Coni has commented on (12) products.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Coni, July 5, 2007

Epic novel weaving three generations of men and women with cracking code, WWII and encryption of data.

This wasn't a quick read. There were so many details, and the explanations so intricate, that I didn't want to skim over it and miss something. The story jumps around from the WWII era to present times, and covers the stories of many different people. With such an epic story, it needs to be read slowly and absorbed so you can remember some little detail later on in the book. It is also one monster of a book. I was intimidated by it when I started it, and became increasingly intimidated by it as I moved toward the middle of the book because I was reading it so slowly. I don't read books slowly unless I am not enjoying them. I was enjoying it though.

In the beginning, the story concentrated on three main characters: Bobby Shaftoe, a U.S. Marine in WWII; Lawrence Waterhouse, a mathematician who works for the military during WWII; and Randy Waterhouse, grandson of Lawrence who is also building a crypt of data in order to make tons of money for his company.

I loved Shaftoe. He was blunt and hilarious. I loved that when he ran into Waterhouse, he hated him with all his talking. He was a man of action, not of words. I was always entertained when the story was focusing on him. I loved it when he unsuccessfully tried to drown himself because he thought he was about to be caught by Nazis.

The parts with Lawrence Waterhouse were a bit dry at times. They were the parts that I had to slow down to understand what he was talking about with all the encryption. I enjoyed that an actual historical person, Alan Turning, was a character in the book that Waterhouse interacted with in college. While it was a struggle to get through some of the encryption parts, since that is not a major interest of mine, the rest of the storyline involving him kept my interest. I knew the encryption parts were a major part of the story, so I didn't want to skim, but understand what was going on. I laughed at the parts where he was building the first computer, especially since he made RAM with tubes.

Randy Waterhouse was starting a company with some friends to make tons of money by creating electronic money and a crypt of data. This leads him to the Philippines and meeting America Shaftoe, the granddaughter of Sgt. Shaftoe. These two are hilarious when they decide they are attracted to one another, yet can't have normal conversations with one another.

While Goto Dengo is only superficially introduced in the beginning, his story comes in somewhere towards the middle. I loved his storyline, especially the areas of him trekking through the jungle, hiding from cannibals, being sneaky while digging tunnels, and other adventures.

I enjoyed the last half of the book more since all the various storylines start coming together, people from all generations and areas interact with one another, and it finally comes to the big conclusion. I was actually waiting for it continue, even after it was done, and so very long. It was that good that I could have kept reading about the various adventures of everyone involved.

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House of Leaves: A Novel by Mark Z. Danielewski

Coni, January 30, 2007

It?s a story of a tattoo-artist that finds a manuscript from a blind old man, who just died, talking about a non-existent documentary about a house that is bigger on the inside than on the outside.

It is freaky with crossed out passages and footnotes that can go for pages. The footnotes are also sometimes upside, backwards and sideways. Then there are the pages with only a paragraph, sentence or word on them. It?s quite an adventure to read. The author is the brother of the singer Poe and the remix of her song Hey Pretty has her brother reciting from one of the tattoo-artist?s footnotes in the book.

I enjoyed this book. They keep talking about a film that documents the crazy house that is bigger on the inside than the outside and talking about real life people?s opinions on it. There are times that you forget it is fiction and wonder if you can go find the film or the article that is mentioned in the footnotes. Then you remember this is all just craziness that is in the book.

I liked both parts of the book: (1) the decription of the documentary of the house and all the crazy parts involved there and (2) the tattoo artist guy telling his story in the footnotes about what going through the book is doing to him and his life.

I recommend it. It?s quite insane and crazy! Everyone should read a book that makes you turn it upside and sideways. It?s the thing to do.

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Choke: A Novel by Chuck Palahniuk

Coni, January 30, 2007

This book was awesome. It is extremely funny in a sick and twisted sort of way. It?s gross and explicit. The main character isn?t someone that you would necessarily like if you met him in person, but he?s entertaining to read about. I?d recommend this but only if you like sick and twisted books. If you don?t then, you?d probably hate this. Also if you didn?t like Fight Club, you don?t like sick and twisted stuff. ;)

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Hotel World by Ali Smith

Coni, January 30, 2007

Five women?s lives become interconnected in a hotel somewhere in England. One of the women just happens to be a ghost of a women who died in the hotel?s dumb waiter. It is written in a stream-of-consciousness style that takes some getting used to, but if you can get past that, you can enjoy it since it is just like you would think if you wrote down your own thoughts.

The book is dumb and boring. It starts off great though. The first chapter is the ghost of the girl that just died in the dumb waiter. Her memory is fading along with her senses. She is forgetting what it is like to taste and smell as those go away. She is trying to remember who she is and how she died and why. It was very interesting and the book should have stuck with that.

Then the next chapter talks about a homeless girl that sits right outside the hotel everyday. It barely goes into who she is before the next chapter which is slightly more interesting about a girl that works at the front counter of the hotel. The stories start interconnecting there and I had more hope for the book.

The fourth chapter was okay and more of the characters start talking to each other. It was about a hotel guest but then it starts veering off somewhere not interesting.

The fifth chapter is the sister of the dead girl and the entire chapter is all one sentence. Page and pages of a big run-on with & symbols separating the thoughts?kinda. It is so hard to follow and when I was following it, it wasn?t interesting. I thought maybe the last chapter would bring it all together. I had already lost interest.

It was lame last chapter that didn?t talk about any of the characters anymore, but a bunch of stuff about people being connected to one another and blah blah blah.

I don?t recommend this book. It starts off great and then goes pbbbbbbbbt.

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The Horned Man by James Lasdun

Coni, January 30, 2007

After a series of instances that make the main character think he is having lapses in memory, he starts to wonder if someone isn?t messing with him instead. Then murders start happening and he isn?t completely convinced that he didn?t commit them.

I thought this book started off well, but the ending left you hanging. I mean you could figure out what was going on about halfway through the book, but everything became more and more vague as it went on. I guess it is good when the story doesn?t spell everything out for you and actually make you think about what could have happened in reality and what happened in this guy?s mind, but maybe a little epilogue would have been nice. Maybe I?ve been watching too many movies that explain things to me. :)

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