I don't mind long novels. I finished Lonesome Dove earlier this year and it's extremely good. The Count of Monte Cristo was last year and I didn't particularly care for it. In fact, I thought it was one of the most overrated books I've read. My question is about Neal Stephenson. He gets a lot of recommendations here. Some years ago, I read Snow Crash and it was obviously pretty dated by then. My real question is what is the best entry point into Stephenson's longer fiction and any secrets to reading it. That is, he tends to digress a bit. Any recommendations?