Jan 8, 2007

Next by Michael Crichton

I just finished reading Michael Crichton's Next. He is one of the few authors whose work I've loved without exception. I've always read his novels from cover to cover in a single gasp and I've only ever employed a book mark when interrupted for meals. In short, I love his work. Terminal Man remains one of my favourite books of all time (although I haven't seen my (dad's) copy in years) and his other books (including the now-cliched Jurassic Park) are all just great. Every one of them is a great read.

For Next, Crichton's broken up the formula a little and his book is more like a novel of our times. Chapters are Dan Brown short, they're rudely interrupted by 'news pieces' that usually quote a brainless celebrity or two and the effect is pretty devastating.

For those of us, who have always loved the man's work, Next, is quite at odds with the more story-telling style I've come to love. On the other hand, the novel has lost none of Crichton's grasp on science, its leading edge and the triumphs, tragedies and transgressions that come with treading that fine line. It includes all of the complexity of emerging technology, and the inability of our social systems to incorporate them as fast as they come up. In short, it's still a good read. Oh, the book is about genetic engineering. Get your copy today.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

you say that you are a fanatic motorcyclist and your blog is called Rearset, so why the hell do you insist on writing about movies (Don...) and non-motorcycle books? Love your bike-related writing, everything else is only so-so. Keep it simple, stick to bikes. Keep riding.

Anonymous said...

Err, Let me answer this.

A Blog is about a person rather than his sole interest in life so though it may be devoted to a sole interest it can never be fully dedicated to that. Many Reasons. Prime being that it would lead to monotony and at times lack of content. Having dedicated blogs has one major advantage of filtered content and thus higher ad revenue. But ad revenue is not what everybody blogs for(in India at least). And moreover it is difficult to maintain different blogs for varied interests. Secondly, though there will be many jack of all trades you will always find the masters of one being jack of quite a few too. Moreover a blog is a representation of the person on the internet. The whole idea from the color to the pattern gives a hint about the personality. If and when I do get back to blogging it will be a single point for people to know all that I want to share rather than having different blogs for generating more ad revenue and confusing people.

rearset said...

Thanks for that BATFAN.

Let me also add two things.
1) Its my blog. That means I get to post whatever I want.

2) Don't come to the home page at all! Just go directly to either the riding skills label, or the motorcycle label. Just change the bookmark... Here are the links

Riding Skills | Motorcycles

Kautilya said...

Whoa! Wait - you like ALL of Crichton's books "without exception"?! Really? Even Congo? How 'bout Rising Sun?

I mean, I can see you like the guy, are a fan even (maybe), but 'without exception'? Isn't that just a tad much? Seriously, just a trifle hyperbolic?

Or, after 13 years in the sun, is my ability to appreciate the subtlety of your sarcasm slowly getting eroded. The thought of me going senile is actually a less scary prospect than your enjoying Rising Sun in 'a single gasp'.

In passing, can I also point out to your pinko commie anonymous correspondent that your blog in addition to being yours, is also free. Since (s)he is not paying for it, (s)he has absolutely no rights to it whatsoever, least of all to demand a certain kind of content.

rearset said...

Congo was a bit far-fetched and made a passable movie, but I yes, I did enjoy reading it. I didn't finish the book and go, 'what crap!' Rising Sun, since you ask, was a better watch than a read, but yes I did like that one too. Besides, Tatiana Patitz is hard to argue against. No sarcasm in there. Your abilities, my friend, are still intact. A tad much, perhaps. Inaccurate? No. Maybe I'm less critical, in general, of books than I am of many other things...