Cryptonomicon discussion

Everything about this book seems awesome. But I barely ever passed a math class and as I scan through the pages I see lots of things like E/sX - 3 + 7y. So yeah. Do I need to know that stuff to "get" this story?

nope. it has a terrible present tense style of storytelling but that's the only frustration with it

this is an amazing book

No need to know the equations. Just let yourself get caught up in the story and ride the ideas.

What I love about Stephenson's writing in this (and Snow Crash, which I also recommend) is that he is able to explain quite esoteric concepts in ways that make total sense to me. I barely passed high school algebra and have very little patience for abstract thinking. You should have no trouble.

If you have to ask....

No, actually the math is pretty tertiary to the story, and Stephenson is pretty good at making it relatively accessible.

You'll have no problems. This is one of Stephenson's easier-to-read books.

I concur: Cryptonomicon is the easiest of Stephenson's books. It jumps around a bit, but the technology part is straightforward.

Do NOT let the math scare you off. I confess, i read the parts, but din['t get them. If you skim over them you don't really miss anything.

Not at all. I would strongly recommend skipping over some of the lengthier dissertations about math. And that's the beauty of it, in that you can do this, and still follow the story.

"...skipping over" parts of books? *shudders*

I don't know about Crypto being Stephenson's easiest read; I'd say Reamde is his easiest and Snow Crash was an easier (if less worthwhile) read than Crypto. The only other thing I've read of his is Anathem, which was the most challenging but also the best--the best science fiction novel by anyone to date, IMO.