Just Read "Next"

[Kiouni]

by Michael Crichton and I honestly don't get what all the stink was about. The comments on bn.com and amazon gave me the impression that it was conservatism making a mockery of science but I got quite the opposite from reading the book.

First off the book is actually kind of dumb, but it's a quick read if you got a few hours to kill. The science in the book is ludicrous to begin with and the "fiction" tag on the side should be taken literally. At the end of the book Crichton spells out clearly what he believes in essay form. This prologue is obviously a response the criticism from his last book. Crichton states that he doesn't believe that companies should be able to patent the human genome. I agree. Crichton believes that a 1980's ruling that allows Universities to sell their state sponsored research to for-profit corporations should be over-turned. I agree. He makes several other points all of which I agree with and I simply didn't get why people were so upset with this book.

I also didn't get why so many people were upset with his last book "State of Fear." That book (like most of his recent works) was lame. The story was stupid and the science was so unbelievable I just decided to finish because I already read the first half.

I read once again reviews about how he is saying global-warming isn't real, again and again. I don't understand where these people got this. He may have been critical of the data that supported global warming, but he should be. This is one of the most grave scientific issues facing our future and we should not simply give any study released our blind support. Crichton, also in this book, states very clearly that while he may question global warming he doesn't question that something should be done about it. I agree with this too. We don't have to know that we are killing the world to be good guests while we are here.

I don't really know why I spent so much time defending an author that really isn't worth reading but I guess I have a soft spot for "eaters of the dead."

[Glorfindel]

1. I used to LOVE Crichton and I feel betrayed by him

He also wrote "The Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park," among others. When I read "State of Fear," was horrified. It could have been written by a B*shit admin, neo-con, Nazi propagandist. I won't read anything else he writes, including "Next." It's such a shame that the filthy murdering B*shit regime has to poison EVERYTHING in American society, including its popular authors.

[acmejack]

2. It was apparent he was in a real financial tightspot...

But hearing this, perhaps he has terminal writer's block. You're right too, at one time he was very creative, quite entertaining, and technically informed to boot.

[Kiouni]

4. Your right he gets worse

and worse I read Prey too and that was just stupid. Somebody needs to take his Scientific American away before he gets any more hair brained ideas.

[Kiouni]

3. why were you horrified?

I read it and I didn't come to the same conclusion.

[benddem]

5. the problem is

that all the wing nuts treated it like a scientific treatise. That idiot Inhoff even had him testify in front of congress. The book was bad...but the way it was treated was worse.

[Crunchy Frog]

6. He did cast one of his previous book's critics as a baby raper

with a tiny penis in this one, from what I've heard. That's just about as low-class as you can get.

I used to enjoy his books, but haven't even bothered to read his most recent ones, and have no further interest in his work. From what others have said about his last few books, I seriously wonder if he's beginning to develop dementia. Or maybe he's just run out of good ideas, and has found that demagogy pays better than quality writing.