Neal Stephenson as 'Pynchon-lite'

[Kevin Troy]

The problem with the _Cryptonomicon_, in a nutshell, is it comes across as
a rude combination/ summarization of the historical and techinical texts
that it's based on.  One could probably get more enjoyment out of reading
non-fictional accounts of early computing, code-breaking, WWII commando
actions, and modern-day e-ventures than from reading the _Cryptonomicon_.
(At least, I did.)  As for the "hacker" scenes, I won't say that you would
_enjoy_ reading a UNIX for Dummies-type book more, but it might be equally
interesting.

In _GR_, Pynchon transcends his source material; it is merely serves as a
backdrop for a story he's telling.  The same thing goes for, say, the
Jacobean theater stuff in _Lot 49_, the Baedeker's junk in _V._, or the
references to pop culure in _VL_.

There is some good stuff in _The Cryptonomicon_, but it's very, very
little of the entire text.  Stephenson seems more comfortable writing
off-the-wall, fantastic stuff like _Snow Crash_.  He also seems more
comfortable writing in past tense, but he insists on at least trying to
write _Cryptonomicon_ in the present tense, relying heavily on
poorly-framed flashbacks to get the story across.

And he claims that it's the first installment of a trilogy.  Hopefully
he'll take a very long time to write it, and even more to edit it, and get
it right, this time.

Kevin Troy

"What a wretched piece of work do we seem to be making of it in America!"
--Edward Gibbon, 1777