I honestly couldn't add to anything that any of the other fifty some odd one-star reviews already say about this book. It's dreadfully unreadable.I love Historical Fiction.I love Science, and the pursuit of knowledge.I love well-developed characters, and at least some semblance of a plot. Neither of which Neal Stephenson bothered with in this twenty pound unending torture of a book. I seldom regret giving an author a chance. You have to invest some time and allow the artist the opportunity to paint their picture. I simply couldn't finish this thing. I made it about halfway and just gave up, exhausted. There is no plot. No story whatsoever that I can discern among countless pages of trivial detail.Cryptonomicon was a challenging read, but rewarding, nontheless. I took nothing away from this awful book other than the lesson that I will never read a Neal Stephenson book again.