Breaking Down Cryptonomicon

Image via WikipediaGlad I have until January 6, 2012 to complete this 1152-page book Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson! The copy I have from Reading Area Community College is a paperback and the type is SMALL so this edition is definitely not for those with vision problems. I've been tempted to get out the 3.0 reading glasses I use while knitting intricate items. There are four hardcovers currently in the Berks County Public Libraries holdings, but no large print or audio copies.

Stephenson writes with wonderfully dry wit and I often laugh out loud by how delightfully he's written a particular turn of phrase. The book's chapters alternate between three characters in two eras: Marine Bobby Shaftoe who discovers his aptitude for codebreaking following the attack on Pearl Harbor (he previously played glockenspiel in the band since he wouldn't be able to play the pipe organ on deck); American Lawrence Waterhouse recruited into the WWII Ultra Mega security class in Britain, where everyone on the committee seems to be a personal friend of Winston Churchill; and Randy Waterhouse, co-founder of the contemporary communications firm Epiphyte currently working in Manila.

I've likened the style to a much-more-easy-to-follow Gravity's Rainbow, perhaps mostly because of the time period, a subdued Douglas Adams and Kraken author China Mieville.

I can't imagine that I'll grow to dislike this book, though perhaps I will develop tendinitis from holding and squinting at its thick format!

12/13/2011 Have just been led to this link about an upcoming movie about Alan Turing, who is a secondary character in the book: http://www.turingfilm.com/about/overview

Wishing for Wilderness

Image via WikipediaI was very sorry to finish Richard Proenneke's book One Man's Wilderness: an Alaskan Odyssey. His determination to live alone in the Twin Lakes region and fashion the majority of his furniture, housing and tools is inspirational. What time he had remaining after the physical effort required by self sufficiency he spent following the wildlife of the area, soaking up the geography of the region, and writing his observations. This book is sadly only a short 222 pages but can be followed up with books by Michael Pollan, Farley Mowat and Bernd Heinrich.