With so much of my time spent on homework, I am way behind on posting. This post is a whole week late, but I want to speak on this topic anyway.
Last week, while America was going to the polls, Michael Crichton died of cancer, joining my list of personal heroes who have died this year. He was 66 years old, and had kept his cancer quiet, so his death was very unexpected.
While the quality of his recent work had suffered quite a bit (his last couple books were a bit disappointing), he is still one of the most influential authors of the late 20th century, and played an important role along with Orson Scott Card and William Sleator in shaping my taste in books. Additionally, he was a recent and powerful ally in the fight against global warming alarmism, making some excellent speeches on the topic before congress. He received a degree in anthropology from Harvard, and then went on to medical school, writing books along the way, and became a full-time writer after receiving his M.D. degree after the success of The Andromeda Strain. He will definitely be missed.
I think that the best way to remember an artist is by his work, and so the best I can do for Mr. Crichton is to praise his books. So here are my picks from the works of Michael Crichton:
Sphere: This book is often overlooked, but is by far my favorite; in fact, it is my second favorite sci-fi book after Enders Game. I've read it nearly a dozen times, and it is almost like a first read every time, there's so much in it. The premise is that a team of scientists is brought together to investigate a space ship that has been found on the bottom of the ocean, 1000ft. deep. The strange thing is, the ship is American-built, and it has been there for 300 years. As the team explores the ship and deals with cramped quarters in a deep-sea habitat, all their fears start coming real.
This book has absolutely perfect pacing, alternating between tense scenes as the characters face dangerous sea monsters and worse, and entertaining dialogue as the scientists debate their theories on the space ship, time travel, and other things. The psychological aspect of this book is very well thought out, and this book is full of interesting ideas. Unfortunately it was made into a very poor movie, but the bright side is that the movie has an excellent soundtrack by Elliot Goldenthal that perfectly sets the mood. It won't be a classic - Jurassic Park has secured that place and earned it - but in my opinion this is a better book and a must-read.
Jurassic Park: As I said, this book earns its place as a classic. This book got people excited about science and dinosaurs again, and is a truly original book. Chances are you've already read it, but if you haven't you must and if you have you should again. When he first wrote this it was from the point of view of the children visiting the park, and no one wanted to publish it. He finally realized it was because he adults reading his manuscript weren't identifying with the child characters because they wanted to be the ones having the adventure. He rewrote it from an adult point of view, and it sold immediately. The sequel, The Lost World, is very good, too. Also, this is the only Michael Crichton book to be made into a good movie, which will also be a classic. I still believe that no movie has matched the special effects achievements of Jurassic Park, because no one has cared as much to make things look real. It is 100% convincing.
Congo: If this book doesn't make you afraid of gorillas, it's not possible. This book follows a group of scientists as they take a tame gorilla deep into the jungles of Congo to return her to the wild, and hope to solve a mystery at the same time. A previous expedition to the area in search of special diamonds that have important technology applications was mysteriously attacked by wild gorillas; and they hope the tame gorilla, who can speak sign language, can help to piece together what happened. They face violent natives and rebels on the way, and eventually the ruins of mysterious ancient civilization, and an unusually violent race of gorillas. I couldn't put this book down, and have read it a few times since and it doesn't lose its effect. Unfortunately, the movie barely resembles the book.
Those are my absolute favorites that everyone must read. Runners-up include The Lost World (an excellent sequel to Jurassic Park that still hasn't been made into a movie whatever people say), The Andromeda Strain (scientists investigate a mysterious microorganism spreading from a crashed satellite, and was Crichton's first bestseller), Terminal Man (a violent man is given an experimental treatment similar to a pacemaker to calm his mind, and it goes horribly wrong), Eaters of the Dead (renamed 13th Warrior, an attempt to finish a scrap of manuscript about a Middle-Eastern man going on a quest with some Vikings, and is inspired by Beowulf), and State of Fear (not a great book in and of itself, but makes an excellent case against global warming alarmism while remaining entertaining). The rest of his books are entertaining, but not at all masterpieces. Read Sphere, Jurassic Park and Congo, and if you like those go on to the runners-up and then on from there.
In addition to his books, he made some great speeches on global warming and environmentalism in general. These are must-reads for anyone interested in the issue, especially since Crichton was a convert to the skeptic side of the debate. He did some research hoping to incorporate it into a book, and found that there's not much real science to support the idea that Man is causing global warming (surprise surprise!). The speeches are all on his website, and I encourage you to read them at least once. They are as entertaining as some of his books, so don't worry that they're dry and boring. I will link to the best ones here:
Environmentalism as Religion (this one is my favorite)
You will be missed, Mr. Crichton; thank you for giving us so much to remember you by.
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