about your taste, I don't see how that has anything to do with this book. Forget those people.