Michael Crichton |
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Paolo Macachor
Guru Joined: June/05/2006 Status: Offline Points: 1756 |
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Posted: November/09/2006 at 5:13pm |
If you want to know how business is carried out in the Japanese culture, and the socio-economic, geopolitical repercussions of those Asian competitors of the United States, then Michael Crichton's novel may be sufficient material while simultaneously being interesting suspense yarn for your time. His characters are well defined, the protagonist, Peter Smith who is the first person narrator of the story, his "Kohai", the astute Lieutenant Connor. Even the sleazy, vulgar, loud-mouth Detective Tom Graham ... and the disturbingly libidinous casanova friend of Connor - Eddie Sakamura. Red herrings are easily predictable in the story. The plot is revved up towards the end of the 2nd act and all the way to the third where revelations keep coming. It's a very riveting novel, though I don't really like the downbeat ending. 8/10 |
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Paolo Macachor
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As the novel explores the Evolution of nanotechnology and distributed intelligence, the book opens with a harbinger of the DEvolution of the hero, Jack Forman's marriage, and the trials in life that experiences working as a househusband. Or a stay at home dad. There's no good term for it, states Crichton vis a vis Jack (the novel is 1st person). The main event unfolds as Jack is brought back in, and things take a turn for the worse as he discovers a close friend's true motives, the extent of the damage created of his company. But along the way, he develops a friendship with a woman employee whom he has always admired ever since his recruitment of her, and simultaneously, the object of his antagonistic spouse's jealousy. Crichton competently explores and questions the issues surrounding the use and abuse of modern technolgy, and scientific knowledge, the repercussions and lenghts people go at the service of corporate greed, and our vulnerability even to those of our own creation. He does this the same finesse Dickens had used to tackle social issues. As most of the time, PREY ends with a note of caution. And the desire to hear good news. |
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WhiteWolf
Guru Climate Change Denier Joined: October/03/2005 Status: Offline Points: 5127 |
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To be released on November 28th, 2006:
Book Description Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why a chimp fetus resembles a human being? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction—is it worse than the disease? We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps, a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars and to test our spouses for genetic maladies. We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes . . . Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn. Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and the bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect. The future is closer than you think. |
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christophersnow
Guru "Snowballman" Joined: February/01/2004 Status: Offline Points: 11195 |
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"It had to be said. The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing." - Howard Roark
Dean Koontz= Always working! |
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WhiteWolf
Guru Climate Change Denier Joined: October/03/2005 Status: Offline Points: 5127 |
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You posted exactly one minute before I did. So I didn't see it technically. Sure, you get credit.
Can you believe this? The biggest shopping day of the year is the day after THANKSGIVING, and of course they are releasing all of these great books on that day. But now my dilemma becomes a little more complicated. See, I really need to get all of my Christmas shopping out of the way, but I don't think I'll be able to resist spending a lot of money on myself first. I have to get three hardcovers on Friday. DK's BROTHER ODD, Chrichton's NEXT, and Card's EMPIRE. Oy. |
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