Cryptography Decrypted 1st Edition

by H.X. Mel
Cryptography Decrypted 1st Edition cover
Good Books rating 4.25
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  • ID: 5621
  • Added: 2025-10-24
  • Updated: 2025-10-24
  • Reviews: 2
Reviews
solutioninn.com · Unknown · 2025-11-14
great 4.00

A Visit From The Goon Squad is a well-crafted but challenging novel that defies easy definition. It's a collection of interrelated short stories that come together to form a cohesive narrative, but it requires close attention to fully appreciate the connections between the characters and their stories. The book is incredibly well-written and meticulously crafted, but it can be frustrating to read due to its complexity and the need to re-read it multiple times to fully understand it.

A Visit From The Goon Squad is a unique and complex novel that reads like a collection of interrelated short stories. Each story follows someone connected to record company executive Bennie Salazar, and they are set in different places and periods in time. The book is incredibly well-written and meticulously crafted, but it can be challenging to read due to its complexity. The characters lose innocence, relevance, or success over the course of the book, which is part of what connects them. The most iconic chapter is told entirely through Powerpoint presentation slides, and there are other stand-out stories as well. However, the book can be frustrating to read because it requires close attention and multiple re-reads to fully appreciate it. It's a great book, but it's best to read it in one sitting or smush the reading sessions together as close as you can.

Quick quotes

    How did I go from being a rock star to being a fat fuck no one cares about?

    A Visit From The Goon Squad is a great book in the sense that it’s incredibly well-written and meticulously crafted.

    It’s one I’d only recommend picking up if you’ve got the time and brain space to dedicate to it, as it deserves no less.

solutioninn.com · Unknown · 2025-11-14
remarkable 4.50

The reviewer praises Jennifer Egan's 'A Visit From the Goon Squad' for its innovative structure and compelling narrative, highlighting the author's ability to weave together multiple storylines and perspectives into a cohesive and engaging whole. The book's exploration of themes like love, regret, and the passage of time is noted as particularly moving.

Jennifer Egan's 'A Visit From the Goon Squad' is a remarkable piece of fiction that defies traditional narrative structures. The book is a collection of interconnected stories that span over 40 years, each told from a different perspective. The reviewer admires Egan's ability to maintain coherence and momentum despite the fragmented nature of the plot. The characters are intricately connected, and their stories are woven together in a way that feels both chaotic and deliberate. The reviewer particularly appreciates the book's exploration of themes like love, regret, and the relentless passage of time. The tone of simmering regret that permeates the narrative is noted as especially poignant. Egan's versatility is evident in her use of various narrative techniques, including a PowerPoint presentation and a futuristic vision of New York. The reviewer concludes that 'A Visit From the Goon Squad' is a testament to Egan's skill as a writer and her ability to push the boundaries of contemporary fiction.

Quick quotes

    The book starts with Sasha, a kleptomaniac, who works for Bennie, a record executive, who is a protégé of Lou who seduced Jocelyn who was loved by Scotty who played guitar for the Flaming Dildos, a San Francisco punk band for which Bennie once played bass guitar (none too well), before marrying Stephanie who is charged with trying to resurrect the career of the bloated rock legend Bosco who grants the sole rights for covering his farewell “suicide tour” to Stephanie’s brother, Jules Jones, a celebrity journalist who attempted to rape the starlet Kitty Jackson, who one day will be forced to take a job from Stephanie’s publicity mentor, La Doll, who is trying to soften the image of a genocidal tyrant because her career collapsed in spectacular fashion around the same time that Sasha in the years before going to work for Bennie was perhaps working as a prostitute in Naples where she was discovered by her Uncle Ted who was on holiday from a bad marriage, and while not much more will be heard from him, Sasha will come to New York and attend N.Y.U. and work for Bennie before disappearing into the desert to sculpture and raise a family with her college boyfriend, Drew, while Bennie, assisted by Alex, a former date of Sasha’s from whom she lifted a wallet, soldiers on in New York, producing musicians (including the rediscovered guitarist Scotty) as the artistic world changes around him with the vertiginous speed of Moore’s Law.

    There is a madness to her method. She hands off the narrative from one protagonist to another in a wild relay race that will end with the same characters with which it begins while dispensing with them for years at a time.

    And yet everything hangs together, connected by a tone of simmering regret arising from love’s wreckage and time’s relentless devouring.

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