Rank Michael Chrichton books
This isn't a review of all these books, just some thoughts about them and a rank of Chrichton's books from best to worst.
Chrichton writes entertaining books - but they are all two things:
1) Basically a screenplay masquerading as a novel (lots of action and complex scientific/medical/technical/legal theories and discussions but not a lot of character development)
2) a lecture on some topic that he feels is dangerous and complex
If you accept these two things and just go along for the ride some of these books can be very entertaining. He has written some very fun to read novels .... And some that I would rather eat the paperback version than read again. (This is why ranking him is so easy.)
1. Disclosure (Sexual harassment in a high tech company......)
2. Jurassic Park (like every book ever written: its better than the movie - you may not want to start this unless you have time to finish it quickly.)
3. Prey (Nanotechnology is not your friend.)
4. Case of Need (written in 1968 - a medical thriller that is still entertaining)
5. Airframe
6. State of Fear (Chrichton thinks global warming is greatly exaggerated.)
7. Sphere (great plot twists but pretty strange)
8. Timeline (love the medieval stuff - hate the modern stuff).
9. Andromeda Strain (Still a little scary even though it was written in 1969)
10. Rising Sun (No, the Japanese never were taking over America.)
11. The Lost World (Jurassic Park 2: The Quest for more cash)
12. The 13th Warrior (Eaters of the Dead) (So bad I stopped reading - and that's bad)
13. Congo (brutally bad - both the book and the movie.)
I challenge you to do one of the following in a reply to this post:
A) rank them yourself
B) list your favorite and least favorite
C) discuss why you disagree with me on my rankings
Chrichton writes entertaining books - but they are all two things:
1) Basically a screenplay masquerading as a novel (lots of action and complex scientific/medical/technical/legal theories and discussions but not a lot of character development)
2) a lecture on some topic that he feels is dangerous and complex
If you accept these two things and just go along for the ride some of these books can be very entertaining. He has written some very fun to read novels .... And some that I would rather eat the paperback version than read again. (This is why ranking him is so easy.)
1. Disclosure (Sexual harassment in a high tech company......)
2. Jurassic Park (like every book ever written: its better than the movie - you may not want to start this unless you have time to finish it quickly.)
3. Prey (Nanotechnology is not your friend.)
4. Case of Need (written in 1968 - a medical thriller that is still entertaining)
5. Airframe
6. State of Fear (Chrichton thinks global warming is greatly exaggerated.)
7. Sphere (great plot twists but pretty strange)
8. Timeline (love the medieval stuff - hate the modern stuff).
9. Andromeda Strain (Still a little scary even though it was written in 1969)
10. Rising Sun (No, the Japanese never were taking over America.)
11. The Lost World (Jurassic Park 2: The Quest for more cash)
12. The 13th Warrior (Eaters of the Dead) (So bad I stopped reading - and that's bad)
13. Congo (brutally bad - both the book and the movie.)
I challenge you to do one of the following in a reply to this post:
A) rank them yourself
B) list your favorite and least favorite
C) discuss why you disagree with me on my rankings
posted by John Ringer at
9:08 PM
3 Comments:
Oh, Congo must be higher on the list, she's a great ape! To me Crichton's stuff can be divided into two categories, and within those categories I think the books are all about the same. He's got two plots - man against nature and man against man. I think the man against nature stuff (Congo, Jurrasic Park, State of Fear) is better because he questions our dependence on science as the answer to everything. Appeals to my postmodern side. The man against man stuff is weaker because Crichton sucks at character development - all his characters are stereotypes. So, it's ok to go along for the ride with the "young idealist scientist" when he's fighting T-Rex, but it is hard to get emotionally invested in the "evil corporate Japanese business man" thwarting the "toughened LAPD detective." Crichton good for a Cancun beach, but not much else.
-k
By
Anonymous, at 4:08 PM
Some thoughts:
1. You are exactly right about these books being screenplays masquerading as novels. I read "Timeline" and honestly I don't think there was a sentence in that entire book longer than maybe six words. It read like a children's book. Moral: You do NOT read Crichton's books for fine, elegant writing. It's all about the "Big Idea."
2. "Eaters of the Dead" is GREAT!! It's "Beowulf" from the perspective of an Arab who goes along with the Vikings to fight the "monster." This is so different from most of C's books that I loved it. And the movie is excellent, as well, IMO.
By
Van Allen Plexico, at 12:11 PM
One more thought: it drives me nuts, how non-SF readers think Crichton is INVENTING these ideas.
Larry King to C: "So, Michael-- time travel! What a crazy idea! How'd you think of it??"
By
Van Allen Plexico, at 12:12 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home