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Yay, you finished!

1. Did you enjoy this book?
2. Were you inspired to read any other books because of this one?
3. Did you like the way this book ended? Was the conclusion abrupt, satisfying, annoying, etc.?
4. Does this book deserve to be on a 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list? Why or why not?

1. Did you enjoy this book?
2. Were you inspired to read any other books because of this one?
3. Did you like the way this book ended? Was the conclusion abrupt, satisfying, annoying, etc.?
4. Does this book deserve to be on a 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list? Why or why not?

1. Not really. I liked some sections, but mostly this book bored me.
2. I may read a book I have on bitcoins and alternative currency, that seemed more interesting after some of the discussion in the last 3rd of this book on cybercurrency. I also have Diamond Age, by Stephenson, that I may try to read this year. It is much shorter than Cryptonomicon.
3. I found the ending too abrupt, more like Stephenson just stopped writing, rather than a solid conclusion that actually ties up loose ends and closes the story. I liked the image of the river of molten gold. I was annoyed that no one really found a way to claim any of the huge gold stash, legally or otherwise.
4. Nope. I find the inclusion of books like this odd, on a list like the 1001 Books. Even just looking at Stephenson's books, there are more readable, more relevant, overall better books to choose from. And for an epic novel, there are other, better options. I would probably substitute Alaska or Hawaii, both by Michener, or Snow Crash or Diamond Age, by Stephenson, in place of Cryptonomicon for the 1001 Books list.

1) I did enjoy reading the second half of the book more than the beginning when I was having to really pay attention to who was who and in what era they belonged. By the second half, I knew all the characters and was better able to follow the plot rather than struggle with chronology. I was also less thrown by the various tangents that Stephenson goes off on. The female characters also are more in the foreground in the second half of the book.

2) Not really. Having read two books by Stephenson, I don't have a great need to read other books by him.

3) I enjoyed the mini-western drama at the end of the book but the final visuals were just a way to end...rather than any having any plot wrapped up or any of the characters coming to a greater realization. It did not make me consider the world very differently although I came to have a better understanding of the nature of code breaking during the second world war and how it had a huge impact on the outcome. In this way, the book is disappointing as there is so little to care about after reading so many pages.

4) I wonder why it was included....

1. Eh.....I gave it 3 stars. There was some great parts, some terrible parts, some okay parts....so overall it was just fine.

2. Ngl, this did not motivate me to read anything else by Stevenson, and it kinda gave me flashbacks to the bad mass paperback adventure/thriller books I used to read with my mom that I can't stomach anyone lol. I know I keep mentioning this in these threads, but that’s been my main takeaway that I’m stuck on about this book lol. That and my hate for the epiphyte crew XD.

3. Agree with others that it kinda just ended. It really seemed like it was going to do something unexpected and remarkable, and it didn’t really. All mystery set-up no execution- like the show LOST lol.

4. It’s so unlike most of the books on the list that I kinda get why it’s here: perhaps to represent the foundations of the modern adventure thriller and cypherpunk literature, and to do it with a book that has more literary respect than say The Da Vinci Code. I’m not angry or perplexed it’s here: I just didn’t love it myself.

1. Did you enjoy this book?
I enjoyed the middle to later part of the book better than the beginning. Once I got into that middle section when I knew who everyone was, I found the WWII code aspects fascinating, and I enjoyed the connections between the characters in the different time periods. In the end, I enjoyed the story and rated it three stars.

2. Were you inspired to read any other books because of this one?
No

3. Did you like the way this book ended? Was the conclusion abrupt, satisfying, annoying, etc.?
There was a section in the middle where I felt that this story was building to a great complex ending, However, that never really came to fruition and like others said above, the ending seemed rather abrupt.

4. Does this book deserve to be on a 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list? Why or why not?
I don't know that I've read other books I would classify as in the same category as this book, so it is hard for me to say. I understand that this kind of story might deserve to be represented, but I find it hard to believe there's not a better example.

1. Did you enjoy this book?
Honestly, no. I looked forward to it for so long due to the high ratings, but was disappointed overall.

2. Were you inspired to read any other books because of this one?
Sadly, no. If anything, I was deterred from reading other books similar to this one.

3. Did you like the way this book ended? Was the conclusion abrupt, satisfying, annoying, etc.?
Not particularly. I found it anticlimactic and abrupt after so many pages.

4. Does this book deserve to be on a 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list? Why or why not?
I am sure it merits the list for its contributions, but it wouldn't have been in my radar if I were creating a similar list.